East Central Gets Undeserved Image, City Council Told
East Central residents want to correct the misinformation soiling their neighborhood’s reputation.
“Our community is associated with violence, crime, drugs and corrupted people,” Carl Boston, president of the neighborhood’s steering committee, told the Spokane City Council on Monday. “That is just not so.”
“There are far more law-abiding citizens here than not,” said Diane Jennings, director of the East Central Community Center. “There is a negative and untrue image of this neighborhood.”
City Council members moved their meeting to the community center on Monday to hear how things are going - and they got an earful.
The council heard a lot about the good things - after-school programs for teenagers, community-oriented policing programs, rehabilitation of housing, inexpensive health care for low-income families.
But council members also heard what wasn’t working - jobs that aren’t available for high school and college graduates, role models that aren’t there for minority youths, discrimination that sours race relations.
“We need more people working together to stomp on the head of discrimination in Spokane,” said Eileen Thomas, president of the East Central Community Organization. “We call on you all to slay this dragon so that we can all live in peace and harmony.”
Some residents complained that police officers routinely harass African American youths.
“From the time my son turned 16, he got stopped by police at every opportunity and checked for drugs,” said Barbara Riley, whose son now is 21 and in college. “He’s a fine young man who doesn’t drink, let alone use drugs.”
Others called on the city to lead the way in minority hiring.
“The city’s Personnel Department needs to do more in-depth recruiting of people, hiring of minority young people,” Boston said.
The Rev. Lonnie Mitchell called on the council to open up communication.
“If we have problems in our city, if we have problems in our streets, it is time for us to dialogue,” Mitchell said. “There’s a lot of misconceptions out there. We need to sit down and talk.”
Police Capt. Chuck Bown, who heads up the city’s patrol division and sat in on the meeting, said he’s heard complaints about harassment and thinks communication is the key.
“Some people have their own perceptions about the problems, and some of those problems have a basis in fact,” Bown said. “What we need is dialogue.”
In other business, the council:
Voted against extending water service to 105 acres on Five Mile Prairie.
Approved vacating an alley between First and Sprague avenues, from Lee to Crestline streets, to make way for expansion of the Community Mental Health Center.