wdna_newsletter_summer_edition_2016
TRANSCRIPT
Summer Edition 2016
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2016 Association Calendar
At-A-Glance
JulyTenant Rights Workshop FREE, 30th
930am-1130am at Longview Rec Center
SeptemberGeneral Meeting, 27th
@630pm
~TBA~Sept. Blood Drive hosted by Red
Cross, Schreiner's, Longview Elementary & Whitton District
NovemberKeep Phoenix Beautiful Day, 5th
at Longview Elementary
General Meeting, 29th
@630pm
Hot Paws! The Sirius Serious Truth of Walking Dogs in the Extreme Summer Heat
September 27th
630pmNext neighborhood meeting is at
Longview Elementary school library (main entrance) 1209 E. Indian School Rd.
(off of 12th St.)
Community & Police Trust Initia-tive.................................................Message from Commander VeachLongview Park Improvement..........Doing Away with Alley Cans..........Message from the President.........Rental Property Registration.........Community Action Officer Contact Info................................................Know Your Neighbor......................Important Phone Numbers...........Light Pollution & Street Lights.......Community Calendar.....................
PG 2PG 2PG 3PG 4PG 5PG 5
PG 5PG 6PG 6PG 7PG 7
Written by Nicole Rodriguez
Favor your pet’s paws standing in a fry-ing pan painfully hot enough to cook an egg? It’s not uncommon to still see folks walking their pups on surfaces that are just that – hot enough to fry an egg.
The summer months are testing for those friendly furry relatives. Especially when taking a stroll on solid hot lava – namely paved surfaces. But more atten-tion is being paid to potential risks sum-mer heat can cause our pets.
On June 30th, members of the City of Phoenix Parks Board passed a motion for-bidding hikers from bringing their dogs on trail at 100 degrees and hotter. This new park rule is a three-month trial pe-riod to allow board members to gage its effects.
Only one person opposed the measure at the Parks Board meeting criticizing it as a restriction on him and his dog to free-ly enjoy “the mountain” (i.e. Camelback Mtn.) when they want. That’s assuming what Fido wants, but what the dog likely needs is the real concern.
Fido might enjoy the opportunity to be outdoors with his best friend, but those advocating for dogs on hot surfaces or trails should consider how the experts do it – that is, the coyotes. These native desert dogs don’t frolic during summer sun-up hours. Coyotes typically become active after sundown.
The Arizona Humane Society (AHS) pretty much suggest doing the same – walk your dog after sundown. Jessica Amend with AHS discussed at one of our meetings walking pets well after sunset or during the cooler early morning tem-peratures. Amend tends to walk her dogs 9pm or later during the hottest months.
Hot paved surfaces can take hours to cool before it’s actually “cool” enough to walk your dog on. Amend also recom-mends using doggie “paw socks” or “boo-ties” often sold at pet stores for a rea-sonable price. And it doesn’t hurt to tote along a collapsible water bowl and bottled water. Who knows, you may come across another dog owner who wished they had.
Recent Name Change VoteAt the May 17th neighborhood asso-
ciation meeting, neighbors' tallied votes casted online or at the meeting result-ed in a name change for the neighbor-hood association from Longview West to Whitton District.
The Voting Results: Whitton District was favored with 18 votes; Longview West with 12; Rose Heights received 4; Compass Rose had 2. There were 5 hand individual write-in names. All votes fa-voring a name change (not including votes for Longview West), along with
write-ins, was 29.There was local business support for a
neighborhood association name change and most neighbors that spoke up were in favor of the opportunity for a name change.
Name change paperwork was sub-mitted notifying Neighborhood Services (NSD) and the Phoenix Police Depart-ment stated a name change will have no effect on our block watch grants.
The [email protected] email is valid for at least a year.
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July 11th 6:00 p.m. - Deer Valley Com-muntiy Center, Mutipurpose Room; 2001 W. Wahalla Ln.
July 12th 6:00 p.m. - Helen Drake Senior Center; 7600 N. 27th Ave.
July 12th 6:00 p.m. - Beuf Community Center, Multipurpose Room; 3435 W. Pinnacle Peak Rd.
July 13th 6:00 p.m. - ENGLISH/SPANISH - Maryvale Community Center, Multipurpose Room; 4420 N. 51st Ave.
July 14th 6:00 p.m. - South Mountain Community Center, Saguaro Room; 212 E. Alta Vista Rd.
July 18th 6:00 p.m. - Pecos Community Center, 17010 S. 48th Street.
July 20th 6:00 p.m. - Eastlake Community Center Gymnasium; 1549 E. Jefferson St.
