As security tightens, occupancy rises in Youngstown public housing

Photo by: Robert K. Yosay

Photo

HOUSING FACE-LIFT: Clifford Scott, executive director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority, shows off exterior awning improvements funded by federal stimulus money at the Amedia Plaza senior high rise in downtown Youngstown, where the authority’s headquarters are located.

By Peter H. Milliken

YOUNGSTOWN — The director of the Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority is taking a no-nonsense approach to safety and security in the authority’s housing communities, and he cites increased occupancy as evidence that his approach is paying off.

“For me, it’s a no-brainer,” said Clifford Scott, who has been YMHA executive director since May 2008.

“If I know that my family’s safe, then my quality of life is going to improve. I’m going to take ownership in that development where I live.

“If you’re safe, the chances of your improving your life are much greater,” he said. “We have a responsibility to our residents and the people that we serve.”

A year ago, Scott and Youngstown and Campbell police announced a partnership to put extra police patrols, for which YMHA was to pay $155,000 from federal funds, in Westlake Terrace, Rockford Village, Victory Estates and the Brier Hill Annex in Youngstown and the Kirwan Homes in Campbell.

Scott said he intends to renew those patrols after that money is spent.

Youngstown Police Chief Jimmy Hughes rated the patrols as “very effective,” saying police have made numerous contacts with YMHA residents and with “undesirable individuals,” resulting in deterrence of criminal activity in the housing projects.

The police efforts consist of both foot and vehicle patrols, during which officers inquire as to the business of those they don’t recognize as residents, Hughes said. Police also maintain contacts with informants and listen to, and follow up on, concerns expressed at residents’ meetings, he said.

Hughes said he believes the extra patrols, which occur day and night, have reduced crime in the projects. “A lot less drug activity is going on in those areas,” than in the past, he added. Gang activity in the projects also has waned, he said.

Scott cited figures for the first half of 2009 showing 79 arrests, 87 citations, 830 grams of narcotics seized — there are 28 grams to the ounce — and seven firearm seizures in Youngstown’s housing projects. No comparison with earlier years is possible because these figures weren’t previously compiled for the properties, Scott said.

He cited, however, 92 more YMHA apartments occupied this year, compared to last year, as evidence people feel safer in the authority’s housing communities than they did previously. The increase in rentals has generated almost $200,000 in additional annual revenue for the authority.

In April 2008, 1,079 of the authority’s 1,499 available dwelling units were rented. In July 2009, 1,171 of 1,511 units were rented, with 12 units having been restored to availability.

In addition to the city police patrols in the housing projects, private security guards are on duty in the authority’s senior high-rises.

The authority is investing more than $300,000 in security cameras to be installed this fall at all of its housing complexes and an additional $350,000 to $400,000 in window security screens soon to be installed to keep burglars out of Rockford Village apartments, with the money coming from federal stimulus funds.

Rockford Village, the former Kimmelbrook Homes, is 95 percent occupied, Scott said.

YMHA also is enforcing an anti-trespassing policy, with first-time violators getting a warning and repeat violators being arrested, Scott said. “If you’re not allowed to be at our developments, then we’re going to be vigilant in making sure that you’re not going to be on our developments,” he said.

Vacant apartments at all complexes are checked daily for squatters, who are arrested when found, he said. Scott said he believes most crimes on YMHA properties are committed by people who don’t reside there.

Burned out or vandalized light fixtures are being put back in service at all housing authority complexes as a deterrent to crime, he added. “When there’s light, then people see, and then there’s a witness,” he said.

Hughes enthusiastically endorsed the security enhancements taking place under Scott’s leadership. “I’m a big proponent of all of those measures” as deterrents to crime, Hughes said.

Fire safety has been enhanced by installation two months ago of elements in stoves in the senior high-rise complexes that automatically shut the burners off when their temperatures reach unsafe levels, Scott said.

An $80,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency grant paid for those installations. Scott said he hopes such elements can eventually be installed in all YMHA housing.

Those installations have resulted in firefighters being called much less frequently to Amedia Plaza, a downtown high-rise, said Gloria Hobbs, vice president of the tenant council there. “We have not had a smoke alarm since the safety elements have been put on our ranges,” she said.

“I come in at all hours of the night and never had a problem. It’s very safe here,” said Michael O’Malley, president of the resident council at Amedia Plaza, where he has lived for nine years.

O’Malley characterized Scott’s leadership as “exceptional” and said Scott looks out for residents’ interests and tries to accommodate their wishes, whenever possible. The presence of security guards and the amount of property maintenance have increased under Scott’s leadership, O’Malley said.

“Our investments in safety and security are very much needed, and we wish we could do more,” Scott said.

If residents and others witness crimes at YMHA properties or elsewhere, they have a responsibility to report what they know to the authorities, Scott said.

“A lot of this stuff [criminal activity] won’t go on if they just don’t want it to go on,” Hughes said of the role of public housing residents in crime prevention. YMHA project and high-rise residents are more involved in crime prevention activities than they were in the past, Hughes said. “That, ultimately, is going to make the difference,” he said.

YMHA residents may make confidential calls to two anti-crime hot lines: (330) 744-8989 for city police; or (330) 744-1112 for Richard Oliver, the authority’s public safety officer.

milliken@vindy.com

SEE ALSO: Authority plans multimillion-dollar improvements.

YmHA

Crime time line

Major crimes and anti-crime efforts instituted by Youngstown Metropolitan Housing Authority.

July 2007: A Youngstown police substation opens at 976 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in the Westlake Terrace Apartments, and it remains open today.

August 2007: A 1-year-old boy is treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center after being hit by a bullet that penetrated second-floor siding in the Michael J. Kirwan Homes in Campbell.

November 2007: Marvin L. Hodges, 29, is shot to death near the Kirwan Homes, but, in March 2009, a judge dismisses an aggravated murder charge against Melvin E. Johnson Jr., 24, after a key witness denies seeing the fatal shooting.

February 2008: Diana Noble, 39, is shot in the abdomen during a drug transaction near the Kirwan Homes and drives to her Howland home, where she later dies of internal bleeding from the gunshot wound. Tyrell Ravnell, 19, of Youngstown, will be sentenced Monday for this homicide.

April 2008: Marcus Easterly, 31, of Lanterman Road, is shot to death; and his cousin, Derrell Easterly, 22, of Hammaker Street, is wounded by gunfire in Westlake Terrace after a fight between teenagers escalates and draws in adults. Lamar McKinney, 21, of Broadway, gets 22 years to life in prison in May 2009, after a jury convicts him of murder and felonious assault with a gun specification.

May 2008: Sixteen men and two women are secretly indicted on charges of trafficking in crack cocaine at the Kirwan Homes after a yearlong investigation. This is the third indictment of its kind since 2001 concerning drug dealing there.

September 2008: Youngstown and Campbell police and YMHA officials announce a partnership to put extra police patrols, for which YMHA is paying $155,000, in Westlake Terrace, Rockford Village, Victory Estates and the Brier Hill Annex in Youngstown and the Kirwan Homes.

July 2009: YMHA advertises for bids for security cameras for Gutknecht Towers and Westlake Terrace.

July 2009: Mayor Jack Dill of Campbell calls for closing of the Kirwan Homes as recommended by a YMHA consultant six months earlier.

August 2009: Latoya Stephenson, 34, of Victor Avenue, is critically injured when she is shot in the stomach in a recreational area on Cedar Lane in Rockford Village.

Source: Vindicator files