East Side???

[AllanY2525]

I will apologize to everyone on the forum in advance for the following editorial,
but I honestly felt that someone really needed to "put this out there".

Feel free to skip this post if it proves to be too long and your eyes start to
glaze over....LOL




God is omniscient.

The Y.P.D. and Mahoning County Sheriffs are not. 

Citizens reporting and participating are one of the best weapons the police have
against crime of all kinds, especially ongoing criminal enterprises like drug dealing
and gang activity.  They give the police more sets of eyes and ears.  I really like the
new program with neighborhood patrol officers that are dedicated to specific areas
and communities in the city. Hopefully it will help make a difference and get more
people to step forward when they hear and see criminal activity in their neighborhood.

The people of the east side should be asking their council person questions like
"what are you doing about the crime problem on the east side of Youngstown?", "Do
you have an action plan to deal with this problem in our neighborhoods?", "What can
you do to better promote the neighborhoods you were elected to serve?" , "Can you
help us to plan and promote community based events?", "What are your plans and
ideas to seek out and procure more investment for projects on the East Side of
Youngstown?"

As others have already said, the people in that ward elected the councilperson
that serves their ward - for better or for worse, although I cannot 
understand why they have re-elected the same councilperson(s) again if they
haven't been getting the actions and results that they so desperately need. 

Ironically, that problem is about to be rectified by something they didn't choose
for themselves.  That something can be summed up in just two small words.

TERM LIMITS.

The Wick Park Neighborhood association, Wick Park Neighbors and North Side Citizens
Coalition have done many, many neighborhood cleanup projects - including cleanup
events, boarding up vacant structures, cutting grass and other yardwork, etc.

They do these things to help the city, but moreso to help themselves and their
neighborhood. They do these things rather than pi** and moan and bit** about
which side of town gets more grass cut by the city. 

The Northside Citizens Coalition found new owners for almost FORTY vacant homes
in the Wick Park neighborhood.  The fact that the coalition took it upon itself
to do this still amazes me to this day.  It brought new people and new life to a dying
neighborhood and things just keep getting better as they go.

Crandall Park has groups doing the same types of things in their neighborhood, as
do groups on the south and west sides.  Commuity gardens, a man renovating
the old Sheet and Tube housing in a neighboring town with his own non-profit
group.  The list goes on and on. 

If THEY can do this for THEIR neighborhoods, so can people living on the East Side.

A quick search on Facebook will reveal that quite a few of the various neighborhood
groups and associations have been active there for a long time, some for several
years now.  Are there any groups, associations, etc. on the east side using social
media to promote their cause and their events?

I sincerely hope that the next councilperson elected to represent Eastsiders will do
more to promote the East Side and to address the problems there.  Maybe he or
she will come up with some fresher and better ideas, and be more "hands on".

If there are no events happening on the East side , it's because no one on the
East side is planning any - this strikes me as being their own fault.  There are
plenty of people planning and executing public events in other neighborhoods
across the city - and getting the word out so that people will attend.

Our own Rick from this very forum, for instance, plans and executes his own events
at the the museum on Hubbard road, all by himself.  He doen't seem to have any
problem getting the word out when he does. He has his own web site.  Now if he can
do this all by himself, just think what folks on the East side could do if they got together
and applied themselves.

As far as funding goes, where are the grant writers on the EAST SIDE?  Plenty of folks
have stepped to the plate elsewhere in town and gotten considerable sums granted
to them by various government and private sources.....so why is no one on the east side
doing this?

The project that Mr. Gillam is working on may have the "appearance of impropriety", but
on the UP side, he IS trying to do something for the east side, at least.

[iwasthere]

The East Side is so crime infested that the decent people are terrified to speak out. You folks that live in the better parts of town may not understand it as you live in the relative safety of your neighborhoods, sit there bragging about how good things are for you, but me friends on the East Side tell me that life there is a living hell thanks to the drug lords and their underlings. We moved out of the East Side some 22 years ago and it was starting it's downward fall then, and it hasn't stopped since. It's current Councilman had done nothing to improve things there.

blame these problems on the residents that live on that side of town for their own misery. they elected their reps and they reap what they sow. the pts of ytown that is fine and dandy is due to good leadership and active residents in their nieghborhood. remember the squecky wheel gets the oil.

[Towntalk]

The East Side is so crime infested that the decent people are terrified to speak out. You folks that live in the better parts of town may not understand it as you live in the relative safety of your neighborhoods, sit there bragging about how good things are for you, but me friends on the East Side tell me that life there is a living hell thanks to the drug lords and their underlings. We moved out of the East Side some 22 years ago and it was starting it's downward fall then, and it hasn't stopped since. It's current Councilman had done nothing to improve things there.

[iwasthere]

YTOWN RESIDENTS MUST STEP UP TO THE PLATE TO BE HEARD.

[Towntalk]

There are 4 Block Watch/Neighborhood groups, none with a web site. A search of events postings in the Vindicator show no events on the East Side. Aside from the events at St. Angela Merici, it appears that there is nothing going on on the East Side.

[jay]

Someone recently complained that no events were being posted for the south side of Youngstown. 

The east side has no Forum participation at all.