July 25th 6:00 p.m. - Paradise Valley Community Center; 17402 N. 40th Street
July 26th 6:00 p.m. - Sunnyslope Community Center, 802 E Vogel St.
July 27th 6:00 p.m. - Desert West Community Center, Multipurpose Room; 6602 W. Encanto Blvd.
July 28th 6:00 p.m. - Estrella Mountain Project, Community Room; 2111 S. 99th Ave.
Aug. 1st 6:00 p.m. - Black Mountain Precinct, Community Room; 33355 N. Cave Creek Rd.
FOR MORE INFO, VISIT: https://www.phoenix.gov/piosite/Pages/trust.aspx
Recently, members of your Community Action Office and Neighborhood Enforcement Team have coordinated several efforts to assist residents in increasing the quality of life in the Whitton District Neighborhood. Some of these efforts are ongoing but we wanted you, our eyes and ears, to know what some of the issues were and what was being done.
Your Community Action Officer, Officer Stevens, was recently contacted by a concerned citizen regarding a vacant home that was being utilized to sleep by several homeless individuals. Officer Stevens recruited the assistance of several members of the Community Action Squad to contact these subjects, offer them alternative resources, and have them trespassed from the property. At the same time, Abatement Detective Westfall worked with the actual owner of the home to have an authority to arrest placed on the residence. The owner, who was unaware of the issues, also agreed to have the property cleaned and trash removed. Our partners at the Neighborhood Services Department were advised of the situation and will follow-up with enforcement if the need arises.
Officer Stevens was also recently advised of a residence in the neighborhood which appeared to be involved in drug activity. Officer Stevens coordinated with your Neighborhood Enforcement Team (NET) to address this problem. Surveillance was conducted at and around the home which ultimately led to the execution of a search warrant for drug sales. Based on evidence obtained during the service of this warrant a subject was arrested and the drug house shut down. U n d e r s t a n d i n g that enforcement can only go so far, members of the Net Squad worked with Det. Westfall to have the resident of this home evicted.
These are just two outstanding examples of how YOU are the most important aspect of what we do. As always, if you are having issues or neighborhood concerns that the Police Department can assist with, don’t hesitate to reach out to Officer Stevens at 602-495-2324 or by email at [email protected]
We appreciate your partnership!Commander Paula Veach
Message from Commander Paula
Veach of our Mountain View Police Precinct
"These are just two outstanding examples of
how YOU are the most important aspect of
what we do."
Public Summer Meeting Schedule
City of Phoenix
Community & Police Trust Initiative
3601 N. 7TH ST.
Neighbors shared various ideas. Some for a playground & chess tables at the Longview Park. Not just one neighbor, but several shared these ideas! This was collaborative effort & event.
October 2015 G.A.I.N. Community
Brainstorming Event – Organized by community
members Alex & Jenny Acevedo, Travis Tomich, and Nicole Rodriguez. Devonshire
Neighborhood Association provided information on a
sponsor for additional supplies & funding.
The event provided a venue for neighbors from
the Longview communities &
Devonshire to mingle and bounce ideas off one
another.
IDEAS
November 2015 Board members meet
Councilwoman Laura Pastor to discuss issues & ideas from
GAIN event.
December 2015 Nicole & Dana Newell
meet Councilwoman Pastor & Parks
Director to discuss mural art classes &
Longview Park
GET TO WORK!
January conference
call w/ Parks
January 2016 Parks Dept. presents at
Longview West neighborhood
meeting & proposes forming a
community task force to meet &
discuss Longview Park improvements
Nicole helps formulate community task force with NE Parks Deputy
Director, Cynthia Brown
3 neighbors from Longview East & 2 from Whitton District meet March, April & May with Parks
Dept. to discuss community needs & park design
June 29th Public Open House & Comment on Longview Proposed Plan at Longview Rec Center
Mailers about the public comment meeting were not mailed to neighbors as promised by Parks Dept. Whitton District will
attempt to have Parks Dept present the proposed plans again at the Sept neighborhood meeting.
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Alley trash cans can be conducive to attracting un-wanted activity as we have seen from home security footage and pictures on Nextdoor.com of transients digging through and even tipping over alley cans to pull out items. Often, trash is left littered on the ground becoming the responsibility of who-ever lives adjacent to that mess.
Arguably, alleys cans CAN promote irre-sponsible consumer-ism. It's too convenient for neighbors to use multiple cans for yard and home waste. Approximately four residences are desig-nated to an alley can. Respectfully, we should only use one can.
Neighbors can pay a $5 monthly fee for a large green organics can, or "tan can," where yard waste can be turned into rich mulch at a City facility. It's picked up weekly on Thursdays with other curbside services.
