Perceptions fuel town hall talk
Updated 08/02/2007 11:35:20 PM CDT
 
BEAUMONT - As people trickled out of a town hall meeting aimed at addressing long-standing ills in Ward 4, representatives from two of the city's oldest neighborhood associations stayed back to talk about how the groups could join forces to solve some of the problems that plague South Park and Pear Orchard
 
Lester Volrie, newly elected president of the Pear Orchard Neighborhood Association, and Patsy Mahfouz, who helped spearhead a drive to bring back the South Park Neighborhood Association, brainstormed ways to curb crime, empower residents and create a sense of community.

They were among 100 people who attended the first of a series of quarterly town hall meetings Mayor Becky Ames promised would be held in each of the city's four wards.

At the beginning of the 2˝-hour meeting, Ransom "Duce" Jones raised a long-standing belief by residents in Ward 4 that the West End gets better response and service from the city.

He also said the council plays a role in development in various areas because of tax incentives offered.

"The problem is, we in this community look at ourselves as second-class citizens because the city looks at us as second-class citizens," Jones said. "... That is why people are upset there. It's not what you say, it is what you do. That is why we feel the way we do."

Ames said the council looks at the impact to the entire city when decisions are made, and one of the purposes of the town hall was to address what could be done to bring new development to neglected, blighted neighborhoods.

Empowering residents to fix the problems was a thread throughout the session.

Harold Haynes held up pictures of trash people chuck out on the street, and commercial garbage disposal bins that people use for their household trash, creating an eyesore.

"It's incumbent on each and every one of us to alleviate this problem," Haynes said.

"We have to do our part. People always say the city, the city. We are the city," Haynes said.

ddixon@beaumontenterprise.com
(409) 880-0733


Updated 08/02/2007 11:35:20 PM CDT