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Thursday, May 29, 2008
Hey, City Hall! Where’s my neighborhood’s money?
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
Photo courtesy of here.
A few weeks ago, Melva Gweyn and her merry band of bandits were on the front page of the Enquirer’s local news section. Their Westwood Civic group was awarded $1,000,000 by City Hall for their pet project: buying properties they don’t like, such as apartments buildings where poor people live, and demolishing them.
But what is the mathematical breakdown of this money from the perspective of population? According to 2000 census numbers, how much money did City Council give per Westwood resident? And furthermore, how much money would other neighborhoods receive were all things fair in terms of money transfers from City Hall to community groups?
This document breaks down Cincinnati population by age, race, and neighborhood. In 2000, Westwood had 35,730 people. With a little math, that makes the welfare check to Melva Gweyn equal about $28 per person.
For the sake of comparison, let’s look at a smaller neighborhood, like Mt. Airy. It has 9,710 people. That comes to $271,880.
So where is Mt. Airy’s $271,880?
Maybe a smaller neighborhood, like Mt. Airy, should follow Westwood’s lead. I have identified the following steps for earning preferential treatment from City Hall:
1. Form a PAC. Westwood has the POWR PAC. They give money, and their endorsement is widely publicized. And get a snazzy name, too—like MAD PAC (Mt. Airy Demands), or something of the sort.
2. Start a neighborhood controversy. Melva Gweyn’s group got Westwood in a frenzy over Section 8 housing. This boosts attendance at meetings, which is great for getting politicians to speak before the group, since they always need to feel good about acquiring future votes.
3. Complain frequently at City Hall Committee and Council meetings. Representatives should attend the speakers’ forum and make loud speeches as much as possible. This tactic was used by people like Melva Gweyn to attain visibility.
If history is a guide, these three simple steps can transform your community council into a highly publicized political machine. Politicians will try to appease you to get your PAC’s endorsement. The news may write stories about you the more visible you become. These are great prerequisites for getting $28 per resident in your neighborhood for pet projects, like tearing down buildings.
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29 May 2008 at 07:33 am | #
Melva Gweyn’s group got Westwood in a frenzy over Section 8 housing.........
Dean of Cincinnati, please provide the date of the article. I must have missed it.
Melva Gweyn is right on target to get the Westwood community in a frenzy over section 8 housing because it has caused the downfall of a once great neighborhood.
Earlier this month I saw a billboard on North Bend Road at I-74 advertising the ST CATHERINE FESTIVAL to be held at the Harvest Home Fairgrounds in Cheviot.
For many many years the St. Catherine Festival was held on parish grounds on Fischer Ave. Seems that over the last few years a number of incidents at or near the festival has caused the event to be moved to safer location.
Within one half mile of St. Catherine there are many section 8 units. There are many 4-family dwellings on Bracken Woods, Gobel and a few large apartment projects off Goble Ave. These people are the ones who have ruined the event.
Dean, have you ever worked a high-low dice game at a parish festival?
This did not occur at St. Catherines, but let me share my experience. We had one person to man (turn) the dice cage. We then had 2-3 otehrs to watch the board. We had several African American young men playing the game. We would announce that all bets are down, hands off the board. The dice cage would turn and then the players would try to slip #1 and $5 onto the winning number. It got so bad with the nastiness on the part of the African Americans that the security (off duty police) told us to shut down the booth for 10 minutes and start over.
Then we start over......
Things are fine for a while, then the same bunch of young African American males come back. The same mess is repeated. Those guys are trying to slip bills on the table AFTER WE HAVE SAID NO MORE BETS.
Finally, security suggested that we just shut down the booth.
Then came the final insult when the Pastor said to us devoted workers that you guys were too rough on the African Americans at the table.
But we came back the next year, worked the same booth only to have history repreat itself.
Is your problem with Melva Gwyen the fact that she is not as politicially correct as you would expect one to be. I think our pastor felt us dice booth workers did not handle the African Amercian males with politicial correctness. I mean, after all, the young fellows were attempting to seal from HIS parish and ultimately Jesus.
29 May 2008 at 09:39 am | #
The city promised Madisonville and Kennedy Heights a lot of financial support that never materialized. They kept Madisonville jumping through one hoop after another in their attempts to develop and revitalize the area around Madison and Whetsel. They never won that, and Middle Earth Developers were left hanging. Did the city contribute to the Madisonville Arts Center? I know they just asked for $600,000 in state money for the Clifton Arts Center.
