Safe Neighborhoods
How Safe Is Your Neighborhood ?
What constitutes a "safe" neighborhood? To business owners, it may
mean
cops in a roving police cruiser who will disperse troublemakers or
shine a light into
storefront windows after hours. To the elderly, it may mean a
prompt,
efficient 911 system. To parents, it may mean an involved, aware
community
of friends and neighbors who'll reprimand speeders at school
intersections
or keep an eye on their kids as they walk home from the school bus.
I
think it's all of these things and more.
As your city councillor, it's my responsibility to help keep
Medford's
neighborhoods safe-a task that might require adding police to the
force,
keeping a firehouse open, or helping city advocates launch a
campaign to
beautify the city.
However, doing this is not easy. Councillors often have to walk the
fine
line between serving constituents while working within the twisting
confines
of a shrinking city budget. We have to act at various times as
accountants, diplomats,
secretaries, and fortune tellers just to get the job done.
At the moment, it appears that our city will be confronted with
additional local aid cuts,which
could further draw down an already reduced complement of police
officers. There is ,as well, a noticeable
and disturbing decline in the number of active neighborhood watch
groups. Now, more than ever, neighborhood safety issues must become
a central priority for all those who live and work in our city.
Some of my own initiatives that would help to maintain or improve
neighborhood
safety might include reducing and removing graffiti, expanding
community policing
and extending the reach of D.A.R.E ,the drug abuse resistance
education program, into the neighborhoods.
For their part, residents must become vigorously pro-active in
alerting city leaders
to their concerns and imperatives, as well as issues that are
relevant to their neighborhood.
These initiatives will require a sense of common purpose and, to
that point, I urge you to keep
in mind that an engaged community is an empowered community
Working together , we can craft thoughtful, achievable solutions to
help make all
neighborhoods safer and more secure and ultimately make Medford a
city in which
we can all be proud.
Whether you are a resident or a business owner or both, I urge you
to reach out to me by going
to my web-site and e-mail me your thoughts about how to improve
safety in our neighborhoods. Type
in WWW.MARKSFORMEDFORD.COM and click on "contact Michael" mention
your neighborhood
and any thoughts on the following:
1) Do you consider your neighborhood safe ?
Why or Why not ?
2) Do you feel your legislators and community leaders are adequately
addressing safety concerns ?
Why or Why not ?
3) If you had a magic wand what would you do to improve safety in
your neighborhood ?
Those who don't have e-mail access may write me at 37 Wellington Rd
Medford, Ma 02155 or
phone me at (781)396-5387
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