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03/02/1997 . , .' I ~ . ~ .' . ,.,..~, ~... """'~:<:~~"~i::~~::~~::~~""~""~":>""'" ..'"; /....,:...,., ~. ::. .': '.':':' ,.~ ". .'. . ...... t... .: " ." . ~. .J' . .. . . . ~ I ~ _ .... ... ~ > . . .'. '.~: .' . , , . . .' '. ,. ',' c . . ,.' ... .; ,. .' I, ., I ~.. . c '. " . . ' . . . : .r" . c. ". .: ',' NGCTT " NORTH GREENWOOD COMMUNITY Ii TASK TEAM MINUTES . Date l1lo0 . . .) ~ ~'.'. '" .......__.~____~..~__....\, ~..(. I, . -t' I., ,~ " I. '~'.', .. , ~. ,'~ ". r..:....... . ~ l,' . .+1 f:':~'; '.' '\. ,'jl. '. '" /} NORm GREENWOOD COl\fMUNITY TASK TEAM CITY OF CLEARWATER MARCH 2, 1997 Present: Reverend William Graham Samuel Collie Mayme Hodges Bertha Kelley Joe Marshall Mary Samuel Bob Clark Ed Hooper Karen Seel Kathy S. Rice Alan Ferri Al Hinson Lt. Jeff Kronschnabl Chair Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member Team Member City Commissioner City Commissioner City Commissioner Deputy City Manager Economic Development Director Parks & Recreation Supervisor Special Assistant to the City Manager/ Community Response Team Engineering Department/Research Environmentalist North Greenwood Association - Member North Greenwood Association . President 1. Team Member Team ~inber Team, .Mimber Team Member ..~ r<)#.... /" ~ The meeting was called to order by Reverend WiQi'am Graham at 6:30 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Center, 1201 Martin Luther Kingt'Jr. A~~'ue. ClearWatert Florida. To provide continuity, the Items are lIsted In agenda order althouglj Dot nec~rily discussed in that order. \' Dan Mayer Muhammad Abdur-Rahim Jonathan Wade Reverend Bridges Barbara Kleinhenz Donald Rutledge BUal F. Habeeb-Ullah S. Nell Celeste Trotman Willa Carson Gloria Bailey Cherry Hanis Jan Hinson Renee Marshall Tony D. Williamson Peggy Hooper MacArthur Boykins David Grice Reverend Lucius Pittst Jr. Tal Rutledge Career Options - Clearwater Center Career Options. Clearwater Center African-American Leadership Council Inc. North Greenwood Community Family Center North Greenwood Community Family Center Greenwood Community Health Center Resident - North Greenwood Resident. North Greenwood Resident. North Greenwood Resident. North Greenwood Resident - North Greenwood Visitor '<) Absent: Note: Not everyone in attendance signed the roster. 2. Introduction of attendees. .0 -1- March 2~ 1997 ~4-dH#"""'''''~'''~' ..... +. ."'.~~""'~'T' ........:.'u~~'.,* ..' .,.. '~""'.;"~'"'lifJ",,~ '. ._' . '. :'." "'. ,'" '!:...;;'{:,., .,,",....,\'; ":, .,' .:.'.':' .,~"., ':;::,~ .".,' " ,', ':':.,.' :', ,'~ ..,,", , \ .,.. .... ..\ ." .J, \.., ' L:.. " ". . , .' . . , . ' . ,"",. . ." . .' .~~ . "., n~,. "1' ;, " ,.' ~" "1' 3. ~4. Reverend Graham set overview of meeting procedures and proper order. He then opened the meeting to any and all questions. concerns or responses. Tony Williamson is homeless and without a job and explained that he is educated and can get a job but is unable to get lodging because of a recent arrest on felony sexual abuse charges against a child. He stated the system "blacklisted" him and gives no allowances for anyone charged with this type of a crime -- even though he was not convicted. Mr. Williamson wanted to know what he could do. 5. .......') I".;, off o Donald Rutledge wanted to share information on summer youth program for ages 14-23 years. Salaries would be: 14-15 years = $4.75/hour; 16-19 years = $5.25/hour; and 19-23 years - $6.25/hour for approximately 30 hours per week. Some 4,000 applications are located throughout th~ city. Contracts for last summer's employment were made available for 100 youths. This year the program has been extended to 140 youth job openings. The time frame is June 17th through July 25th. A question was directed to Mr. RutIedgeon how many of these youths were retained after the ~ummer. Twenty-one youths were retained overall from last year and that the majority of these were from the North and South Greenwood areas. 6. Kathy Rice displayed reclaimed water tank photographs and gave an overview of progress to date. Ms. Rice requested comments on the performance to date and the proposed landscaping plans. 