Columnist for The Plain Dealer

 

Here's a plan for saving city

June 20, 2007, 3:48PM

Either stand up or shut up.
Tough talk, coming from a social worker.

Kimberly Brown, who introduces herself as "the black lady that ran for mayor in 2005," wants everyone to come to the table to save Cleveland.

Kimberly sent me an action plan after I asked black leaders for ideas on how to save the city from the thug culture that is eroding Cleveland.

She has been on the front lines for 20 years. Kimberly is a social worker for Specialized Alternatives for Families and Youth, a nonprofit foster care agency. She lives in Cleveland and still wants to be mayor. Here's her plan, Clean Up Cleveland, paraphrased for space:

First, identify and target every church, business owner, social service agency and school in Cleveland.

Then invite every pastor, business owner, board chair, CEO and school principal to a forum. The forums should be supported by the county commissioners, City Council and news media.

At the forums, separate attendees by wards. Then divide the wards into zones based on ZIP codes to create neighborhood cell groups. Each cell group is responsible for every resident living in the targeted area.

Cell groups are then broken down into Neighborhood Navigators to watch over the north, south, east or west side of the targeted ZIP code.

Leaders are elected within their groups: Lead pastor, business owner, social worker, truant officer, elder, family, police officer, principal.

They identify hot spots, board up vacant houses and buildings where prostitution and drug deals occur, urge council members to deal with slum homeowners, landlords and banks through fines and restitution, and create ways to get high profile camera surveillance on hot spots.

The lead pastor gets all religious leaders in the zone to provide community outreach support to all citizens within a 5-mile radius of their church, extend hours of the church for social support and offer bimonthly classes on job training and resources.

The lead business owner uses the church as a place to hold job interviews, train for trades and skills and advertise job openings in the targeted zone.

The lead social worker develops a resource library within the targeted zone, helps citizens find resources and establishes a crisis center.

The lead truant officer sweeps children into the zone daily, works with schools, parents and churches to set up truant safe haven sites and develop alternative educational opportunities.

The lead family/elder (the most respected family in the neighborhood) develops a family-to-family initiative to help neighbors support neighbors.

The lead principal sets up truant sites and education curriculum for children suspended from school within the targeted zone.

The lead police officer helps increase response time, conducts frequent hot-spot sweeps and helps the cell develop safety watch programs.

The media spotlights positive activities and reveals hot spots where negative activities occur.

Quarterly, every ward council member holds a town hall meeting on the same day with something for everyone to empower parents, youth, pastors etc.

Kimberly's plan could work.

"If everyone takes some responsibility for what's going on," she said, "we can stop a lot of this craziness."

Anyone willing to try it?

To reach Regina Brett: rbrett@plaind.com, 216-999-6328