Published: October 31, 2009 02:47 am      

ELECTION 2009: Inner city: 2nd Ward battleground

Second Ward Alderman Amanda Alexander is running for re-election on the premise of keeping up the progress.

Her opponent, Jack Smith, wonders: What progress?

The 2nd Ward is the city’s smallest ward, geographically, and probably its most diverse. Within the boundaries it contains the central business district, most of the heritage/canal district, a lovely residential neighborhood south of High Street — and north of High, a large patch of blighted inner city.

Smith grants the city made some progress combating blight the past few years, mainly by doubling the building inspection staff to pursue code violations, but he sees a lot being ignored. The enforcers seem satisfied to skirmish in lieu of launching a full-scale enemy offensive, he charges.

Alexander, who took office in January 2008, claims housing stock improvements are a solid accomplishment of the current Council.

“Believe it or not, we’ve gotten a lot of work done on the neighborhoods. Maybe not as fast as some people would like to see ... but if you walk through any neighborhood in the 2nd Ward you’ll see a new roof being put on, places being cleaned up,” she said. “I stay in touch with building inspectors, with the police department, with all of the departments (involved in fighting blight). For a machine to work, it has to be well-oiled; we all work together.”

Smith, a co-founder and current president of an active block club in the Waterman-Genesee streets area, claims the fight seems more like a tussle.

Building inspectors and attorneys put on a show of going after all kinds of properties with code issues, he said, but they often won’t prosecute the most egregious violations because that takes time, money and creativity.

“A lot of homeowners, single or multi-family, well, I don’t want to say they’re being attacked, but I think they are being maybe unfairly cited. And I think the reason for that is the city can’t do anything with the out-of-town landlords that let their property go,” Smith said. “They claim they have no ‘teeth’ to do anything; they won’t try. So, unfortunately, I think they go after the easier stuff. ... What we need is a city attorney, or an outside attorney, who’s actually got a set and is willing to try a case.”

Alexander agreed absentee landlords contribute heavily to housing deterioration, but she accepts the word of building inspectors, attorneys and police who say non-local violators are too hard to catch. “We would have to subpoena, the cost would be huge,” she said. “We do have a lot more people registered (on the city-mandated rental property registry) now.”

Smith is running for alderman because he’s displeased with Alexander’s performance. He considered running 2 years ago, when Phyllis Green still had the job, but when Alexander announced her candidacy, he said, “I thought, good, somebody new. I’ll sit back, watch and see how it goes. And I’m still not happy with my representation.”

The Waterman-Genesee streets-based United Neighborhood Watch Group has received very little support from or Alexander or the city, Smith charged, although it’s the only block club in the 2nd Ward and one of only a few citywide.

Officials say one of the city-paid Community Policing Aide’s duties is to be a liaison to/facilitator of blocks clubs, but UNWG has found “you’re better off on your own,” Smith said.

As for Alexander’s interest in the group, it appears cursory, he added. A professional landscape designer, she was invited to design the club’s proposed community garden on vacant city property and, after being asked for a design several times over a period of months, bowed out.

“The only time she’s been down there is when there’s some press event going on,” Smith said.

Alexander vehemently denied “dumping” the block club when it needed her. She had agreed to supply some landscape designs, she said, but didn’t get to work on them right away because, at the time, the club had not yet obtained the city’s permission to use the vacant lot. A few months later the club held a groundbreaking ceremony that she couldn’t attend due to an obligation out of town, she said; and the day after the ceremony she learned from reading the newspaper that the club intended to get design proposals from both her and a club member’s niece, and pick the one they liked best.

“As a professional, I took that as an insult,” Alexander said, “but I also didn’t want to be chosen over (the member’s) niece. ... If I was competing with another professional designer that would be fine, but it felt awkward” going up against an amateur.

Alexander’s Republican nominating petitions had no signatures from the 3rd district, which includes Genesee Street, Smith observed. Residents have told him that when they’ve asked her to visit, “she won’t come down to the Genesee Street area,” he claimed. “If she doesn’t feel safe there, obviously there’s a real need for a leader who’s going to help make it a better, safer neighborhood.”

Alexander denied avoiding the area, which is hard-hit with blight and petty crime.

“When I go out to get (petition) signatures, I try to do it in the most efficient way possible. I don’t necessarily spread out over the whole city,” she said. “I had enough signatures at the time, so I handed them in.”

Turning to Smith, as they parried in their joint interview with the US&J editorial board earlier this week, she added emphatically, “I have been on your street, in fact right next door to you, during my campaign, so it’s not like I’m ignoring your area. I’m certainly not afraid to walk in your area. ... If somebody invited me to come speak with them, I would be more than happy to go there.”

Alexander said if she wins re-election, she intends to launch a self-styled meet-the-residents campaign. She abandoned the traditional ward meeting after finding that “in this type of meeting, certain people are very vocal and want their needs met, and it’s not as productive as I’d like. I’d like to start meeting with one person on each block maybe once a week, not necessarily for all their gripes, but to see how their life is like in general, how the neighborhood is, to get a feel for what’s needed, what’s happening, if it’s working and what the city could do to help improve it.”

Another of Alexander’s goals would be to arrange “general education” for residents on block club, she said. Perhaps Smith’s club could assist, she suggested.

Asked by the editorial board whether she’s aware the group already does educational outreach, she responded, “I really don’t know.”

Smith had an awkward moment in the interview as well. In the course of discussing his views about police department preparedness to combat crime, he suggested the increased number of women officers on the force makes it less “intimidating” to drug dealers and criminals.

“We have a lot of gazelles in the department now and not enough pit bulls,” he said. “The recruits are getting smaller these days. They’re probably fast on their feet, they passed all their hand-to-hand combat or whatever they had to take, but I don’t think they’re so intimidating, and I think in our climate in the city right now ... .”

Pressed by the board to explain whether he thinks women officers are not able to fight crime, Smith said, “I’m not saying have fewer women cops ... but you do need some intimidating people on the force.”

“I hear this from a lot of women, it’s not just me,” he added. “They say there’s not a female who’s going to intimidate. ... Face it, females are physically not as strong as most males.”

Alexander disagreed.

“I think a woman with a handgun can be pretty intimidating,” she said. “The officers we do have, they’re probably being scrutinized even more. And for them to be hired by the city, they have to be pretty exemplary to begin with.”