Taking a stand

A safe place to live

You can find an excellent article on good things happening in Bartlett Park in today's local St. Petersburg edition of the St. Petersburg Times. The page one story continues to focus on homicides as it has for a week but the Neighborhood Times provides some much needed context along with some photos of our friend and super volunteer Willeen Kelly.

Please pick up a copy if you haven't read it. The web version has a different headline and is missing the photos.

In a box on page 10 are some crime statistics that show a dramatic decline in the crime rate for our neighborhood. This key fact has not been well reported. Most readers and viewers of TV news have been given the opposite impression by the daily repetition of pictures of guns and bullet holes. Not that we are any where near being satisfied with crime remaining at a higher rate than other areas in our city, but we see we are making tremendous progress. We need to keep doing what works.

My own quote sounds like I don't value the contributions of a separate and "informal" neighborhood group mentioned in the story. I do appreciate all who make an effort to improve this community, so I apologize for not saying exactly that. I took a quick call from the Times and spoke without giving it enough thought. My concern of a few years ago was that the actions of a small group of white association members caused black members to stay away from association meetings. That's not a problem today. The association and crime watch have done very well since then with a leadership and membership that reflects the diversity of our residents. There is no need to worry about an absence of black leadership or involvement. Events like Friday's march from Bartlett Park and the door to door canvas last May showed us that many hundreds of mostly black volunteers are here to help us finish the job and keep this area safe.

The web edition is here.