7. Gloria BaUey wanted to have youth from the street in attendance at this meeting to hear their concerns and was disappointed they did not show. Ms. Bailey suggested that if they don't come to us, then we need to go to them. We need to get them off the streets and into youth programs. :Ms. BaUey and Reverend Graham will walk the streets to meet with the youths and to visit their parents at the home. There was some discussion on Ruth Eckerd Hall programs; what is available, how can we organize to make a difference. 8. Melvin, a youth representative who used to be involved on the II streets" , expressed his opinion that community leaders need to be seen on the street. He would like to know who these leaders are so that he would have something or someone to help out the youths. There was discussion on setting up a booth on North Greenwood to provide flyers and assorted informative handouts on what jobs were available and how to get them. Melvin added that with a criminal background there was a problem getting a job or the jobs offered were of "no valuell. 9. Sam Collie questioned how to take away the stigma of a criminal background. He discussed his concerns over people who cannot read or are not socialized. Can we re-teach them? What happens to the youths when there is no more youth football or no more summer jobs? He said, "it's a struggle for them - a struggle of the mind". 10. Tony Williamson questioned how are we going to educate them if they don't have the will? where is the closure to these issues? who will establish the values when the parents don't? where are the morals? Don't give the youths false dreams. 11. Muhammad Abdur-Rahim gave a brief overview of events going on within the North Greenwood community. He mentioned the family center and monthly meetings concerning neighborhood activities. He discussed his feelings that there was too much rhetoric, that we talk good games but there is no follow through. There are too many road blocks, politics and game playing. He recommended employment at an early age and suggested working with the youth on employable skills -2- March 2, 1997 ,'. ..': ,',' ..,:_,~~_,...._.:,~..........,...:.~.~~............' .,.' :' ,'., ~":,:\ ',' . I"",' ':,~~ Or: , ,") 12. 13. 14. 15. ."'" " .} I. "'.<~ 16. 17. 18. 19. "" 20. U ............u -~.~ that would include how to prepare a resume. do an intelView, and make good job decisions. He said we should start in middle school to prepare young people for future employment. Gloria BaUey stated. "I sit around this table and there is no action. I'm going to do what I need to do." Sam Collie said the youth need work now; that criminal backgrounds are a stigma; that there is no choice. Reverend Bridges said that everyone can be helped; that we need to reach out and no give up on anyone. Mary Samuels stated that people have to understand that you cannot start out (employment) on the top; you must learn to start on the bottom; that you can be somebody. Joe Marshall talked about the upcoming Greenwood Panther Show on March 21st. This talent show is a fund raiser for the Greenwood Panthers. Mr. Marshall questioned grant funding for North Greenwood. There was some discussion on $90,000 worth of grant money and on Ervin's Club renovation of 2nd story. Mayme Hodges expressed her concerns about the job center and the need for this job center to have total community control. not individual control. Ms. Hodges then requested that before a Task Team meeting is set, the NAACP meetings on the first and third Mondays of each month be taken into consideration to eliminate a conflict of meeting times. Reverend Bridges questioned how far and what progress has been made with the new Martin Luther King Center. If this was to be the community center, when can this be pinned down and started. There was some discussion on the Penny for PineIlas vote on march 25th -- if passed, there would be $3 million allocated to this center. He wanted to put the Commissioners on notice that if we are really serious about a community center (i.e., the new Martin Luther King Center), get it going. Reverend Bridges, in regard to the Clearwater Neighborhood Housing development, questioned why we could not use labor from the community to build these houses? Alan Ferri said that it usually takes 90-160 