December 2008 / Meeting Notes

First Creek Neighborhood December Meeting Recap

What a ggggggggrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaatttttttt meeting!!!
Over 70 people poured in for the potluck but seemed more interested in what the various speakers had to say! We had our usual supporters such as T.E.A.M, Tribal Planner David Whited, Tacoma Police, Tribal Police, Audubon Society, Department of Corrections, Code Enforcement, Tacoma Housing Authority, Tribal Housing Authority, Tacoma Community College, Safe Streets, and many of our neighbors! Among our first-time visitors were from Jeff Thomas, from Tribal Cultural and Historical Resource Management, Nathan from KUOW Radio, Kevin Jones from Bank of America, etc. Many other folks could not make it but sent their greetings via email and phone calls prior to the meeting.

Some of the highlights were Chris Ott’s update on the First Creek Community Stewardship Plan which was approved this past month by Tacoma City Council. This means we have agreement between the community, the tribe, and the city!!! Chris brought celebratory cake which was delicious. I need to get his recipe!

We will be giving a tour of the creek area for the Council Members very soon! You are welcome to join us if you like.

Jeanie Peterson, Hilltop Block Leader, fielded questions from the audience again and gave us renditions of her unique ways of dealing with knuckleheads. She asked everyone to give one hour a month in support of our neighborhood Did you know Tacoma was in the Top Ten for Most Litter? Yikes!!! So why not take charge of your block and pick up litter on your block?

Also in attendance and fielding questions was our much-respected and appreciated Community Liaison Officer, Bert Hayes who told us about the last tag and tow day. They tagged 80 cars and towed 6 so people are getting the message that we are raising the bar and anything sub-standard will not be tolerated….We thought you should know something about Bert--despite being so very busy, the day after the meeting he went out and had two couches hauled away that a knucklehead left out in front of her house on the side walk for over a month. He didn’t have to do that, but he cares about our neighborhood!! Thanks Bert!!

Guy and Martin, Citizen Patrol Leaders, gave us an update on our recent descent on Portland Avenue. We had an overwhelming response from the public that took the form of people coming out to walk with us and carry a sign, honking horns, thumbs up, shouts of “Thank You!!!”, and even hot chocolate! We were like the postal service…neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor hail, stopped us in our pursuit of criminal activity. We were safe and non-confrontational and had kids from 2 to 92 out there making the point that the streets and this neighborhood belong to us and not to the criminal element! We have taken a big bite out of their illegal businesses and we are unrelenting. Just when they think they have us figured out they see us out at the odd hour of the day or night on foot or in our vehicles. And just when they think they can relax and go back to business as “usual” they find one of OUR TWO police departments pulling up to arrest them! Yes, we have had some great successes! By the way, if you don’t see us walking out there, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a citizens’ patrol vehicle parked down the street watching with binoculars.

Yes, We have the unique privilege of having two police departments at our disposal and they have both been extremely responsive and supportive. They care! Just as much as we care!!!

Bob Wistoski, Forester, told us about the upcoming opportunity for us all to get Free Trees from the city for our planting strips. There are many beautiful choices of mature trees. Volunteers can plant them and D.O.C. can provide the hole-diggers. All it takes to water them is about 5 gallons a month…..that’s ONE flush of the toilet!!! If you are worried about leaves know that we are looking at getting our own equipment and/or resources for dealing with that so let’s beautify our neighborhood and bring up our property values and make First Creek Beautiful!

Next Meeting January 7th. Hope to see you there!

Submitted by Lena