October 2006 Minutes

Welcome our new guest, Dennis Millan.

POLICE REPRESENTATION: OFFICER MITCHELL AND RUBY NAILER
Officer Mitchell addresses the noise violation statement in the letter to Carla Smith. He stated that if there is a crime, there must be a victim, and to give the violator a ticket, he must talk to person who makes complaints. This means that the neighbor must be willing to go to court with the violator. JP, Joe and Jeff all mention that they have requested to see police on previous problems, but that no police come to speak to people.
Officer Mitchell’s comment on handling the noise violations: “...on the first complaint, I will cite them, on the second one I will lock them up [if neighbor is willing to prosecute].” He also said that he will talk to beat officers about how to consistently handle complaints and contradictions.

There were complaints to Officer Mitchell about long police response time. He mentioned that some calls are pending, and an officer may hear about the call in 10 minutes, and can respond right away, but some calls may stay in a queue for 50 minutes or longer before the officers even hear about the call. Low priority calls go at the bottom of the queue.

In reference to the police presence, Officer Mitchell stated that “deterrent driving” is only deterring when the cars are actually are there. Sometimes police presents makes fights worse because fighters know they will not get killed by another fighter as long as police are there, so it causes the crowd to get larger. Kevin asked officers Mitchell if they have any unmarked cars; Officer Mitchell said they do.

Important arrests: Michael Dollar was arrested on Moreland with 41 counts of burglary against him.

About neighborhood prostitution: Jeff said he will write a letter to the home owner of the house on Federal Terrace about the prostitution in the home.

General questions to officers:
Julie Watson: Can you meet officer somewhere other than your home?
Officer Mitchell: Not good tact for officer to bring criminal to the victim or witness’ house. When you want to prosecute, it is smarter to bring several people to court. This will protect people from being singled out when/if the criminal hits the streets again, plus there strength in numbers. When several people complain about something it is heard and more than likely, more will be done to prevent the problem from recurring.
JP Michalik: Is the break-in trend still going?
Officer Mitchell: Nothing out of the normal.
Officer Nailer: At 1940 fisher road there was a car-jacking. There was also an abducted child. Right now, Honda Civics and Accords are hot targets for break-in, so if you drive this model of car, please be aware. Do not leave valuables in your car. Most home burglaries are during the day. The 900 block Custer had 3 break-ins by sliding glass doors in 8 days.
Jeff Erwin: What is the reason that there is so much crime? Is it that there are not enough police? Not enough jail space?
Officer Nailer: The problem is from a combination of things. Most of it is actually negligence on the home owner’s behalf; just “crimes of opportunity.” Fulton lets people out of prison with ease. Even repeat offenders, with 38 crimes under their belt. Part of the problem is no jail space. Fulton released 500 criminals to free up space in jails.
Officer Mitchell: Dekalb County is much harder on criminals, and people who know that they will be staying in prison for a couple of years are less likely to repeat a crime than those who are only in for a couple of days like they are in Fulton County.
Zuaquis Ross: Who to we address this issue with?
Officer Mitchell: Your local politicians.
Officer Nailer: Another good thing to do is to talk to people at SAND to have a larger voice when approaching the politicians.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: DEFERRED UNTIL NEXT MONTH (NONE PRESENT)
TREASURER: Adam mentions that it will be a long process to turn BPNA into a 501c4. We will also need a lawyer. Zuaquis mentions that there is a lawyer living in the neighborhood in East Village Park, and that her brother-in-law is also a lawyer.
Official Report: $520 in box. There will be a money order issued to the church in the amount of $50 for letting us use their space for meetings, and for the yard sale. It will go to support their programs for feeding the hungry.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:
Committees for those interested in joining: zoning/code enforcement, safety police, neighborhood improvement / special projects, transportation / beltline committee, community relations (chosewood / boulevard attendee/ federal prison). Adam suggests to have people sign up on the sign-in sheet (sign-in sheet not in possession of substitute secretary, cannot report results of committee sign-up).

COMMUNITY RELATIONS
JP went to meeting at Chosewood Park in September. At the meeting he observed that the crime reports seemed way more serious than those reported in Benteen. Developers for the Boulevard enhancement project (between the proposed Beltline tracks and Englewood) were there. Developer proposed a 45,000 sq. ft. market + 30k mixed use space with large mixed use public park area. At Chosewood’s October meeting, there is discussion about the happenings for the old GM plant. It was also reported that the Chevron on the corner of McDonough and Boulevard has a new lease.

NEIGHBORHOOD IMPROVEMENT: Proposition to postpone the Yard Sale scheduled for November until next spring. Voted and passed.

OLD BUSINESS: Jeff wrote email to Ms. Fordham in Public Works office about the installation of traffic calming devices. In that email he stated that it has been one year since the original request for assistance and questioned the reason it was taking so long.

NPU-W: Issues were addressed at NPU-W meeting in reference to the bulb-outs in Grant Park along Boulevard. It was suggested that effected hoods should be part of development process. Lauren Whittaker will question the study on the bulb-outs. Once there is record of opposition, there is more potential for assistance for the opposing neighborhoods. Multiple emails were sent to various people (unstated) regarding the opposition. Adam will send reminder email of NPU-W meeting, and the email address of the person to contact about opposition to bulb-outs. There was mention of the letter that Benteen Park’s committee (minus JP) wrote about the traffic calming devices in Grant Park. It was sent to
lwhitaker@atlantaga.gov

CHANGE MEETING DAY: Benteen would like to make a better outreach to Chosewood. Would like to change meeting date to make it more conducive to bring concerns to SAND.

Katie will approach print companies about sign pricing.

Jeff Proposes that the meeting be moved to first Tuesday of the month. Approved: 12/0
Adam will contact the church about moving the meeting. If church agrees, the first meeting of 2007 (Jan 2) will be the first meeting held on the new week night.

On Nov. 30. Benteen is hosting District one community leaders meeting. Reps from all leaders in this district will be present, and it will be held in the church. We will schedule a planning meeting prior to the community leaders meeting to ensure that all important issues are covered.

Katie will pass out flyers promoting the pre-meeting time / date, the announcement of the holiday party (which will be taking place in lieu of the December meeting) and the meeting day change. Suggestion was made to have the flyer translated into Spanish.

Neighborhood cleanup reminder.


Holiday Potluck Sign-up Sheet:
Todd & Jeff (something)
Joe & Victoria (something)
Adam (pasta)
Katie & JP (dessert & appetizer of some kind)
Donald & Julie (dessert & chicken wing dip)
Dennis Millan (something)
Kevin Gaston (main dish or dessert)
Zuaquis Ross (something)