ACTIVISM UP IN MARYVALE, OFFICIALS SAY
Byline: By Ryan Konig, Staff writer
City officials have detected a sharp increase in neighborhood activism within Maryvale.
The west-side community had a record 80 neighborhoods register with the Phoenix Block Watch Advisory Board and the Police Department to participate in the Aug. 3 National Night Out celebration.
That accounted for about one-third of the neighborhoods citywide that held block parties and other events for Night Out, an annual celebration to encourage neighborhoods to organize against crime.
The numbers point to a sudden growth of neighborhood activism among west-siders, one that is unmatched by other communities, said Richard Fox, chairman of the city's Block Watch Advisory Board.
''It's just been an impressive show of activism,'' Fox said.
''I know that my west-side neighborhood was the only one in our general area that participated in National Night Out last year. This year there were at least seven other neighborhood groups in our area that held events.''
Cynthia Schwartz, a Maryvale activist who helped organize Night Out celebrations, has theories for the west-side's apparent spurt of involvement.
''We have a lot of strong community groups -- Maryvale PRIDE, Maryvale Alliance, and others -- that have made a focused effort to get neighborhoods organized,'' Schwartz said.
She said that City Councilman John Nelson, who represents much of the west side and is chairman of the council's subcommittee on public safety, has been working with neighborhoods to develop several anti-crime programs.
One of the recent Maryvale neighborhoods to organize is the Tomahawk Neighborhood Association, bounded by Camelback and Indian School roads, between 75th and 83rd avenues.
Tomahawk formed its association in March and the group already has 500 members from about 130 homes in the one-square mile area, said Diane Donnelly, one of the neighborhood's residents.
''The improvements in just the past two or three months have been very noticeable since we organized,'' Donnelly said ''People are really becoming more conscientious about taking care of the neighborhood.''
West Phoenix activism recently touched the city as a whole.
West-side residents, including Schwartz and Fox, were instrumental in organizing a proposal to hire an additional 200 police officers and 70 firefighters.
The proposal will be listed on the Oct. 5 election ballot as Proposition 301. If approved, the city's sales tax will be raised to 6.8 percent, from 6.7 percent.