1/13/2003 Partners Against Crime District II Meeting Minutes
Reentry program
Temporary car tags
Central Park School
Holiday gunshots
Animal control
Neighborhood Watch update
ABC permit applications
Impact Team update
Minimum housing code
Duke Power
After the introductions, a motion to move the updates to the beginning of the agenda was made and carried.
Reentry program: Gudrun Parmer sought our support for the reentry program. This program targets young criminals from Durham who have been released from prison and are returning to the community. The program lasts for a minimum of six months, during which time clients are subject to supervision (usually electronic monitoring) and offered a variety of services (job skills classes, drug treatment, etc.) to help them get back on their feet as peaceful, productive members of the community. The reentry program was started with a seed money grant from the Governor’s Crime Commission. There is now a four-year federal grant available for reentry services directed at 18-24 year olds and substance abusers. This fits very well with the mission of Durham’s reentry program, they need the funding, and the length of the federal grant would free them up from the annual funding scramble for a while. Parmer was seeking a letter of endorsement from PAC2 supporting their application for this grant. PAC2 voted unanimously to give this grant application our support.
Temporary car tags: At the request of another resident, Katherine brought up the issue of enforcement of the 30-day temporary car tags. This person was concerned about seeing cars whose temporary tags seemed to be expired. Officer Baker explained that the mere fact of having a temporary tag did not give the police reasonable grounds to stop a car and check it, unless the tag was visibly old or expired. Capt. Clark added that the police would issue a citation for an expired 30-day tag. He said that the police department does not track such citations or keep any kind of records on temporary tags. No one present knew whether the DMV keeps any such records. Police officers cannot run a temporary tag for information the way they can a real one, so the officer would have to be able to see the expiration date in order to stop a car. The DMV issues blocks of temporary tags to dealers; it usually takes about three months to track down and identify the specific person who received any particular temporary tag. If a seemingly abandoned car is involved, it will still take a week before it can be towed. Police will respond to calls from citizens about abandoned cars, but they don’t usually take the initiative to tag them on their own, due to lack of time and staff. Housing, however, does tag cars, and it’s easier for them to take action on abandoned cars that for the police to do it. Individuals, or residents working together through Neighborhood Watch, can help by identifying problem blocks where there are abandoned cars. To report them, call Lynwood Best (560-4570, ext. 254). Housing representatives also made the point that it is OK for someone to work on their own car in their driveway, but taking in other cars for repair and carrying on this business at their residence may violate zoning laws.
Central Park School: Vicky Patton spoke briefly about a new charter public school soon to open. Central Park School will be located in the old Army Reserve building on Foster Street, which is currently being renovated. CPS will be a year-round school, and will open this July with grades K-2. The school will follow a ‘child-centered’ educational philosophy, with a developmentally appropriate, individualized curriculum; there will be a maximum of 14 kids per class. Central Park School is seeking to establish partnerships with its surrounding neighborhoods.
Holiday gunshots: This issue was raised by Old North Durham residents who had heard gunshots in their neighborhood on New Year’s Eve. This was reported to the police at the time; 911 was said to have received 25 calls in the first four minutes. There was an ensuing discussion about the extent, causes, and possible ways to address this problem. Firing off guns to celebrate holidays is a familiar Southern tradition which is also widespread in some Hispanic cultures. In addition to New Year’s Eve, other gunfire-generating holidays might include the Fourth of July and Cinco de Mayo. Suggestions included using the media to get the word out about the illegal and dangerous nature of this practice, looking at other cities whose efforts with this problem might provide useful models, and trying to establish safe alternative traditions, such as making noise by banging on pots and pans instead of shooting off guns.
