We’ve Got It, Folks, So Why Do They Want To Take It Away?
What we have is a sense of community. We understand that what affects one of us affects us all. We have shown that time and time again, as we have rallied to keep Ladder 42 in the heart of Old Brooklyn. Those of us who live in Brooklyn Centre understood early on that if Old Brooklyn lost that ladder, our safety would be compromised. We hopped on board early to band together with them to make a stronger community.
When we all started to do our research and started talking to each other, comparing notes as it were, we soon found out that this problem was much biggger than just our neighborhoods. We found that the safety of the city is constantly being eroded, and not much more than handwringing gets done.
But now, it appears that things might start getting done. Councilman Cummins told us last night at Station 42 that he felt that progress is being made because substantive issues, problems, and solutions were discussed yesterday in the City Council Public Safety meeting. Have we made them see that they need to do the job that they were elected to do? Have we made the City Administration see that we are going to demand that we have a safe city? Maybe, but we need to keep pressing for what we want–a safe city where we can live, work and play. We’ve got it all right here.
We need to continue our community effort to make Safety a priority in the City of Cleveland. After all, if people percieve a place to be unsafe, it really doesn’t matter if that is so. Perception is reality. Recently, a real estate developer friend of mine said that he introduced some investors from Los Angeles to the Broadway-Fleet area. As soon as it was dusk, the Los Angeles contingent asked if they could leave because they didn’t feel “safe”.
We need to build on what we have started here in Ward 15 and 16. We need to bring more and more people into the fold. We need to continue to build this community of All Clevelanders whose only agenda is quality of life. Because when it is all said and done, all we have is each other and our neighborhoods. It is in our best interest to build the BEST neighborhoods we can in the heart of Cleveland because then and only then will we generate the buzz needed to retain businesses and attract new businesses. It is all in the perception that we will make a reality.