10-09-18 Community Relations - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK Bend. So, there's a lot of national policies here but what can we do locally. (Pointing to the young man next to him)he stated, This is my son, Quan. He is a student at Kennedy Primary Academy. Quan Arevelo, stated, I'm seven years old, and I go to Kennedy Primary Academy. Jose Arevelo stated, My son goes to Kennedy Primary Academy, right in the middle of the hood. Related to the issues about Code Enforcement, and all of the issues surrounding that, a few years ago, I was a graduate student at Ohio State University. While I was there, I took on a summer internship. It was with the City Code Enforcement,with the City of Bexley, Ohio. If anyone knows where that is, it is just a little community surrounded by the City of Columbus, and that's where the Governor's mansion is located. It is a very small community, and by the nature of it, it is a very affluent community. One (1) of the things I learned there is to have equitable enforcement of all properties in the City, because we're talking here about how the City is picking on low income people and people of color. I think the issue here is that we don't have enough Code Enforcement, or that we don't have fair Code Enforcement. That's a big issue. So how do we deal with that? One (1) of those issues is that a friend of mine told me that there is chipping paint on the garage that is sitting on the property where our Mayor lives. I don't think he'll ever get a fine or a hearing for that chipping paint. It's a lead issue, because that house where he lives was built before 1978. One(1) of the things that we hear a lot of concerns about is what's going on in the neighborhoods and how to turn investors. Well, landlords are not all that bad. I know a few own more than one hundred (100) properties or so, and my son and I aren't close to that. One (1) of the things is that there is a County process and a State process which allows for out of town investors to help the County meet its financial needs, and that is why we have County tax sales. If local investors aren't investing, then out of town and international investors do that, and that's a good way to support our County Government while we meet the needs of the community. Another survey is a good thing to do,but another survey just delays the problem further.We do one(1)more survey to prove what? Discrimination is alive and well, and so is selective enforcement. But I think having a more equitable enforcement of all properties in all parts of the City would resolve this, because people of means would be able to pay fines right away.My home is surrounded by lush bushes and privacy fencing, and no one knows that I don't mow my lawn more than once a year and I don't care. I don't care and my neighbors don't care. In my own way, I am preserving the environment because this is Indiana prairie that I am preserving, so there are multiple ways of looking at it. So it's not just about lush greens that imitate grasses from England or something like that, like all of these fake lawns that we have. Anyway, so equitable enforcement, I think, is the key to all of this. Thank you. Cherri Appenger, 533 S. Kenmore Street, stated, I live on the west side of town and I'd like to know about the grant for the west side homeowners. They said it's the west side or the LaSalle Park area. I grew up in the LaSalle Park area. I live across Western Avenue now, and they told me I don't qualify because I live on the south side of Western Avenue. How do they set the guidelines? I thought all of that was LaSalle Park or the west side. Committee Chair Williams-Preston stated, I wasn't a part of the process of choosing those neighborhoods, but some of the things that they considered were that those areas that have traditionally not been invested in, and where we've been hearing from residents about issues. A lot of folks in those particular neighborhoods have been coming to the City and saying that they need help and home improvement, and what they decided to do was to concentrate the dollars and increase the amount of money. What we normally do is we open it up to everybody all over the EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f 574.235.9173 TTD574.235.55671 www.southbendin.gov 14