Monday Musings...
And the score read:
Henry Administration - 1
Neighborhood Code Enforcement - 0
Saturday's J/G provided today's cannon fodder when it stated that Mayor (read King) Henry announced this past Friday that NCE will NO LONGER be under the jurisdiction of the FWPD.
WTG, Your highness!
Another case of "If it's NOT broke, by ALL means, let's FIX IT". One of the (few) shining jewels in the former monarch of Ft. Wayne's crown was when King Richard placed NCE under the auspices of the FWPD. I have never, in the past TEN YEARS of living in this neighborhood, see such a change for the BETTER than when that happened and (then) Sgt. Tom Bandor (later promoted to Captain) took helm of this foundering ship called NCE.
And although it would take a lot more intervention from numerous OTHER departments to change MY part of town around and make it a decent place to raise a family ONCE AGAIN, one of several CITY DEPARTMENTS I could RELY on to get the job done was NCE. Hell, none of the former heads of NCE never even bothered to come to my house to discuss relevant matters and prospective, proactive changes...but Captain Bandor DID. Over the years we've formed a "partnership" of sorts, based on my willingness to report neighborhood violations in order to keep this area from falling further into a chaotic state.
And it worked.
But Mayor Henry apparently wants to UNDO all that by placing NCE BACK under the city's COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT department.I don't know, but I find it very difficult to believe that "our" community needs "developing". What it DOES need is a damn good OVERHAUL (some parts need a good razing) from top to bottom, and Tom Bandor was more than capable of making that happen.
Even Glynn Hines didn't find out about this, and HIS district is one of the ones with the MOST problems and violations. He found out when the Journal-Gazette contacted HIM. I guess even democrats can't find parity among themselves.
Henry "believes" (and since he doesn't live DOWN here, he knows nothing of what goes on) that realigning NCE with Community Development "Will help us build healthier, stronger neighborhoods and foster greater economic vitality across the city".
(yeah, rrrrrriiiiiiiiggggghhhhhtttt!)
Yo, Mr. Mayor, you going to make SURE that hedges are trimmed now and weeds cut down, or that abandoned cars are removed quickly, and that chop-shops in residential garages are investigated, and all the other things that Tom Bandor had his officers out doing daily?
You going to bring in some neophyte and "learn them the ropes" as to how to handle people that thumb their noses at the city and disregard ordinances?
Are you going to listen to citizens like myself, who are not afraid to report violations in their neighborhoods, or are you going to be like Greg Leatherman and get around to it when it's convienient? You've got scads of ordinances on the books RIGHT NOW that are UNENFORCEABLE, Mayor. What's being done about THOSE?
Things were doing quite well before this "decision" of yours, Mr. Henry. We were actually keeping the "barbarians from the gates" when it came to NCE enforcement. The decision to place NCE under the police department in 2004 was to offer the department more manpower to inspectviolations after hours and on weekends (I know that NCE was still understaffed, even with the addition of several officers), as well as provide code officers access to criminal databases and Spanish translation devices.
John Urbahns, community development director says code officers will STILL have all the tools needed from the FWPD, but the change is more of a "philosophy" switch to use NCE to help rebuild communities (I just KNOW that Plato and Aristotle are rolling in their graves, along with Immanuel Kant and John Locke).
The ONLY philosophy needed in neighborhoods like MINE is to make all these dumbasses tow the mark when it comes to making a street BETTER, and that means NO leeway for those that chronically play the "I didn't know" card. Many down here can't be bothered with "education" on ANY level, so the only recourse it to say "It's our way...or the highway".
If people have to be removed from bad housing - FINE.
If people need to be busted for the chop-shop they're running - FINE.
If people can't follow simple rules - CITE THEM...Hard, Fast, and Often!
THAT is how you make a difference and turn around a neighborhood. And taking some sort of harder stance to hold every person ACCOUNTABLE, instead of attempting to reason with people such as this through another lame-ass "self-esteem" BS "realignment" program, is the ONLY way to go. Unless you really DO want a ghetto, which is what many of us are trying to keep from happening. And we're not receiving all that much help these days, so we applaud those in city departements that are truly concerned about our public safety and well-being.
So what the hell, Mr. Henry...go ahead and screw up all the work over the past FOUR YEARS that Tom Bandor did to make the city better, which included reviewing city ordinances (something that City Council was SUPPOSED to do OVER 4 years ago THEMSELVES...and never did), and being accessible to the public. I'll just be sitting here, waiting for all this "improvement", while watching things go back to the way they were.
Just don't let me catch you covering your ears when I shout "I TOLD YOU SO".