The city did give two gifts of $50,000 to the Kennedy Heights Arts Center. But they had promised 1.8 million to redevelop the area around Kennedy and Montgomery, several blocks in each direction. What the community got instead of the money was a development department that accidentally let the temporary hold on building permits in the area lapse while they revised the zoning codes. As a result, the community got the “Beverage Cave,” a drive-thru they had worked for years to prevent. 150 residents went to Columbus to testify against granting a liquor permit. But they city couldn’t muster one person to track when the temporary hold would expire and prepare an extension.
And Westwood gets all this? Makes you wonder why.
29 May 2008 at 01:28 pm | #
Their Westwood Civic group was awarded $1,000,000 by City Hall for their pet project:
When the City of Cincinnati gave that Pettis-Brown fellow $200,000 to rebuild a theater on Vine St. near Liberty, how did you react?
When the city gave Damon Lynch $200,000 to clean a few parking lots, what was the reaction of the Dean of Cincinnati?
Found an article from the Enquirer a few yeas back regarding the Westwood Section-8 problem. The article provides a photo of the deterorating apartment dwellings on Bracken Woods that I mentioned in the first post.
The Article:
http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/01/20/loc_westwood_hosts_tour.html
Westwood hosts tour of sections in decline
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Buses will carry council members, city staff
By Robert Anglen
The Cincinnati Enquirer
People living in Cincinnati’s biggest neighborhood say they’ve been forgotten.
Ignored by city politicians and disregarded by city planners, they say Westwood has been allowed to deteriorate.
But today residents are determined to make Cincinnati officials remember.
A member of Westwood Concern, Melva Gweyn, walks on Epworth Avenue Friday. It’s one of her favorite streets.
(Glenn Hartong photos)
| ZOOM |
We have been neglected, said resident Mary Kuhl, who last year formed a community group called Westwood Concern. The city has turned its back on the west side of town.
In response to neighborhood complaints, city lawmakers and staffers will take a bus tour of Westwood beginning at 1 p.m. today that will end with an unofficial town meeting at Westwood Presbyterian Church.
Problems some recent, some longer in the making are easily seen, especially on Harrison Avenue, the neighborhood’s main street. Grand homes stand next to dilapidated apartments in an alternating pattern that ends in a struggling business district littered with storefront lease signs.
Other problems aren’t so apparent. Crime is on the rise and there are fewer police officers to deal with it. Home ownership is down and out-of-town landlords are buying up property. Businesses are leaving and revitalization seems a long way off.
We’ve been ignored for so long because we don’t complain, said Melva Gweyn, co-founder of Westwood Concern. We had the naive belief that the city would not let this happen.
City officials admit the neighborhood hasn’t gotten enough attention and today will announce a plan to rectify that.
I think Westwood does not get what it deserves from City Hall, said Councilman Pat DeWine. I think it’s because (residents) are not down at City Hall every week asking for things.
Deteriorated apartment buildings line Bracken Woods Lane in Westwood, a connector street between Harrison Avenue and Westwood Northern Boulevard.
| ZOOM |
Mr. DeWine and Councilwoman Alicia Reece will move to develop a comprehensive plan for the neighborhood within 14 days.
It asks for increased police visibility, an anti-litter initiative, various public improvements and economic development incentives.
The one thing that’s important is not to go in with a piecemeal approach, Ms. Reece said Friday. We need to look at the whole neighborhood.
She said the plan is similar to one that she proposed for Seymour Avenue in Bond Hill for new businesses along with housing and public improvements.
There is a lot more good than bad here, Ms. Gweyn said Friday. We just don’t want it to get worse.
Today’s tour was pushed by Councilman Paul Booth, who chairs council’s neighborhood committee. He said the neighborhood is long overdue for attention.
It looks like we’ve had for some time a disparity between the east and west sides of town, he said. If that’s been happening, we need to make sure it doesn’t continue.
Mayor Charlie Luken, who paid for the two 50-passenger buses out of his office budget, says the neighborhood is facing very serious problems.
Former city councilman Todd Portune, now a Hamilton County Commissioner, lives in Westwood. But residents said for years it has appeared as if nobody on City Council was interested in the plight of their community.
They hope that is about to change.
The tour will take council members from Harrison Avenue to the Western Hills Viaduct, which Ms. Gweyn called the entrance to the neighborhood. They will see residential pockets that haven’t changed since being built at the turn of the century and stop outside a block of gutted apartments called Bracken Woods.
It’s an example, residents say, of what they fear could happen elsewhere in the neighborhood.
It looks like a bombed-out area, Ms. Kuhl said. We have broken windows, boarded-up abandoned buildings and hooligans roaming the streets.
In two town meetings sponsored by Westwood Concern, nearly 150 residents complained about safety and the rising crime rate. Their concerns were echoed by police reports that the neighborhood is generating more calls for service while the number of officers available has declined.
