POLITICIANS, ACTIVISTS TO SEEK CRIME SOLUTIONS
Byline: By Ryan Konig, Staff writer
Politicians will meet with neighborhood activists in what may be the first of a series of
forums to find solutions to crime and decay.
The first forum, which takes place Saturday, was organized by the Phoenix Block Watch Advisory Board and Sen. Dennis DeConcini's office.
Richard Fox, president of the Block Watch Advisory Board says the forum is a chance to familiarize Arizona's federal lawmakers on neighborhood problems.
It also is a chance to inform them about which community-improvement programs are effective in dealing with teenage violence and other neighborhood concerns.
Matt Collins, a spokesman for DeConcini, said the Democrat sees the forum as a chance to find new ideas to make neighborhoods safer.
The forum has been set for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the Boys & Girls Club, 1330 N. 15th St.
The panel will include DeConcini; Sen. Chuck Blanchard, D-central Phoenix; County Supervisor Mary Rose Wilcox; and City Councilman Calvin Goode.
It will include neighborhood activists, including Sophia Lopez, who founded the Phoenix chapter of Mother's Against Gangs.
In addition, the organizers have sent out about 2,000 invitations to people involved with Block Watch, neighborhood associations and city-run youth programs.
People will have a chance to talk to the panel about neighborhood programs and problems.
''This will give residents a chance to talk about neighborhood problems and solutions with people from all levels of government,'' Fox said.
Collins said ''juvenile violence has been increasing, and clearly the solutions in place are not working. We need to find new ideas, and we need to look to the community for those ideas.
''These forums are an opportunity for us to find out what works and what doesn't. It's a chance to hear it from the people who are afraid to walk to their cars at night or go out in the evening.''
Collins said that ideally, DeConcini would like to have monthly forums and that the next one might be in Maryvale.
Betty Bellanger, a Sunnyslope activist invited to the forum, said it could work well to help neighborhoods so long as there is as much emphasis on solving problems as there is on talking about them.
''I think that talking is good, and there are a lot of intelligent people out there with good ideas,'' Bellanger said. ''But there needs to be an emphasis divided equally between talking and doing.''
Jaime Cardenas, a south Phoenix activist, agreed.
''There is plenty of talk already about neighborhood issues,'' he said.
Cardenas said that he and others in his community would be interested in organizing a forum for south Phoenix if Saturday's event produces real results.
The Block Watch Advisory Board, which is hosting the event, works with the Police Department to educate residents about crime prevention and to promote Block Watch.
Fox said he isn't sure how many forums like Saturday's might be organized in the future, or which federal lawmakers might be involved.
''It's really up to the senators and the representatives to take an interest in this and pursue it,'' he said.