Animal control: Cindy Bailey of Animal Control was present to talk with us about the ongoing problems with dog packs. There were at least three residents present whose cats had been the victim of dog attacks. Bailey spoke first about communications issues, saying that the listserve had been an excellent source of information, and that they needed reporting and accurate record-keeping in order to track the location and magnitude of animal problems. Animal Control sets traps for these dogs, but lately they haven’t been very successful. There is a continuing problem with residents releasing dogs from traps, and Bailey emphasized that this is the worst thing we can do, because a dog that has been trapped and released learns from the experience to avoid traps thereafter. Bailey thinks there’s a minimum of three different dog packs on the loose, based on the varying descriptions Animal Control has received. It’s typically difficult to get accurate descriptions from residents who have seen the dogs. There was a rumor that a business on Guess Road was feeding stray dogs. This is another major problem, because food is used for bait in the traps, and if dogs are being fed by residents, they won’t be hungry and won’t get in the traps. The dog packs may be attracted to an area by female dogs in heat whose owners leave them outside. Another possible attraction is the presence of stray cats. Animal Control officers looking for the dogs have reported finding no dogs, but lots of cats around. Cats without ID tags may be impounded as strays. If the cat has tags or is identified by neighbors as belonging to someone, Animal Control officers will try to speak with the owner. Animal Control has had an officer stationed in District 2 in recent weeks, but there’s no guarantee that that can continue. They only have a maximum of seven officers, and are currently 54 trap calls behind. Bailey said that she is not actively seeking more people at present and believes it’s hopeless for at least the next two budget years. Animal Control is suffering the same budget-induced staffing shortages as other agencies citywide. They are allowed to hire officers in the interest of citizen protection, but they can’t hire office support staff at all, so they end up having to take officers out of the field to perform vital administrative functions. Residents who volunteer to watch traps are very helpful to Animal Control. Animal Control services all the traps they set; each one is checked daily, usually multiple times a day, to see if they’ve caught anything. If citizens volunteer to check the traps, that frees up time for Animal Control officers and allows them to set a greater number of traps. Someone asked about the possibility of using tranquilizer guns; Bailey said that they can’t be used safely in many neighborhoods, and that they are difficult to use effectively anyway because it’s hard to estimate the dose correctly and dogs may not get the full dose. The point was also made that the ultimate blame for the situation belongs not to dogs, but to dog owners. Every one of the vicious dogs currently terrorizing our neighborhoods belongs or once belonged to someone, and those people are responsible for letting their dogs loose to prey on the community.
Several people raised issues about unsatisfactory customer service from Animal Control. Bailey agreed that some of the incidents recounted were unsatisfactory, but she couldn’t address them specifically because none of the complainants had specific information. When you call Animal Control, get the name of the person you speak with; if you aren’t satisfied with their response to your problem, contact Cindy Bailey (animalcontrol@co.durham.nc.us; 560-0630) and give her the person’s name, the time and date you called, and any other relevant information, so that she can follow up and do something about it.
Neighborhood Watch update: Organizational meetings have recently been held in Trinity Heights, and one is scheduled for Eno Trace on 27 January. The final draft of the new Neighborhood Watch sign is almost ready; it will be on view at the District 2 substation at 4pm on Thursday, 16 January. Officer Hester is assembling lists of block captains that will be made available to patrol officers, so that they can use these neighborhood contacts as a resource, to get information or to disseminate information through the block captains and their phone trees. These lists will be updated twice a year. If you are a block captain and would like to be included, please contact Officer Eric Hester (ehester@ci.durham.nc.us; 560-4582) with your information (name, phone #, and what block(s) you are responsible for).
ABC permit applications: There was only one this month, from Don Basera for a Mexican restaurant at 2301 N. Roxboro. The application is for an off-premises beer permit. Officer Baker reported that the call history for the location was clean, and he had received one email of objection. PAC2 voted to approve, with two dissenting votes.