The good thing is that residents aren’t just talking, they’re acting, said Westwood Concern member Randy Hammann.
“We are seeing a lot of action and positive energy, he said People are trying to get together to prevent this from getting worse.
He compared Westwood to other city neighborhoods, such as Over-the-Rhine, where the city has committed resources to bolster home ownership and business growth.
We want to make this a place where people will want to live, he said.
29 May 2008 at 06:35 pm | #
The Problem with this “funny money” Is the city has promised alot of it to many neighborhoods without actually having the “promised” funds available to back it up.(They also promise more then they are capable to do, due to incompetency) Yes Madisonville and Kennedy Heights were promised money but the funds never existed or were transfered to projects like “fountain square” If you look at the city council records you will even see where it was recommended that they use “the arts fund” for the grand opening of fountain square.(Then anything left over would go back to the fund which also was being used for other projects) (which the fountain square celebration took place well before the project was even finished, which was well documented by the dean)
We are planning projects like the street car project which city council admits to not having the money for the project yet as well.(Yet they approve the projects anyway) The problem with this kind of city planning is it dissapoints people that think their plans and funds are going to fall right into their laps overnight, and that is just not reality. The Beverage Cave has been great for Kennedy Heights, and is probably the nicest and best drivethru I have ever been through, and City Hall was sued for acting illegally against a legal business. The property was zoned for that use and the city illegally held their building permit from them for 3 yrs after their incompetence allowed the “temporary hold” to laspe and even tried to create another illegal hold to prevent the development from going forward. The lowsy law department then appealed their illegal actions with “the tax payers money” all the way to the ohio supreme court and lost at every level, all to prevent the best drive thru in the city to open! Kennedy Heights is looking great with the New Arts Center and The Beverage Cave and they should have allowed The Cave to build a long time ago! Noone wanted to take a risk on that lot for a very very long time and it truely is a great business in the neighborhood, and is much better then the eyesore that was there for over 13 yrs before someone tried to do something with the property! It is also generating alot of new tax revenue.(Which is badly needed by the state and city) The only way the neighborhoods will ever see their promised money is to fight hard against city hall spending time and money on expensive studies on street cars, fountains, and red light camaras, and to demand that they give them the funds that were once promised to them on a silver platter instead! Also Tell the school board to sell that dumpy eyesore Krogers/Furniture Fair lot they own in Kennedy Heights, which they paid 1.8 million to someone that can use it for something productive!They refuse to build a school on after many requests to do so and they also refuse to sell it. Imagine all of the money the school board could bring in if they sold their millions of dollars of artwork as well! Its time to hold your city officials and school board officials accountable!
29 May 2008 at 06:40 pm | #
And, of course, the Dean knows this is the absolute truth.
Betcha didn’t know that one of the prolific apartment building owners has been bounced out of the CMHA-Section 8 program. Certainly, you don’t care that these apartment buildings where poor people live are infested with criminal activity. HUD rules clearly state that anyone convicted of a felony crime cannot reside in a public subsidized housing unit.
In addition to Pettus-Brown & Lynch III bilking money out of City Hall, I don’t ever recall a sound out of Dean when Dale Mallory, as the President of the West End Community Council, had his hands in all sorts of cookie jars, fully funded by taxpayer dollars. Ditto goes for his goons who were running Genesis Redevelopment who bullied & threatened City Council at that time to turn over money. Actually, Dean’s silence was positively deafening. Let’s don’t forget Dale’s dalliances with the Cincinnati Empowerment Corp. Dean wouldn’t touch that issue, either.
Slow news day, so, it’s time to pick on Melva yet again. Funny, Melva has enough grace, diplomacy & refinement that she never utters a word about Dean’s political & social correctness.
29 May 2008 at 07:47 pm | #
Are you the heckler who was at the McHenry demolition?
29 May 2008 at 08:11 pm | #
Every morning I drive by one of the houses that is being worked on. I will tell you that the dumpster after dumpster that was removed from this property was unbelievable.
They are now working on the structure to make this on time family home liveable again.
With that said- I am not a Mary and Melva fan, but you know what, they got off of their dead asses and are getting things done to make the neighborhood look good and trying to bring in families. What is so wrong with that?
I love the two Africian American neighbors that I have now. They are a wonderful help to me all the time. And they GO to Westwood Concern. So while M & M may not always be on the right track- they are doing the right thing here cleaning up the mess.