There's also the option to have your alley cans removed. Curbside cans are the alternative. There are positives with curb-side, such as those wishing to downsize their garbage container can request the smaller solid waste cans and receive a reduced solid waste fee on their water bill. You don’t get this option with an alley can!
Contact our Public Works Environmental Specialist to learn how you can relocate garbage service to curbside. Once you do this, a survey is sent to neighbors living adjacent to the alley under con-sideration for the change. If 51% of the surveyed households de-sire to have curbside collection instead of alley, then solid waste collection will be moved to curbside. Surveys not received do not get counted in the total.
Cons of alley cans & how to do away with them
Lynette ChavezPublic Works Department
Solid Waste Environmental SpecialistO: 602-252-7179
Neighbors from Longview East & Whitton District teamed up with the City of Phoe-nix Parks Department to improve our lo-cal neighborhood park - Longview Park. Ideas discussed included a playground, more trees, more shade, an improved walking path, doggie water drinking fea-ture, chess/game tables that serve as picnic tables, ramadas, and more. To learn how this all got started, take a look to the left!
The Evolution of a Community Initiative Longview Park Improvement
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Neighborhood Clean-ups - We've had 3 neighborhood clean-ups so far this year. For the last clean-up, Schreiner's donated free lunch-es and drinks to volunteers. Neighbor Jhenifer Shipe brewed amazing coffee and Dell Foster made sure we had tunes to jam out to. The clean-up brought out about 12 volunteers and tools and roll-off were donated by the Public Works Dept.
Block Watch Grant - We get TWO! - I ap-plied for two City of Phoenix block watch grants for the 2016-2017 grant year. This will be our first time applying for and re-ceiving two grants. Thanks to communi-ty networking, I learned from Patty Tate, the superintendent of Osborn School District, that applying for two block watch grants is possible. The additional block watch grant can only be used to-wards a community cause aside from the neighborhood association's needs.
And a portion of our neighborhood as-sociation grant will go towards the Rag Collection, a Phoenix non-profit that teaches after-school art education at no cost to junior high and high school stu-dents. The art workshops will be at the Longview Rec Center for the 2016-2017 school year.
Website - Soon, Whitton District will have a new website paid for by our 2015-2016 Block Watch grant. Stay tuned!
Newsletter Designer/Editor/Articles - NEW DESIGNER NEEDED - Whitton District is looking for a NEW newsletter designer and is always looking for com-munity related newsletter articles and writings from residents. Poetry is also welcome! Any interested editors too? For more information, please email Nicole at [email protected]
Alley Lights - Block watch grants have funded our 31 alley lights in the past, but current block watch grant re-quirements will not cover the costs to fund future alley lights fully. Lighting has not shown to deter or mitigate crime unfortunately. For those who
want to continue providing power to an alley light nearby, APS said the average cost of an alley pole would be about $16-22 per month. Whitton District has about 15 months of funding left where
we cover the costs for residents.
T H E N I T T Y G R I T T Y F R O M T H E P R E S I D E N T Nicole Rodriguez
Clean-Up 03/26/16
Clean-Up 05/29/16
Clean-Up 05/29/16
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$50.00 Panel Inspections & Tune-upELECTRICAL - HOME - SERVICES
Roger Heaster22 yrs. Master Electrician in The Valley of the Sun
Cell 602-732-8877 Ph 602-256-6571
Rental properties must be registered with the Maricopa County Assessor’s office. The fee is $10.00 for each initial registration. There is a costly fine associated with properties not registered, which can be reported to the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department. To avoid a fine, register your rental property as soon as possible.Pursuant to A.R.S. § 33-1902 An owner of a
residential rental property shall maintain with the assessor information required by this section in a manner to be determined by the assessor. The owner shall update any information required by this section within ten (10) days after a change in the information occurs.
Registering a rental property is also pursuant Phoenix City Code 39-48 Registration of residential rental property. If you know of a rental property not registered, the unregistered properties can be reported to Neighborhood Services Department at: (602) 534-4444 or by visiting https://www.
phoenix.gov/nsd/contactTo see if a property is registered, visit the
Maricopa County Assessor website link below and type in the property address. Registered rental properties will be listed under a rental property classification. Visit: http://mcassessor.maricopa.gov/property/
residential-rental-property/
RENTAL PROPERTIES: REGISTRATION WITH THE MARICOPA COUNTY ASSESSOR
Officer Stevens has served as our CAO since November 2014. He is a native from Wyoming and has been with the Phoenix Police Department for 12 yrs.
