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Show Aprit 2001 ~- Name Your Newspaper - page 2 The Role of the Community Council by Charlotte Fife-Jepperson Unless you come from a very community. service-oriented family or you, yourself, are very active in your community, chances are that you may not know exactly what a. community couricil does.or what it is all about. Sure, you may be familiar with the terms "community- numerous to list but some areas include crime, education, employment, fire and medical services, street and traffic control, parks, transportation, street lighting, libraries, taxes, political elections, ed by PGCC, but came to fruition through the unified efforts of the PGCC, the school board, and a coalition of private -industries. | Another project that Marshall spoke of was the implementation of the- Mobile Watch Program in Poplar etc. When asked if he thought the Grove. The Mobile Watch.is a vol- council”, but do you know how your PGCC has been effective in doing what it was set up to do, Marshall local directly said, "The measure of success is affects your life or what it has done accomplishment, and the accomplishments of the PGCC in recent untary resident patrol program designed to aid police in fighting crime in local neighborhoods. As far as Marshall knows, their Mobile community council in your neighborhood? : Longtime resident of the Poplar Grove community, Eldon Marshall, is an informed, active citizen who knows exactly what community years speak for themselves". Over five years ago, when. the property (formerly belonging to— Brown Floral) adjacent to the Jordan councils are. and how they run. . River between Fifth and Seventh Marshall was steadily involved with South was up for sale, the PGCC one community council or another was instrumental in having it for 14 years, and during several of obtained for the creation of the River Park Subdivision. Marshall involvement began as vice-chair believes ‘this provided with the former West Salt Lake attractive housing in the neighbor- Community Council, and later with the Poplar Grove Community Improvement Association, which improvement of that section of the those years he was chair. His evolved into a separate Poplar Grove Community Council (PGCC), of which Marshall became chair. Every community council has its own by-laws, goals, and objectives. ‘Under Marshall's direction, PGCC had four general goals: 1) to provide a safe and desirable community in which to live, 2) to develop an organization which will efficiently direct people and resources in times of need, 3) to generate increased cit_ izen participation and community pride, and 4) to organize a coalition. of community, churches, government, and private industry. to achieve the community objectives. The PGCC objectives are too not only hood, but also meant a general Jordan River Parkway trail. Instead of creating low-income rental properties or turning it into a commercial area, the PGCC wanted to create an area that would attract long-term homeowners and young families that would potentially help to revi- talize the community. Another result of PGCC's efforts has been the upgrading of local parks using | Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) . Watch Program was the first of it's kind in the state of Utah. Despite the seemingly positive accomplishments of community councils, not everyone is completely working and problem-solving takes place in Jordan Park while families are playing. tennis,” she said. Milner would like to see less formal community -activities that bring together ethnically diverse residents of the West Side. "Why not have monthly Meet Your Neighbor Day. activities?" she suggested. | She - believes this would foster acceptance among residents who apparent- ly fear one another's differences. Milner also feels that community councils on the West Side tend to be somewhat negative-minded. "The ~Mobile Watch program fosters a negative attitude in the community satisfied with the way community by creating suspicion between resi- councils go about their work. West Side resident, former . City dents," she said. - According to. Milner, the key to building a more Councilwoman and State Legislator inclusive, tolerant community is to Joann Milner, feels.that certain comfocus on positive aspects of the resimunity councils on the West Side ~ dents in the neighborhood, not the have been seriously deficient in repnegative. And she: believes that resenting the ethnically diverse popsome of the backward attitudes of ulations that they serve. "We have community council leaders actually an opportunity to set the standards discourage resident involvement. for the entire state of Utah; being She believes that community. counproactive instead of setting’an exam-_ cils have the potential to have a pos- ple of exclusive racism in the press," _ itive effect on the neighborhoods said Milner. Milner was referring to they serve if they were more ethniCity cally diverse, inclusive, and proac- Weekly in August of 2000, which an article published in The tive. | | So, whatever your take on com- described the social and political turmoil associated with a traditionally white, Mormon community facing an increasingly multi-ethnic/reli| gious population on the West Side. munity councils, they do exist and are actively trying to represent their residents’ interests. But only those who attend the monthly meetings (or contact the community council funds, such as the revitalization of Milner's gripes with community ‘both Poplar Grove and Sherwood Parks. This occurred incrementally councils go further than her opinion of their non-representational nature. in some way) can let their interests be heard. Hopefully, with the cre- over a number.of years. She worries that the formality of community council meetings may exclude minority groups. "For ation of a community newspaper and web site, voicing your opinion and getting involved in your com- According example, in the Tongan community, to Marshall, this project was initiat- some of the most important net- munity council may be a little easier than it was previously. Another example of PGCC's accomplishments is the adding-on of the new wing at Edison School. Mobile Neighborhood Watch by Barbara Rufenacht | There are more honest people in Poplar - Grove than there are criminals. But those — criminals cause all sorts of problems for the honest ones. There are more of us than there are of them, and we are potentially better city of Salt Lake. That translates into a shortage of officers for our area. As an alternative to paying higher taxes for more police presence, Mobile Watch provides additional trained eyes and ears on the streets to contribute information to the police and to send a visible mes- organized. The more eyes and ears there are in our community, the less attractive it will be to criminals. |; If you are interested in becoming a patroller, there are optional monthly advanced trainings their work. You must be eighteen years old, have a valid drivers license, and pass a background check to enter the program. If you do not drive you can still patrol as a companion to a driver. After some experience, one can patrol members who are willing to volunteer three to six hours a month — _to patrol their neighborhood as a visible. reminder that Criminals are not welcome. To become a volunteer, you must undergo six hours of classroom training as well as dispatch and ride-along patrol. Trained volunteers patrol in their own Cars also be notified to help with special police functions like lost children or drunk driver round-ups. on where one can learn a lot about how police do ‘Mobile Neighborhood Watch is a program that trains honest community dered away was found with the help of Mobile Neighborhood Watch. Patrol members may alone during the daylight hours. There is also a daylight hours bicycle patrol certification. In short, this is a fine program that could greatly improve our neighborhood if more people were willing to volunteer. Currently other in pairs, at times, with- in the area of Poplar Grove. Patrollers will be provided with a magnetic placard, which sage to. criminals that they risk getting caught if they mess with this neighborhood. areas of the city have more involvement in the mobile neighborhood watch, but that can attaches to the side of their vehicle for identifi- In a January Deseret News article, Mobile Neighborhood patrollers in St. George report- change. If you are interested in volunteering or want more information, call your mobile neigh- cation. They will also carry police scanners and radios, a cell phone and other equipment to aid in observation and reporting. There are roughly 400 police for the entire edly helped. police nab vandals who were - shooting out car windows. Recently, a senior citizen with Alzheimer's disease who had wan- -borhood watch coordinator Barbara Rufenacht at 596-1848 or call the community support - division officer at 799-3333. - |