29 May 2008 at 08:41 pm | #
I also wanted to add that The Beverage Cave and The Arts Center in Kennedy Heights have cleaned up the corner at Kennedy and Montgomery tremendously...(Ballet Tech is a neat orginazation as well) The Beverage Cave is doing a great job and it a clean and very well ran establishment! What happened with the “delay” should have never happened.(It was a joke what the city put the development through, when it was properly zoned for the use. I really would like to see a new development take place on that abandonned school board property (ex Krogers lot) Its time to put the pressure on the city to back their promise of the 1.8 million and we need to hold them accountable for where it went, and we need to ask the school board to seek some help with their money management and real estate. We need to attract more developers in the area to put the pressure on city hall and the school board as well! City Hall should not be making promises they cannot keep and the school board should not be holding on to expensive real estate that they refuse to build a school on or sell! Forget about the past, this is NOW!
30 May 2008 at 12:14 am | #
I’m curious, how much is the church paying to use the harvest home facilities. Are these facilities owned publicly? Is the church paying what other groups wold pay for the use?
30 May 2008 at 06:06 am | #
From Westie Westsider.......
I love the two Africian American neighbors that I have now. They are a wonderful help to me all the time. And they GO to Westwood Concern. So while M & M may not always be on the right track- they are doing the right thing here cleaning up the mess.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m betting the two African American neighbors are homeowners and blend into the community. They probably maintain their property to be on par with sourroundng homes, right? They are community minded people and would be welcomed in any Cincinati neighborhood. They would probably go St. Catherine’s festival, socialize, spend a few dollars, and go home. That is the kind of neighbor that everyone wants.
Has the Dean of Cincinnati been picking on Melva and Mary for a long time. I am kind of new here. If so, what is his problem?
30 May 2008 at 06:12 am | #
Hello Jones!
Amen to that!
Old man Mallory got 1/2 million from the EZ for his scam operation.
Dale 4 Sale’s scams are too numerous to list here.
3m’s campaign finances with the unions were illegal.
Follow the Mallory Mafia and Beatty Crime Family money trail.
Or maybe not......it got Kabaka killed.
30 May 2008 at 07:30 am | #
anon says:
30 May 2008 at 12:14 am | # I’m curious, how much is the church paying to use the harvest home facilities
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Don’t know.
St. Leo Church located on Baltimore St. also has a small festival at the
Harvest Home grounds. Gee, I wonder why.
My brother-in-law is a Purcell Alum (It was Purcell in his day - not Purcell-Marian) and informed me that Purcell holds a Monte Carlo on a winter Saturday night. For about 5 years or so Purcell held the event at the Holy Trinity parish hall in Norwood because of low attendance at the Purcell location in Walnut Hills. The event did quite well at the Norwood location, but when the event was moved BACK to Purcell, crowds and profits have been down. He adivsed me that the Archdiocese would not allow parishes to hold non parish events on their grounds.
When he purchsed his home in Plesant Ridge in the early 1970s he felt that it would be great to have his kids go to Nativity School and Regina High School in Norwood. Regina was a girls Catholic high school, however, they abruptly closed in the later 70s.
It was suggested that Regina-Marian-and Purcell merge at the Norwood location because of it’s size, potential room for expansion - and being in a SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD. But Wait - the Archbishop nixed the deal because he wanted Purcell to remain in the inner-city. My brother in law has been moaning about this for 30 years. His daughters attended Mt. Notre Dame High School in Reading.
The Dean of Cincinnati may have overlooked the fact that because of the work of Melva someday the St. Catherine Parish Festival will return to parish grounds whre it belongs. Someday people will be able to attend a church festival, walk two blocks from their parking space with no fear of being mugged, raped, attacked or robbed. Someday the elderly couple who lives on Wunder Ave and used to walk to the festival will be able, once again, to walk to their parish festival. Someday St. Catherie’s festival profit will increase because of not haveing to pay rent to Harvest Home.
SUGGESTION FOR THE DEAN OF CINCINNAT
Volunteer to work the High-Low dice booth at a few parish festivals this summer and report your findings.
Be sure to visit festivals in predominately white neighboods, prodeminately black areas and interegerated neighborhoods.
St. Mary Festival, Hyde Park - bet you will find few problems here.
St. Lawrence or Holy Family in Price Hill - - would be interesting.
All Saints - Montgomery - very few problems.
St. Vivian Festival - Finneytown - Serious problems last year with fights - would be interesting to see the behavior at the Dice Table.
IMH in Anderson Township -
My sister lives in Pleasant Ridge(brother-in law mentioned above) near Nativity parish. Nativity holds their festival over the Labor Day weekend. 3-4 yrs ago we were at her home for a cookout, this was within walking distance to the church. We walked up there, and it was my first time at that festival.
