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Truancy a high priority for area

Residents mobilize to combat troubling situations in North Greenwood.

By DEMORRIS A. LEE, Times Staff Writer
Published December 11, 2007

CLEARWATER - Truancy tops a list of five areas where city officials, pastors and civic leaders say a coordinated focus could help Clearwater's North Greenwood neighborhood.

Following truancy is communication, coordination among groups working in the area, education and parenting.

Those priorities emerged Monday from a meeting of about 20 city officials and North Greenwood representatives who came together to discuss the neighborhood.

Of major concern, some said, is the large number of apparently school-aged children milling around in the streets on weekdays.

"With truancy, who's ultimate responsibility is it?" Mayor Frank Hibbard asked. "The city and the school system. We both need a better process."

To address these issues, the group outlined strategies that would give churches and faith-based organizations a larger role in following up on reports of trouble involving North Greenwood residents.

The group held its first meeting last month after news reports about the video Da Hood Gone Wild, which was shot largely in North Greenwood. The DVD shows street brawls, police being heckled by large crowds and folks trying to purchase drugs on the street during the day.

The DVD was produced by two 19-year-olds who grew up in the area, SemieAkeem Cortez Hearns and Allan Burney, and has been marketed on the VH1 and Black Entertainment Television cable networks.

In mid October, just as news of the DVD mortified some city officials, Burney was arrested in connection with a shooting that killed 23-year-old Michael Scott and wounded his brother. He faces one count of second-degree murder and three counts of attempted second-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty.

Disturbed by the portrayal of the neighborhood, Hibbard called together pastors and city leaders in November. On Monday, the group, including Hibbard, City Manager Bill Horne and police Chief Sid Klein, reconvened at City Hall.

"I want to improve the situation, and I want to make sure people are not spinning their wheels," Hibbard said after Monday's meeting. "This is a nucleus of a positive group but I need to get everybody involved. I want to use the influence of being mayor to bring the group together."

To help with teenage delinquency, North Greenwood's religious organizations have agreed to follow up on reports of trouble.

For example, if police arrest someone, officers will contact the faith-based organization closest to the person's home. That organization will then contact the family. The hope is that a relationship will develop between the organization and the family for a holistic approach to crime andparenting.

"The police are not going to solve this by themselves," Klein said. "There are far deeper social and economic problems and crime becomes a way of life. If the churches can step up and out from behind their pulpits, we can save some lives and develop some futures."

The Rev. Ron Williams, pastor at Mount Olive AME Church, will oversee a task force that will finalize the faith-based community policing program before the January meeting.

Elder Ernest Chestine, the youth pastor at Overcoming Church of God in Christ on Carlton Street, believes that the group can make a difference in the North Greenwood area.

"There have been a lot of meetings and a lot of issues being brought to the table, but things need to be put into action," said Chestine, 26, and a lifelong North Greenwood resident. "The things discussed can bring about positive change. People just need to work together to get it done. I believe we can have a positive impact."

Bilal Habeeb-ullah of the African American Leadership Council said communities need more than economic resources to thrive.

"It takes a sincere heart," Habeeb-ullah said. "It's good to have money, but that's not the only thing that's needed to make a community whole and healthy."

Demorris A. Lee can be reached at dalee@sptimes.com or 445-4174.

[Last modified December 10, 2007, 20:31:50]