Contact and notify Officer Stevens of any recurring non-emergency neighborhood issues. Examples of issues neighbors have shared with him in the past have dealt with on-going issues of speeding, amplified music, and suspicious activity. Please don't hesitate.
Contact Info:EMAIL: [email protected]: (602) 361-0043
Oficial Stevens ha servido como nuestro CAO desde noviembre de 2014. Él es oriundo de Wyoming y lleva 12 años contacto con el Departamento de policía de Phoenix.
Notificar al oficial Stevens de problemas recurrentes de barrio no es de emergencia. Ejemplos de problemas de vecinos han compartido con él en el pasado se han ocupado con cuestiones en curso de exceso de velocidad, amplificado música y actividades sospechosas. No dude.
Información de contacto:Correo electrónico: [email protected]: (602) 361-0043
Our Neighborhood Community Action Officer (CAO)
A community action officer (CAO) helps a community handle non-emergency re-occuring suspicious and crime related
activities for a neighborhood.A CAO has several communities they work with at any given time and are often assigned to special events which takes them away from their CAO duties. Reach out to our CAO via email of phone. Be as descriptive as possible when communicating suspicious activity. Never put yourself in
harms way to obtain better information for the police.
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CAT COLONIES - Help with the increasing cat population - FAST!
Call (602) 265-SPAY (7729)
For more information, go to:
http://www.adlaz.org
The Animal Defense League of Arizona's Spay Neuter Hotline offers low cost
services.
Nicole RodriguezPresident/Community Liaison
Vice President/Co-Liaison
Treasurer/Community Representative
Secretary/Community Rep
Aaron Kimberlin
Travis Tomich
Dana Newell
Emergencies Only Non-emergencies ~ CRIME STOP
Mountain View PrecinctOfficer Aaron Stevens (CAO)[email protected]
Mayor Greg StantonCouncilwoman Laura Pastor
Neighborhood ServicesLongview Community Rec. Center
Abandoned VehiclesBarking Dogs
Clogged Street DrainDead animal
Graffiti BustersIllegal Dumping
Roaming DogsZoning Violations
Maricopa Co. Animal Care & ControlAnimal Cruelty/AZ Humane Society
9-1-1262-6151495-5007361-0043
262-7111262-7447262-7344534-6570262-6151262-6151262-6441262-6791495-7014262-7251506-7387262-7844506-7387997-7585
1. If you could be best friends with any historical figure, who would it be?
President Theodore Roosevelt. A close second would be John Muir, but the two worked together to form our National Parks. In addition for his passion of the outdoors, his style of leadership and contributions to politics are traits of his I admire.
2.What activity makes you the happiest, and what is the best experience you've had doing that activity?
What comes to mind is hiking. Whenever I have a couple of hours or so, I do my best to head out with my girlfriend Abby and our dog to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve and scale the mountains. When I go on vacation, they almost always include some backpacking nearby. I'll soon be taking off for the Sawtooth Wilderness in Idaho. And my best experience comes from my father taking me hiking frequently in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.
3. Do you collect anything? If so, what is it?
Hmmm, well, I just finished my Ph.D. so I've amassed a lot of books about sustainability and education and still feel the compulsive need to pick some up if I see them. But besides that and camping gear, if I think I need something new (or new- �ish), I'll often donate my older version of it if I can.
4. What's your favorite zoo animal and why?
Bears. I've comes across a few black bears in the wild and it's a little nerve-racking, but in the zoo you get to see how docile and goofy they can be. My two favorite moments at the zoo came from a Polar Bear tossing a bone to itself in a pool and then Panda Bear cubs falling all over themselves. However, seeing an Octopus move in an aquarium is really cool.
5. What do you enjoy most about your
neighborhood?
I've been living here for six years now, and what I've always enjoyed about Whitton is how quiet it is. But recently I've been loving the ability to walk to nearby restaurants, particularly Taco Guild, Urban Beans and Reathrey Sekong. I hope more places like these continue to open near our space in the city.
Know Your Neighbor: Neighborhood SpotlightAbout Andrew Bernierinterview by Alex Acevedo
Photo by Jenny Acevedo
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People who live in neighborhoods lit by street and alley lights are more likely to suffer from sleep problems according to recent Stanford University research. Outdoor illumination interferes with quality of sleep.
The American Medical Association (AMA) even issued a recent report suggesting cities to use better lighting practices due to the implications poor lighting can have on human health.
Poorly directed and excessive use of artificial light creates light pollution. Other research has shown light pollution can cause serious consequences on the health of humans, wildlife and our climate.
The International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) points to streetlights as producing the majority of outdoor light pollution.