The festival goes fine until about 8:30 when it gets dark. Uusally around 8:30 PM youngsters with the baggy pants, white t-shirts enter the grounds and security becomes beefed up. We were at the festival 3-4 yr ago early in the evening for only an hour. We missed the near riot by an hour. Seems that there was fighting, people were being pushed around, and the event was shut down early.
The following years, as I understand, the entire festival ground is fenced off, so there is one way and one way out. Extra security comes on duty at 8:30, and my sister tells me there have not been seriousl problems since this action was taken.
So, Dean, if you work the Nativity festival, do so after 8:30 pm.
My sister informs me that about 15 to 20 years ago the festival at Nativity was a great event. The neighborhood was intergerated then as it is now and she felt at the time that this was the ideal situation with regards as to how an intergerated neighborhood can thrive. The event went on with minimal problems, but in the past 8-10 years things began to change and the problems caused by those with the baggy pants and t-shirts have increased. She still walks to the event, but is only there a few hours in the early evening. Let’s hope and pray that Nativity does not have to move it’s festival to a safer neighborhood someday.
30 May 2008 at 09:00 am | #
You missed the first step which was to be ignored from the city government for so long that your neighborhood sees an increase in crime and a flight of people away from it leaving tons of abandoned buildings
30 May 2008 at 10:43 am | #
the real bad guy in this story is the city, who makes all these neighborhoods fight each other over the same resources. it’s unfortunate that dean takes the bait and goes for the personal attack on melva gweyn. while i don’t agree with all of melva’s politics and tactics, she is to be admired for her dedication and willingness to fight for her neighborhood. others could get up off their asses, stop complaining, and learn a thing or two.
30 May 2008 at 12:20 pm | #
Yes the city is a very bad guy who shouldnt make promises they cannot keep! They like to appease angry activists to shut them up, but dont back their promises up and that is very very sad. Thats great westwood finally saw some of this promised money!I think the lesson to be learned is that westwood made the city back their promises up. I think some of the neighborhoods lose touch with city hall and give up because of some dissapointments. Then the money ends up going to street cars and other wasteful spending. City Hall thinks people will somehow just forget about the promised money and give up on it if they let things go and keep telling them their same excuses about the city being in a “financial trouble” Which in reality is a lie… They want people to think that so the corporations,neighborhoods, and pettis browns quit coming to them for money. I dont think it has a thing to do about race like the dean likes to suggest.(That is a sorry excuse that the dean likes to make way too often) I think Westwood has just had a bigger mouth about asking where their money is!
30 May 2008 at 12:36 pm | #
I said nothing about race in this strand.
30 May 2008 at 01:52 pm | #
The Dean of Cincinnati says:
30 May 2008 at 12:36 pm | # I said nothing about race in this strand.
But race is part of the issue.
I suggest that you take a ride around the Westwood area and drive by the apartment complexes. Drive on Bracken Woods, Goebel, and McHenry. Don’t forget to check out the two larger complex on Goebel Ave. There are also numerous apartment buildings in the Mustang-Annaconda area. Report back on what you observe.
FACT: The problems with crime, fights and intimidation at the St. Catherine parish festival began AFTER THE INTRODUCTION OF SECTION 8 HOUSING TO THE COMMUNITY. Prior to that, the festival was a safe event.
30 May 2008 at 02:49 pm | #
Anon #6 There was a “Heckler” at a demolition? Tell me more, when, and where was that? Whom was badgered, Melva herself?
30 May 2008 at 03:01 pm | #
Once you introduce reason and common sense to the argument, My Main Man changes the subject.
30 May 2008 at 03:03 pm | #
Dewey:
Huh?
30 May 2008 at 03:40 pm | #
white male, your racism is showing, again.
Fact: Section 8 Housing isn’t a race based program, it is based on income or a lack there of.
Did you know that race is just a social construct and that there isn’t any scientific evidence to support the idea of different races? When we say race, don’t we really mean ethnicity? Perhaps in some cases we mean class.
Shouldn’t we judge each other by our behavior and the content of our character instead of the color of their skin or the amount of money in their bank accounts? Isn’t that how we would like to be judged? How would Jesus judge us?
30 May 2008 at 04:28 pm | #
Behavior such as dope dealing? Robbery? Prostituion? Children out of wedlock?Living off the hard work of others?
That there is some content of character I want in my neighborhood. Where do I sign up???
30 May 2008 at 04:43 pm | #
Justin,
“White male” is doing just that...judging people on their behavior. Why, is that your racism that is showing? This discussion has been about the lousy\criminal behavior of a lot of the people in the Westwood community and most of those folks happen to be black. Does that mean that all black people have lousy\criminal behavior? Of course not! But to act as if the majority of the people in Westwood and the City as a whole who act up most of the time aren’t black is borderline delusional at best.
