Sign-up for one of 25 spots by Wednesday, August 4th, by going to http://cabb2.eventsbot.com

Make Hope Real
How We Can Accelerate Change
for the Public Good

Madge Whistler's introduction to CLASP came when she attended our February meeting at the Ruiz library.  The 5th St Community Neighborhood Watch group had begun to work on the problem seen everyday around her downtown condo on E 5th Street:  open air drug dealing.  Walking past this activity, it was apparent that the drug dealers had become comfortable operating in plain view.   The group had met with APD about the problem and soon became very involved in learning about the intricacies of this chronic issue.

APD's Officer Mike Schultheis prepared an analysis of downtown crime problems and presented that paper to the leaders of the 5th St Community Watch group. It was after this experience that she learned about the larger problem of offenders churning through the system and coming right back out on the street.  Amazingly, by the 3rd CLASP meeting, she was presenting information about a project called the 5th Street Community Justice Project.   

APD often cites some version of the 80/20 rule when speaking of these types of offenders - 20% of the criminals commit 80% of the crime.  Madge, in close partnership with Jack Darby of krimelabb, has created a system whereby citizens in the 5th Street Community can view status information on individuals who have been arrested and monitor the outcomes of prosecution and sentencing.  Providing community input as certain cases move through the court system is the goal.

Shining the light of day on the larger problem of repeat offenders can more effectively lead to better sentencing, better resources for people who wish to rehabilitate themselves, help for the mentally disabled and tough sentencing for those who insist that crime is going to be their way of life. Addressing the chronic offender problem could also lead to better use of police resources and would send a strong message that they will face some accountability to the community for their actions.

If you wish to contact Madge about this program
contact her at mwhistle@sbcglobal.net or Jack Darby at jack@krimelabb.com


Here is a link to krimelabb's 5th St Community Justice Project   




Here is a link to a Fox News story about placing cameras downtown and on Rundberg

To a packed house, Mary Rudig presented a  three year initiative to identify and implement long-term, community driven solutions to the problems and needs of North Austin, specifically in the 78753 and 78758 zip codes.    She believes that community-driven change shows neighborhood commitment.  New solutions that are humane and creative to address old intractable problems, and solutions that are cost effective will work best, she says.  By utilizing teamwork and cooperation between businesses, government, and communities, she vows that no neighborhood will be left behind.

One example of a creative and cost effective solution is Landlord Training.  In these zip codes there is a preponderance of rental properties - lot of duplexes, townhomes and apartment complexes - many with the "absentee landlord" conundrum that results in blighted properties and no one around to take responsibility.  After spending a good amount of volunteer and Code Enforcement  hours cleaning and re-cleaning properties of trash and filth, Mary has devised a set of guidelines to be adopted by landlords voluntarily.  She has used the acronym C.A.S.H. to describe it's tenets:

·    Reduces crime and increases property value on rental property.
·    Inexpensive
·    Quick and easy

Click here for the THREE things Landlords need to do and FIVE things for property managers to do
that keeps money in their pockets in the long run by avoiding tenant problems and lower property values, and builds a cooperative relationship with the surrounding neighborhoods.  It's Mary Rudig's best idea ever...and that's saying a lot!  The next training is scheduled for November 17th.  Do you have some property managers/landlords who might benefit?  You can contact Mary Rudig at info@gracywoods.com.

Back in the 70's, I lived just north of 51st Street in one of those older neighborhoods with ordinary unassuming houses, unlike the Hyde Park mansions to our south.  I had a neighbor that I liked very much named Tillie.   We both lived on Zennia Street.  She was 75 years old, very friendly and spry.  She rode her bicycle everywhere  - to the store, errands around the neighborhood, for exercise and neighborly visits.  She had both a beautiful and plentiful flower and vegetable garden, the bounty of which she generously shared with all her neighbors.

An accomplished professional drapery maker, she was often found in her workroom meticulously sewing custom drapes.  Every time an airplane flew into Robert Mueller Airport, her flock of guinea hens went crazy and provided hours of entertainment for my cat.  She was originally from Austria and had met her husband after WWII.   They moved down here to his home state and started a family.
 
As we talked one evening, I asked her about the war.....where she had lived, what she had done, how she managed to make her way over here.  She quietly informed me that she had been a Nazi.  

Stunned, I wanted to know more....how this friendly little homemaker could have taken on the role of being a Nazi in the face of all that carnage and evil and how so many people could have played a part in the holocaust. 

Read On About the War Across Our Border. . .