International Village Block Club works to reverse neighborhood decline
by Chuck Hoven

(Plain Press, September 2009) At the August 20th meeting of the International Village Block Club, residents voiced their concerns about the city’s failure to replace burned out street lights, and tear down condemned housing. Block club members also came together to celebrate successes and organize efforts to tackle issues facing the neighborhood from W. 46th to W. 52nd between Clark and Store Avenues.

The group celebrated the success of the volunteer security patrols, which have helped to clear away drug trafficking and robberies on W. 48th Street. Two volunteers dressed in security shirts were present at the meeting held at the home of the group’s president Kathy Oberst and her husband Art Ledger. Oberst said the security patrols help to escort elderly residents and call in crimes or suspicious activity to the police.

Ledger reported that the International Village Block Club was celebrating the fruits of their labor by harvesting vegetables at four neighborhood community gardens. The block club planted the gardens on vacant lots in the neighborhood. Ledger said ten families were benefiting from the bounty of the gardens. He asked that when children come to pick up vegetables at the garden that they stay at the entrance to the garden and ask an adult volunteer to go and retrieve vegetables in order to keep plants from being trampled. Ledger asked that volunteers who helped with weekly weeding continue to help with the harvest.

In addition to the community gardens, there are other efforts underway in the neighborhood to bring healthier food to the table. A representative of the Ohio State University Extension Service talked about an upcoming workshop to help neighborhood residents to learn to eat healthier food. She said the workshop would be offered to adults who take care of children. She said she was working with the Stockyard Redevelopment Organization’s corner store program to help recruit parents, guardians and grandparents for an upcoming workshop. The corner store program is an effort to encourage corner stores to offer healthier food for sale such as more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Ledger said the International Village Block Club would hold a Haunted House Community Fundraiser in the evenings from October 23rd to October 30th at Ledger’s place of business, A & K Taxidermy at 3172 W. 48th. The five-dollar admission charge to the Haunted House will help support efforts of the block club.

Oberst announced that the International Village Block Club successfully won a grant of $3,000 from the City Works Program. She said this grant, along with a Neighborhood Connections grant of $4,500, will help to place 35 street lights posts on lawns on W. 48th between Clark Avenue and Bragdon. She said Cleveland Public Power would hook up the new lights to the power grid.

Residents expressed their concern about burned out streetlights on W. 47th from Storer to Clark and on W. 49th Place from Kouba to Clark. They noted six recent robberies in neighborhood alleys where the lighting is poor. Another resident complained about youths walking in the street

Commander Keith Sulzer suggested that the youths might feel safer in the streets because the lack of lighting afforded places muggers could hide behind bushes. Residents reported they had been trying since last winter to get the streetlights replaced. Commander Sulzer offered to call the street light number himself to see if that would help get action. He also offered to relay the information to Ward 14 Councilman Joe Santiago’s office so additional pressure would be applied. Councilman Santiago, in attendance at the meeting, agreed to help follow-up on the complaint.

Residents complained to Commander Sulzer about trouble flagging down police officers when witnessing criminal activity in the neighborhood. Commander Sulzer said officers could have been in route to a high priority call. He urged residents to get a car number and a badge number if possible when complaining about an officer. “That is the only way I can make the officers accountable,” said Commander Sulzer.

Complaints about thefts from houses and drug dealing along Oakley also surfaced. For misdemeanor complaints, Commander Sulzer suggested if residents could identify the perpetrator of the crime they could go to the prosecutor’s office themselves. He said residents could file a police report online (crimereports.com) for misdemeanor crime and traffic accidents. Commander Sulzer said he hopes that the online police reports, a new service, will help to free up officers to get to crimes quicker. He suggested calling Vice or 621-1234 for drug reports.

Oberst expressed concern about the lack of Regional Transit Authority bus shelters on Clark Avenue. Councilman Santiago said replacing broken glass on the shelters and cleaning up graffiti made putting shelters in the neighborhood too costly for RTA. Santiago also noted the narrow sidewalks on Clark Avenue made placement of shelters difficult.

Councilman Santiago suggested long range plans called for the reconstruction of Clark Avenue from W. 41st to W. 65th as part of a International Village business revitalization district. He said businesses would be encouraged to enter the storefront program, and street beautification would occur. He asked for patience saying, “It is not going to happen overnight.” He said the International Village concept should help to bring additional stores to the neighborhood.

A representative of the Building and Housing Department could not make the meeting, but sent a list of 23 condemned houses in the neighborhood (8 houses on W. 48th, 9 houses on W. 46, three on W. 51st, and one on W. 47th, one on W. 50th and one on Storer. Residents said many of the houses remained on the list from last winter. Ledger reported that six houses in the neighborhood were torn down after the last visit to the neighborhood meeting by a Building and Housing official this past winter. He was disappointed that George Lazarowski of the Building and Housing Department could not make it to the meeting, as he was hoping for a repeat performance. Additional houses in the neighborhood are vacant and abandoned, but not yet condemned by the city, he said.

Oberst expressed concern that the lack of street lighting and the large number of vacant and abandoned houses served as a hazard to the neighborhood. She said this was of particular concern in a neighborhood with a number of day care providers. She attributed the vacant houses to a combination of people walking away from properties they couldn’t afford, absentee landlords and boarded up former drug houses.

Oberst expressed hope that a recent drug bust at W. 50th and Clark Avenue that resulted in 36 arrests would help reduce some of the drug trafficking in the neighborhood.

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