We will never move forward if the problem isn’t identified.. it is the breakdown of the black family. Plain and simple. When you have what...70% of the black babies born in this City\County to single women and not think that is going to be a problem..well..you are a fool.
Talk to the Police, talk to the Prosecutors office, talk to the Surgeons at UC Hospital and ask how many of these young black men who are “caught up in the system”..i.e. criminals have dads or moms for that matter who come and attend to their needs, show up in court for them, come to the hospital after they have been shot etc and you will find the answer is almost NONE! That my friend is a HUGE problem not only for the black community but the entire community. These “kids” are not being raised....most really have no parents.. what they have is an egg donor and a sperm donor who connected one night but they sure as hell are not parents.
These kids are not being raised in the true sense of the word, they are left to fend for themselves. They are a problem is school, the neighborhood, society because no one ever taught them how to act “normal”. See, normal is not a skin color, a gender, a specific ethnic group...normal is how most people act and how did all of us know how to act normal.....you guessed it is how we were raised.
See, I really have no problem living anywhere near anyone as long as their behavior doesn’t infringe on mine. But, once a large contigent of low income blacks started moving into Westwood, the neighborhood changed....not because of their skin color but because of their behavior.
When dirty diapers are taken off their kids they have no problem throwing them on the ground for someone else to pick up. When they want to walk down the street talking as loud as can be, curing F*** this, MF*** that to the kids she was with and when approached by a homeowner to say 2 of his 4 young kids are in their back yard and he doesn’t what that kind of language to be yelled the reply back is FUCK YOU! Now that my friend is a problem.
Can white people “act a fool” Of course they can and DO.
BUT, the real problem in Westwood is low income black residents\ or friends of these residents.
If you need to experience this disgusting\criminal\horrible behavior Dean, Justin or anyone other feel good liberal who doesn’t live anywhere near this type of crap…please let me know I would to show you around....
30 May 2008 at 07:07 pm | #
Well Jeffre, perhaps you could get this concept through Dean’s thick head. He gets rather thick when it gets to “uppity women”, such as Melva, for example. Whether one likes her platform or not, one message is very clear & truthful - Melva gets things done in Westwood to benefit everyone’s peaceful enjoyment of their community - black, white, mid-class, poor, Section 8 renters, homeowners, young, elderly, EVERYONE.
Quoted above, Jeffre, is your boy’s actual quote. It seems to me there’s economic judging going on here. Not everyone living in apartments in Westwood are poor. However, your boy unilaterally has designated that poor people live in these units. He hasn’t delved below the surface to ascertain the nightly take from the drug dealers who have esconced themselves in these apartments. When one totals it up, the drug dealers’ take & the taxpayers handouts to the mothers of the children, including the rent vouchers, these so-called “poor” people are on a higher scale of living than the average working person with a high school education or GED with children in school.
Another item, Jeffre, your boy certainly enjoys singling out Miss Gweyn for all sorts of verbal abuse & attacks. It seems to me that he’s got a significant problem with women who have dedicated their time, unpaid, to serving their community. Strong women who have backbone to challenge the system & hold them accountable. In this case, it’s a white woman who comes under attack from your boy quite often.
Yeah, you need to explain your manifesto to him so that he might see the error of his ways. Your boy started the economic & color thread here. Not the people weighing in with their comments. It’s Dean you need to take to the woodshed.
30 May 2008 at 07:42 pm | #
Please use the contact button at the top of this form to send us an email. I am eager to schedule a tour with you. Please let me know the best way to get this done!
30 May 2008 at 09:25 pm | #
lassalemom, comment #17:
I’m not making this about race, you and white male are. In fact even white males anonymous name invokes race.
You don’t know where I live and I don’t like bad behavior either. Sure maybe the Dean and I will take a tour with you. You sound like a lot of fun. Would you be a feel good conservative? I don’t know about all these labels. I think they are divisive and meaningless.
Amen sister!
Jones, my boy can read and I hear he reads things here quite often so you can talk to him directly. He disagrees with Melva’s politics and I don’t believe it has to do with her race or gender and I doubt think you really do either.
30 May 2008 at 10:20 pm | #
Oh really, Jeffre. You read minds now, eh? I am of the firm belief your boy Dean has an ax to grind with Miss Gweyn not only because of her platform & her so-called “politics” as you’ve defined them, her race & her gender seem to be a source of fuel for his unquenchable hatred for that woman.
