Ideas sprout from conference

Flint Downtown Weed and Seed held a conference for community leaders with the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) March 9 and March 10 at the Haskell Center, 2201 Forest Hill.

Abandoned and foreclosed properties that foster arson and criminal activities were the focus of the meeting.

Participants came out of the workshop sessions with a several plans of action using principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).

Moses Saygbe, senior trainer with NCPC and a conference coordinator, explained how CPTED works.

"Crime may be related to existing land use — vacant buildings or vacant lots taken over by gangs and drug users," Saygbe said. "Or crime may be related to a specific site or traffic patterns. Drug dealers establish themselves at important street intersections."

According to Saygbe, cities like Houston, and Troy, N.Y., reduced crime by first evaluating their neighborhoods, completing an inventory and accessing crime data. Then they analyzed the results and examined the relationship between physical environment and crime.

Reducing graffiti citywide sparked conversations about turning damaged areas into community art projects. According to Dale Scanlon, Citizens Nuisance Task Force, his group has already removed more than 1,600 instances of graffiti.

Saygbe urged Scanlon to go one step further by getting the city involved in the graffiti cleanup.

Michael Reiter, from the city's neighborhood enforcement, said it was difficult to get anything done. "In my 12 years with the city, I've been laid off seven times. Its frustrating. Projects die in the interim."

"Cleanups deter crime," Saygbe said. "And it's done one property at a time, one block at a time, one neighborhood at a time."

Doug Weiland, executive director of the Genesee County Land Bank, talked about the dramatic population loss in recent years and the number of people walking away from properties because it is economically beneficial.

Weiland said that one in every four abandoned properties in Flint is owned by the Land Bank. He explained the population is decreasing but tax foreclosures are increasing. Weiland provided statistics showing foreclosures nearly doubled in the last two years. The problem is compounded because it costs more to rehabilitate a house than its market value.

Weiland said the Land Bank owns 10 percent of all the parcels in Flint, but not an entire block. That makes cutting critical services to an area impossible because of a few remaining residents. Many elderly people are economically trapped in an area surrounded by vacant parcels that breed crime.

Weiland acknowledged a rumored $400,000 cut in county funding. He encouraged neighborhood associations to cut more grass and clear more trash on vacant properties if the cut occurs.

"The Land Bank may own the property, but it's still your neighborhood," Weiland said.

Carriage Town Neighborhood Association President Tim Monahan, advocated raising the property tax to support cleanup efforts.

"I'm paying half of the taxes I did five years ago," Monahan said. "I would support a tax increase that puts me back to where I was then," he said.

Bobbie Boyer, an independent consultant working with an ex-offenders program, talked about using ex-offenders for cleanup programs. She said it is a chance for people to make amends and give back to the community by cleaning up the city they harmed.

City Police Officer David Bigelow and Michigan State Police Sergeant Lenny Jaskulka provided information on the rash of arsons throughout the city.

Over 500 fires — mostly in vacant homes — have charred the city leaving people asking why.

"We rely on people for information about arsons," Jaskulka said. "But people are not coming forward. Without witnesses we can't get a conviction."

Jaskulka urged people to call the arson tip line at 800-44-ARSON if they have information.

"I'm overwhelmed at the turnout," said community activist David Caswell about the more than 40 people who attended.

"There are an incredible amount of volunteers who care about the city. If the city is going to change, it will be people like these that will make it happen. As residents, they can't depend that the system will work. They have to be actively involved to make sure it works," Caswell continued.

The U.S. Justice Department funded the conference.

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