May 3, 2007

Dear neighbors:

This e-mail summarizes our last FSNA meeting on vandalism and problems with Leslie’s Retreat Park, with important phone numbers for you to call in the event of problems, and upcoming meetings/events.

Next FSNA meetings
· Monday, May 21, 7 pm, Grace Church.  Major topics: Traffic discussion and possible street direction changes.  Update on the courthouse project.  Follow up on our meeting on vandalism and problems with Leslie’s Retreat Park.
· Tuesday, June 12, 7 pm, Grace Church.  Meeting with Mayor Kimberly Driscoll.  (Special date because of her schedule constraints.)

Neighborhood clean up of Bridge Street on May 12 (May 19 rain date) 8:30-noon Ana Gordan <bunadiminata@yahoo.com> has kindly volunteered to be our leader for this Citywide Cleanup Day.  Please let Ana know if you can participate.  Any time you can give will be most appreciated.  

Thank you to the families who helped Grace Church house the Tucson Girls Choir.

REPORT ON FSNA MEETING APRIL 23
Captain Rodney Commeau and Sargent Rich Gagnon of the Salem Police, and Doug Bollen of Park & Rec and Bart Hoskins, leader of the dog park, attended our meeting on vandalism and problems with Leslie’s Retreat Park.  Thanks to Councillor Mike Sosnowski for arranging to have them at our meeting.

VANDALISM
We learned that we have had more vandalism than we had been aware of in the neighborhood, including: car “tagging” (spray painting), egging of houses and graffiti.  The Police reported that this is a City wide problem.  They brought a book with pictures of graffiti and known facts.  It appears that some of the markings are gang related, but the majority is more simply vandalism.  They reported that the Mayor and the Police Chief are working on a plan to address these problems.

Please call the police at the non-emergency number, 978-744-1212, every time you see a problem in the neighborhood.  Please also let Mike Sosnowski and Betsy or Meg know what you report as well.  In addition:
· Record and report everything you can that will help identify the perpetrators.
· Take pictures if you can (preferably without being seen by the perpetrators)
· Be aware of your neighbors and your neighbors’ cars
· The Police reported that the penalty for vandalism is very light.  If you would like to see that vandals are required to do clean up work, write the Juvenile Court in Salem.

Mike Sosnowski is requesting the following on behalf of our neighborhood:
· Conrad Prosniewski to speak to FSNA about CrimeWatch at a future meeting.  (CrimeWatch materials are on our community website www.salemcitizens.org.)
· The Sheriff’s Department to clean up the graffiti in the park, working with Doug Bollen
· Bike patrol between Flint and Boston Streets, using CDBG funds.

Mike is also exploring the possibility of installing cameras.  Stan Szwartz is exploring options to get additional police presence.

Our mailman has just cleaned the graffiti from our mailboxes at our request.  Please keep an eye out to see if any kids come back to mark them up again – and please report them right away.  It was suggested that we could clean graffiti from city signs, using a product called “Goof Off”.

LESLIE’S RETREAT PARK
Please call the Police non-emergency number 978-744-1212 if you see any drinking, people sleeping in the park, vandalism or other illegal activity.  

Please call the Dog Officer, Officer Donald Famico. 978-744-0171, X121 if you see or have problems with dogs in the park. Please note that he works part-time and you will almost certainly get voice mail.

We discussed numerous problems with the park (in addition to the graffiti which we hope to have the Sheriff’s Department remove):
· Problems with unsanitary conditions and smells in the dog park enclosure: Being investigated with plans to address; no timetable.
· Problems with dogs running loose at the other end of the park because of conditions in the dog park enclosure: will be addressed if we want to report them.
· Plans for a brochure and signs about dog etiquette in the park: being prepared.
· A possible “pooch pass” program which would require paying for a license to use the dog park, hopefully to be restricted to Salem residents.  (It was reported that the park is being heavily used by non-Salem residents with dogs – and that the park is listed on Craig’s List.)  Requires Council approval.  Schedule unclear but effort is underway.
· Problems with small children in contact with dogs running loose: must be reported to the dog officer.
· Requests from our group that there be enforcement of the rules in the park: The dog officer already is overstretched. Mike & Doug Bollen will explore whether it is possible for members of the non-profit that installed the dog park enclosure to be given some enforcement authority.

It was the sense of the group that these problems need to be addressed in the next several months.  We will be inviting Doug Bollen and Bart Hoskins back to talk with the group.

Meg Twohey, Co-Chair                      Betsy Burns, Co-Chair
salemgrp@aya.yale.edu BetsyB222@verizon.net

EVENTS/IMPORTANT MEETINGS

Sunday, May 6, 4 pm, First Church in Salem – Bentley Lecture: Kevin Phillips, author of Theocracy in the 21st Century.  Sponsored by the First Church and the Salem Athenaeum.  Tickets: $14 members; $18 non-members in advance.  $18 member & $20 non-member tickets at the door. www.salemathenaeum.org <http://www.salemathenaeum.org/> .
Wednesday, May 9, 6:30 pm - 8:30 pm, Forten Hall, 4th floor of the Salem State College Library.  Shedding Light on the North River: Land Use, Rivers and Flooding.
A public seminar on flooding of the North River and the brooks that  make up its headwaters. Sponsored by Salem Sound Coastwatch and funded by the MA Riverways program to provide residents, citizens and decision-makers greater understanding of the issues related to flooding, including how rivers and watersheds work, how land uses affect flooding, and options for reducing flooding.   Expert speakers include Elizabeth Baker, an Environmental Planner with the Horsley Witten Group and Gabrielle Stebbins of the Massachusetts Riverways Program.

Wednesday, May 9, 6:00 pm, Hawthorne Hotel Ballroom, SRA Downtown Market Plan public meeting.  Presentation of findings and solicitation of comments for a plan to strengthen and diversify the downtown retail base.

Saturday, May 12. Citywide cleanup 8:30-noon.  Bring gloves, rakes & pruning shears.  The City will provide trash bags.  We will start at Bridge Street and Flint.  Please come whenever you can.  Pizza party on the Common at noon following the work morning.  Rain date – May 19.
Please e-mail Ana Gordon <bunadiminata@yahoo.com> if you can participate.

May 17 – street sweeping odd side; May 24 – street sweeping even side.  Please move your cars to the other side of the street between 7 am – 3pm.

Thursday, May 31, 7 pm, Bentley School.  MassHighway public meeting on the major changes to North Street near the Federal Street intersection, planned because of the requirements of the new Michael J. Ruane courthouse to be built on Federal Street.

Friday, June 1, 7:30 pm, PEM. Annual Salem Award for Human Rights and Social Justice to be presented to Neal Katyal, professor of law at Georgetown University Law School, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift “for their courageous advocacy of justice and the rule of law” in the winning suit protecting the rights of Guantanamo Bay prisoners before the Supreme Court. Both will speak.  Free and open to the public. Call 978-745-9500, ext 3011 for reservations.


DUES Reminder: If you haven’t paid your dues, please send them to our Treasurer, David Hart at 104 Federal Street. Dues: $10 individuals; $15 families.  The Federal Street Neighborhood Association is a non-profit organization dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life for residents of our neighborhood.  Your dues are important in helping us be a strong voice and enabling us to help the City.