days to complete the house - that is all the job lasts. This creates a problem for continued employment. It is difficult to convince qualified people to apply for their State Contractor's License. Alan Ferri provided an overview of the "Brownfields" designation. There are over 100 potentially contaminated sites and we are looking to educate and develop people for long-term employment. People could be hired from the community. DePaul University has an extension course available to teach hazardous material handling. Reverend Bridges has concerns about individUals. not contractors. He asked, why can't we catalog all the young men and draw from that list? Be up front about criminal records and point out that they want to turn their life around. Revered Bridges offered to do the cataloging and will get a list of qualified employees. Muhammad Abdur-R?.him reminded the group not to forget the large number of organizations within the community who are doing something. Our community is not the only community with any deep-rooted problems. Strategic planning with action plans makes things happen. Be accountable with timetables and commitment. Don't ask the City of Clearwater for everything. Joe Marshall wanted more neighborhood involvement concerning why we cannot benefit from parking cars at the Phillies games? He asked why Clearwater High School gets the biggest part of the pie. He wants the city to work with Ervin's Club. -3- March 2, 1997 ',: _"'" 'i ", '.. ,.".....',..... ;......::,,',:,i\':\";,.;';.:::.,'L::,~','.... ";;':,'::':: ':.;" ..... . . . I' .." "'.'(\1. L:.". , '. . . of . . " .' " ~'I' L. ", "," '.1 '\\' .',' n. " .,' ", ". ~ . . " . , "" .' " '" '..' ,Ij' ~....__.~l~":"...___...__...~.,., ',;..r.,' ",,'., . I ~ "', I' ,'" ," . .. ,. . '. .~... . ". ~1 ,. ":.',.> ",.., ~. " : . . 21. Donald Rutledge stated that there are programs out there and most are other than the city's. Identify what's here and where the money is. Parking is beneficial to all who live in the community. f) 22. Reverend Graham (with volunteers Gloria Bailey, J. Henson, and Sam Collie) will be on the street to talk and to listen to what the 'young people have to say. Their findings will be a focus of the next Task Force meeting on April 14th. Muhammad Abdur-Rahim expressed his concerns and stated, "understand that you are going to approach people who are not ready to be reached." He also questioned, "What is this task force looking for that you haven't already addressed?" 23. Jonathan Wade has reviewed plans and citizen input. He felt that the data is available; there has been door-bHloor responses; that we are on information overload. He suggested starting with some kids that we have already had some success with. Kathy Rice agreed and suggested we build on the programs we already have and work together. 24. Miscellaneous comments: Melvin talked about a past street flare-up and that there has been promised job training. An unidentified male said that he was about 50 years of age; that he had been in prison for years and asked how he was to succeed and when would things turn around for him? Steve said that there was too much talk and not enough action; keep your word. 25. Kathy Rice, in closing. said that we need to gather our information first, then talk with the Family Center. Money is there and we are ready to begin classroom training. Dale cautioned careful consideration about where to hold these trc1ining classes and to be aware that people will not align themselves with a program in another church. Possible sites discussed included the North Greenwood Library, County Commission, and approaching the Board of Education to allow local school classroom use after hours. r:J THE NEXT :MEETING IS'SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 14, 1997 at 6:30 P.M. MARTIN LUTHER KING CENTER ~. ~ ~) , Chmr North Greenwood Community Task Team '. I Attest: onschnabl sistant to the City Manager o -4- March 2, 1997 ;. '_" . .",' ',. .',.' ,'\"''':':' ',,' ..' ,.' .........: ..'.:<....' ~ ""f "'. ..... ,'. ",.' .,':,:., ".. :, . ....:,.;. '. ,. ':.:" ,'".,. ,!:..~," "h:: ,'. " , ", ',.,' .. ", ',','. 'j" . . . . j' ,..'. .' .' " . \ "" ~ ., I. I' I, ' , ", . I . . , r' . "~ ,. , ' 1'1 , .\ , .' . ",.