07-09-18 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING July 9, 2018 i Council President Tim Scott stated,I will be talking to the Chair of the Residential Neighborhoods Committee and Alkeyna Aldridge about that. Dennis Plum, 302 S. Chicago Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I have resided in the Lasalle Park area for over forty-five (45) years and I have had the opportunity to see the positive and the negative growth in that area. I used to be a resident that didn't care about the work of our community.But since many older folks have gone off the scene,there began a decline in the overall condition of our streets, sidewalks and curbs. There was also a growth in up-kept vacant lots and alley ways along with numbers of vacant and dilapidated homes. We have been lobbying the City of South Bend, the Mayor and the Common Council to not only hear the demands of our neighborhood but to be counted as worthy as any other neighborhood district to see those improvements as well. I have just two (2) questions. How can you take money that has been accounted for our neighborhood and put it in the section originally known as the Lasalle Park neighborhood and then change that name to the West Side?Number two (2), how can you place a resource center in the section where the original Lasalle Park Neighborhood Center used to reside and call it the West Side Resource Center without even having any of the neighbors or those of us that represent the neighborhood to be on the panel of the process and planning of such a facility? We as a neighborhood are tired of promises. We have come to the point where we are demanding equal recognition and the same equality as everyone else. I want to give recognition to Councilmember White for being at some of our meetings and listening to our concerns. My other question to the other two (2) Council Members At-Large is why you have refused our requests to come to our area and sit down with us. We want to know when you will be able to come because all neighborhoods in the City of South Bend are the same. South Bend is not recognized by the downtown building up. The infrastructure of where people live is what makes up South Bend and we would like for you to have more concern for those in the demographic area of where we are at which is mostly African American. George Jones, 256 N. Sheridan Street, South Bend, IN, stated, I have been a lifetime resident of South Bend. I come with three (3) basic concerns. My first (11t) concern deals with the Lasalle Park Charles Black Center. My concern is the items. Does another Gazebo have to be placed out there?Additionally,the playground equipment is too far inward and needs to be closer to the street so that the people in the apartments can watch their kids as they play on the equipment. The upgrade of the shelter on the corner of Linden and Fountain Street needs to be redone. It has blighted for some time now and nobody has anything to take care of that. There should also be a sidewalk on Linden Street because a lot of people go back and forth there. It seems to be a great disparity, particularly when you think about the Charles Black Center and the Martin Luther King Center compared to the other Centers located in our community. My second (2nd) concern is the infrastructure. When you talk about infrastructure you are talking about people coming into our City and we have one (1) of the main corridors in Western Avenue and the island in the middle of the street on the corner of Lombardy and Western, it is deteriorating. Weeds are growing through there. As I drive down Western and I look at what the City has done, I applaud the mayor having done a little bit there, he gave us a few little crumbs. But the thing is, we need additional opportunities to improve our community. He has people working but they stop at a certain area. I look at the streets and curbs. Curb appeal is critical. They should employ someone to spray those weeds along the curb. Businesses have to maintain the properties themselves. And then you talk about the vacant lots. Until you get that point, I can't understand why the City can't appropriate some monies to have those vacant lots attended to. Jerry Donaldson, 1126 W. Jefferson Boulevard, South Bend,IN, stated,I sat and listened to people here and I listened to the passion and compassion of those who are speaking. This is the City of South Bend. And the City of South Bend, though you have blight over here but excellence over there, it is just like your physical body. If your physical body is doing well in two thirds (2/3) of your body but one third (1/3) is diseased, your whole body is diseased. What I'm hearing is the West Side is diseased. You talk about allocating monies and putting them in the triangle, if any area of South Bend is blighted, all of South Bend is blighted because anybody that comes into this City,they are coming into the City of South Bend not parts of the City of South Bend. The City of South Bend is the City of South Bend. Let's do right by the City of South Bend. Thank you. 16