Impact Team update: Mitch Archer reported that the shopping cart ordinance was unanimously approved by all five PACs, and has been presented to the crime cabinet. It looks as if there will be no neighborhood cleanups this spring; they usually cost about $15,000, and the Impact Team doesn’t have the money to do it. The citywide cleanup will be discussed later this month; it may be cut from four Saturdays to two due to budget cuts. Archer pointed out that what we’ve had in the past is slowly being taken away from us; the community needs to lean on the council and let them know that we don’t want to see these services eroded. They used to schedule lots of neighborhood cleanups every year. For the citywide cleanup, there was free dumping at three sites in each district. But there’s not enough money in the Impact Team budget to pay the tipping fees ($39.50 per ton) for the trash they usually collected. In past years, they’ve had about $60,000 in the tipping fee account; this year, it was only half that, and they’re now down to $18,000 which has to last for the rest of the budget year. They can’t even afford to take away the trash from special cleanups, such as those of streams, etc. The Impact Team, as a department, is not allowed to generate revenue; for instance, they can’t charge property owners for illegal setouts. In the last budget, the council tried to abolish the Impact Team completely; they survived only due to community outcry. Newman reminded us that the next PAC2 meeting will be a ‘Coffee with Council’; neighborhoods should come up with written statements or issue lists for the council, in case there isn’t enough time at the meeting to discuss everything. Newman can also raise these issues at the upcoming meeting of PAC facilitators with the city manager. The Impact Team is within the Department of Public Works. They don’t control their own budget, and have very little input into how much they get; they just take whatever they’re given every year and try to work with it. The Impact Team is able to respond to problems more quickly than other departments. They clean up illegal dumping; they also investigate it and try to trace it to the responsible party if possible (through mail in the trash, for instance). When people have appliances to discard, they should call Solid Waste and arrange a pickup, for which there is a charge. If someone just dumps their appliance in the city right-of-way to avoid paying, then it becomes an illegal dump and the Impact Team has to take it away for free.
Minimum housing code: Gray Dawson, acting housing code administrator, was present to discuss housing code issues with us. He told us that there are currently only four inspectors working in Durham (they actually have six, but two are on special assignments). By the end of February, he hopes to have hired five more inspectors, as well as a paralegal and an intake person. In the winter, the most common problems are heating issues, and Housing tries to focus on safe housing. Many indigent families in Durham have no proper heat in their homes. Newman brought up the Durham Voter Coalition statement on housing and asked Dawson what he thought about their suggestion to require R19 insulation in floors. Gray pointed out that the minimum housing code applies to all property in the city, whether owner-occupied or rental property. He opined that, while floor insulation is certainly useful, it would be more effective to enforce the existing code on windows, doors, and weather stripping. Such a change to the minimum housing code would be possible, but would require considerable resources, including intake staff, inspectors, and Community Life Court. When asked what changes he would make to the minimum housing code, Dawson responded that the #1 thing he would like to change is people’s attitudes toward neighborhood identity. He said that the average lifespan of a neighborhood is about 55-60 years. Here in Durham, his perception is that there’s widespread disconnection from our neighborhoods. He posed this question to all of us: is your house a home, or just a place to eat and sleep? We currently have no bilingual housing inspectors. The people of Duke Park are working on a welcome packet for new people moving into their neighborhood; it would contain useful information like who your block captain is, which day is trash day, and a list of resources and contacts. First-time homebuyer programs, which offer information and support on the home buying process, are an important part of efforts to get property out of the hands of rental landlords and make it owner-occupied. A resident from Walltown, where there have been considerable efforts to convert properties from rental to single-family dwellings, raised a question about a particular property. One of the houses on Lancaster is to be developed into duplex apartments instead of becoming a single-family home, and Walltown residents are very unhappy about it. This house is in the 1000 block of Lancaster, at the corner of Englewood; it is currently vacant. Someone else commented that the problem with the DVC’s suggestion about changes to the code is that landlords rent out dwellings that fail to meet the minimum housing code, then try to charge tenants to do the necessary repairs. Newman pointed out that the DVC is asking for our support of their wish list, but not on the housing code issues at the moment, because they don’t yet have a specific proposal ready to present. Dawson said that he is meeting with DVC representatives tomorrow to discuss their wish list.
Duke Power: An Urban Forestry employee who had worked for Duke Power through 1982 commented on the changes in recent years. Durham used to be its own district, but is now part of a larger district. We have 101 circuits, up from 72. And where there once were 13 tree crews in Durham, there are now only 4. Mike Shiflett distributed information on the possible formation of a study commission to examine options for switching from overhead to underground utilities.