Until recently, the City of Phoenix was replacing its high pressure sodium (HPS) streetlight bulbs with a 4000 Kelvin (K) cool colored blue-rich white LED bulb - the type of LED the AMA urges cities not to use.
Some citizens commented the 4000K LED streetlights are too bright and glaring and even cause stark contrast between the light and adjacent shadows.
After several complaints of the 4000K LEDs, the City did an online public survey requesting input on people's preference between the 4000K and a much warmer colored LED - a 2700K LED. The 2700K won public approval.
The 4000K LED put out a high amount of blue wavelength of light unlike the 2700K LEDs. It is this high amount of blue wavelength that can be more harmful to our health and getting a good night's rest.
Our eyes are more sensitive to blue wavelength light thus triggering our brains into thinking it's daylight out. As the sun sets and the stars come out (wait, what stars?!) our brain releases melatonin, a hormone that induces sleep. But if we are exposed to light at night, melatonin production can be suppressed. And it's the blue wavelength of light that suppresses melatonin more than any other color wavelength.
Not only can light pollution cause poor shut-eye, other aspects of our health can be negatively affected.
Melatonin is a cancer fighting hormone. Other research has found a direct correlation between melatonin suppression and increased chances of developing breast or prostate cancer.
Light pollution can also trigger or exacerbate other health issues, such as obesity, depression, fatigue, etc.
It's not uncommon for Phoenicians to sleep with shades drawn and windows open. It's cost effective and environmentally friendly. However, leaving windows open at night may allow light to trespass into homes. The City of
Phoenix does offer shields for streetlights. It is also neighborly to shield property lights, such as porch lights. Phoenix is event considering making it mandatory for property lights to be shielded.
The City of Phoenix now is considering the warmer 2700K LED for streetlight replacement. For more information on light pollution, visit the International Dark-Sky Association's website.
9-1-1262-6151495-5007361-0043
262-7111262-7447262-7344534-6570262-6151262-6151262-6441262-6791495-7014262-7251506-7387262-7844506-7387997-7585
Shedding more light on the issue of light pollution: street lamps and your health
Written by Nicole Rodriguez
Community Calendar
J U LY 2 0 1 6
July 16th - FREE - Phoenix Neighbor-hood Patrol Class - 8AM - noon at Mountain View Precinct, 2075 E. Mary-land Ave. To sign up, contact Officer Brian Kornegay at [email protected] or 602-256-4303.
July 30th - FREE - TENANT RIGHTS WORKSHOP 930AM - 1130AM at Longview Rec Center, 4040 N. 14th St. The workshop is hosted and led by City of Phoenix Neighborhood Ser-vices Department (NSD). Anyone can attend. The purpose of the workshop is to provide extensive material and education on Arizona laws and Phoe-nix codes that provide tenants certain rights and protections from landlords.
AU G 2 0 1 6 S E P T 2 0 1 6
Aug 3rd - FREE - Code Compliance 101 Class - 6PM-730PM at Pecos Community Center, 17010 S. 48th St. Residents can learn how to identify and report common blight violations such as graffiti, high weeds, dead trees, graffiti, deteriorated fences or open/vacant properties. For more informa-tion, call 602-534-4444
Aug 11th - FREE - Talking Trash Tour and Class - 5:30PM-7PM at Burton Barr Library, 1221 N Central Ave., 4th Floor Lecture Room. For more infor-mation, call 602-534-4444
Sept 10th - FREE - Phoenix Neigh-borhood Patrol Class - 8:00AM - noon at Mountain View Precinct, 2075 E. Maryland Ave. To sign up, contact Officer Brian Kornegay at [email protected] or 602-256-4303.
Sept 27th - Whitton District Neigh-borhood meeting - 630PM at Longview Elementary School Li-brary through the main entrance, 1209 E. Indian School Rd. Phoenix Police Detective Westfall will talk on property abatement; discuss the Longview Elem. community garden; Phoenix Parks will present Longview Park improvement plan; ideas for neighborhood events.
LocalPostal Customer
Whitton District Neighborhood Association Newsletter
Summer Edition 2016 Issue
P.O. Box 7734 – Phoenix, AZ 85011-7734 7th St – 12th St, OSBORN - INDIAN SCHOOL
lwna.weebly.com / [email protected]
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PRSRT STDECRWSS
U.S. POSTAGEPAID
EDDM RETAIL
Whitton District Neighborhood Association MeetingSept 27th @ 630pm
Located at Longview Elementary School
Coffee and ice tea donated by Urban Bean Coffee Shop
F R E ETenant Rights Workshop
hosted by the City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services
Department
July 30th 930AM-1130AMLongview Rec Center
Learn what laws protect you as a renter & how
to get help with a problem landlord.