Not everyone in this City is going to bend to Dean’s way of thinking. That makes them targets of his nasty, snide comments. However, his unabated attacks on Melva definitely leads me to firmly believe he hates women, especially white women. However, getting your boy to admit he hates white women won’t ever come out in the open.
Yeah, you two boys really ought to take up the offers & take a real close look at these places housing so-called “poor people”. Take along a couple of bullet-proof vests. Some of them “poor people” don’t like white bread boys. Are you ever in for an eye-opening experience. You’ll get to see just how black & white families are struggling to hang on to their stakeholds - their properties - amidst all the crime, blight, nuisances, & torn up rentals. Then give us another one of your pablum-puking reports on how these “poor people” are so misunderstood & need free social programs to help them get a start in a better life. Most of the “poor people” have been to prison at least 2 times over & for the exact same thing. They don’t care & you don’t matter. And they’ll tell you what to do with the free social programs.
30 May 2008 at 10:36 pm | #
I dont think its the way it should be either that the biggest mouth gets the most dough.(I am with Justin) I dont think the dean thinks it is because of race or gender either and I want to apologize to the dean.(I misread this strand when I was in a hurry) City Hall has a history of giving into the people that harrass them the most for funds, or whatever it is the neighborhood is requesting and it just isnt right.(Neighborhoods feel like that is the only way to get things done at city hall though) Westwood isnt the only neighborhood that plays this way, but it is the cities fault for creating the politics of funding community plans the way they have. (Especially when they dont have the money ready and available to every neighborhood they have promised it to)
31 May 2008 at 01:25 am | #
Westwood is one of the largest, if not the largest neighborhood in the city. Despite being so large and having many great assets like it’s schools, grand houses, strong communities, it is definitely showing signs of decline. Maybe it is about time the city started paying the westside more, even special attention. But demolition is not goping to get us far. If a great middle class neighborhood like this cannot be saved, then the city itself cannot be saved.
The nativist and insular attitudes of some westsiders displayed on this board will not help, and is part of the problem, because positive change in the neighborhood, doesn’t mean keeping it the way it was, but growing the businesses and growing the population. A new population. After all, your neighbors with the german surnames that moved to West Chester are not moving back anytime soon.
The community activists should encourage entreprenuers and immigration. For example a Catholic Church could start offering services in Spanish and the local chamber of commerce could approach Hispanic businesses about relocating or starting here. This is just one idea. Other outreach could be to artists types etc… Think of what Imago is doing in E. Price Hill on one street. The low property prices, and sturdy housing can attract new families, especially if focused, for example on one specific block. Maybe some of this is already being done, I am not involved there. Attractions for families are many, including the schools, both parochial and public (Dater, for example).
31 May 2008 at 06:36 am | #
"Oh Dear, Oh Dear! They’re trying to push all us poor folk out of Westwood too? Where are we to go? What are we to do now?” Seriously people, when all of our neighborhoods have done away with section 8 housing what are we, the poor people of Cincinnati supposed to do. Don’t we have enough homeless people trying to survive on our streets already? Maybe we should build a “tent city” in Indian Hills> Vera Z
31 May 2008 at 08:01 am | #
City Kin....wow are you trying to be insulating..."nativist and insular attitudes of some westsiders"… Please! You are from the westside, right? Moved to and now live in OTR, right? Listen, you know as well as I do that people over on the Westside of town have NO PROBLEMS with anyone who is different black, white, gay, straight...the problem westsiders have is not with the people but the BEHAVIOR of ANYONE regardless of any outward differences...their BEHAVIOR IS THE PROBLEM!!! What gets westsiders fired up is the cheap shots, the clicking of the tongues of people who DO NOT LIVE HERE, do NOT have to put up with the CRAP that is going on here! Look, City Kin, your community OTR is turning around thanks to a HUGE influx of MONEY from 3CDC AND the City of Cincinnati...and what else are they doing...oh that’s right… moving the types of people with bad behavior the hell out of OTR and yes, right into Westwood, Price Hill, Avondale, College Hill. Oh I love it when people who now live in OTR want to preach the whole diversity crap when getting the “bad actors” out of their neighborhood is paramount. When people from the Westside talk about these same types of people and their lousy behavior...people feel sooooooooooooo free to call westsiders names. All you have to do is look at the reaction to the mere suggestion of Section 8 going into the Banks to see what I am talking about. What a bunch ofcrap!
You are right, people who bailed on not only Westwood but the City as a whole and moved to “paradise” Mason, West Chester and the likes are not coming back. We understand that. Getting new families, a new population to move into the community is what is being worked on by a large number of people. What is NOT being worked on, what is NO being encouraged is anymore of the “new population” of low income people and their usual lousy behavior….now that is NOT what any neighborhood, Westwood, Price Hill, Hyde Park, OTR needs or WANTS!!!
31 May 2008 at 08:04 am | #
lasallemom:
Please, when can we do the tour?
31 May 2008 at 09:22 am | #
I seriously doubt that my neighbors would go to the St. Catherine Festival and get involved into the mess that happened there. They may go early in the day with their CHILDREN WHO GO TO SCHOOL THERE. And I bet they volunteered at a booth too! So cut the crap.
My new complaint is I am tired of my 13 year old son seeing the whores getting o
out of cars in front of my house and the guys getting out to fix their pants. So Deano got any suggestions on how to fix that problem?
The house on Daytona is a mess- just one hellva mess and has been for over 15 years and I will be so happy to see it eiher fixed or gone. I hope that they build a nice patio house on the property. Anything is better than the mess that they have there.
But other than the drug deals at UDF- that are just so open and the whores in front of my house and at Midway school at night- this crap just has to stop- and I bet if I started looking at license plates- wanta bet they are eastsiders?
Everyone knows that physicians and businessmen always have run to Maury’s with their dates so that their wife’s don’t know about it! That has gone on for well over 25 years.
31 May 2008 at 09:45 pm | #
I know people in Walnut Hills are sick of it, too. There was a woman there who chased a whore out of her backyard with a broom. Guess who got arrested? That’s right! The home owner! Fortunately the grand jury refused to indict her.
I was at a West End Community Council meeting this month and the same topic came up after the meeting. It’s out in the open and nothing happens.
My suggestion—and believe me, it’s controversial—is to make a requirement that all police new hires have to live in the city. From what I hear many or most CPD officers do not live in the city. The theory is that the officers are afraid that if they crack down on drug dealing and prostitution here, it will turn up in their own suburban neighborhoods. This used to be a requirement for CPD, but was ditched years ago.
Certainly there is huge money involved. Just look at the cars that go to pick up drugs and prostitutes. Some of the drug buyers drive junk but many obviously have serious money. And they’re White, too.
Another thought: what kind of impression do you think the neighborhood Black kids grow up with about Whites when most of the Whites they see are cruising their neighborhoods in order to buy drugs and pick up whores? I don’t think it’s a good impression.
01 Jun 2008 at 08:44 pm | #
Had another incident again tonight!!!!
Coming home from Church youth group...young black girl was walking down the street and 2 young 20 something black men started harassing her in their car. They pulled into a side streed, got out of their car- yeah abadoned it!- and started walking towards her yelling at her. She kept walking while these guys where doing the pull up yer pants deal the entire time they were yelling at her.
I sat in the car with my son ready to call 911, but knowing that they take over 20 minutes to respond to auto accidents on my street- why bother! These guys got back into their car and started to chase her again and she was out of site.
M&M can’t do it all- and the police are too busy down on West Fork Rd. ticketing the cars going eastbound on the closed road to help the community!!
This crap has got to stop-and fuelling the stuff this way Jason isn’t the way to do it. Let them tear down the houses that are falling apart. They are and were a wreck.
So MEP-will you pay my bail money?
01 Jun 2008 at 09:44 pm | #
So, am I correct assuming you’re considering violent confrontation with these lads? Why else need for MEP’s bond money? I suggest you consider other alternatives, you might have asked the young lady if she felt uncomfortable offering ride, talk about bumming out young stude, with“talkin’ ‘bout my gen-gen-gen-eration” cranked as you drive away.
You might want to sit them down teaching them the art of Manliness, odds are they’re from single parent home, don’t doubt they’d thank you for the lesson, Westie, be a man, step up, you should have said something, that be the difference East to West, folks over here ride herd on the punks, it‘s “yes sir“ round these parts..
03 Jun 2008 at 10:30 pm | #
MEP: “My suggestion—and believe me, it’s controversial—is to make a requirement that all police new hires have to live in the city. From what I hear many or most CPD officers do not live in the city. The theory is that the officers are afraid that if they crack down on drug dealing and prostitution here, it will turn up in their own suburban neighborhoods. This used to be a requirement for CPD, but was ditched years ago.”
applause! thank you for having the guts to say this! i will take it a step further and say, not just police, but everyone employed by the city (including teachers in public schools), etc. if people had to live in the community in which they work, they would have a much more vested interest in keeping it safe and secure. as it is, people drive 30+ miles from the suburbs to put in an 8 hour day and then go home and never have to deal with any of the issues. i know now everyone has the luxury of working in their community, but anyone who works for the city should be required!