Groups Successfully Mediate Neighbors’ Spat Meeting Held To Ease Increasing Tension Between Two Households In Northeast Area

Neighborhood organizations and housing agencies got together with members of a northeast community last week in an effort to ease fast-rising tension.

About seven neighbors attended the meeting called by Block Watch and Spokane COPS. Representatives from the Spokane Neighborhood Action Program, Spokane Human Rights Commission and the Northwest Fair Housing Alliance also came.

“What we’re trying to do is mediate the problem,” said Bonnie Sherer, Northeast COPS officer.

Tensions had been growing between two households on the 4700 block of North Martin.

The neighbors who attended the meeting spoke about concerns of children who played in the street and neighbors who let their weeds spread to adjoining lawns.

But what officials really were waiting to hear about was a conflict between two households who lived across from each other.

Delia Parker was new to the neighborhood.

Block Watch volunteer Karen Kilgore and her husband Les had been in their house for years.

Parker wanted to start a child-care business.

The Kilgores didn’t like the increased car traffic. They began videotaping cars coming to the house. Karen Kilgore said she called the state licensing agency to see if Parker was licensed for a child-care business. She wasn’t. They continue to keep tabs on cars that arrive to Parker’s home.

As traffic increased, Parker and the Kilgores had confrontations about parked cars.

They also had unfriendly verbal encounters when Les Kilgore told Parker’s 9-year-old son to stop kicking bark in front of his home.

During those confrontations, both the Kilgores and Parker say they were subjected to racial slurs. The Kilgores are white. Parker is African American.

Spokane police were notified of the tension when the Kilgores called 911 saying a white man threatened them with a knife and cut their garden hose.

Officer Sherer investigated and found a murky story.

In an interview, Les Kilgore admits to turning on his sprinklers knowing that it would soak the inside of the car of Parker’s guest. Parker said it’s the second time her friend’s car was soaked that way.

Parker said the man asked Kilgore to shut off the hose. When he got no response, he used a knife to sever the hose.

Parker said it was an electrician knife. Sherer said it was reported as a pocket knife.

At the meeting, Karen Kilgore said it was a 5-inch blade.

The tension between the Kilgores and Parker escalated as the meeting progressed.

“I was informed I’m not wanted,” Parker said in a quiet voice. “`My kind’ is not wanted.

Kilgore began raising her voice and said Parker was the aggressor.

“There is a reversal already. We are the minority,” Kilgore said.

Khalil Islam, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, spoke up and explained that he saw disharmony in the neighborhood.

“There’s stuff on both sides,” Islam said. He urged them to speak with each other.

Kilgore raised her voice to speak over Islam: “I’m afraid to talk to them. OK?”

Kilgore rose to her feet, accused the neighborhood officer of not doing anything and walked out the door.

The meeting continued. Together, those remaining decided to hold a community barbecue at Parker’s home. Neighbors wanted her to feel welcome.

Marilyn Saunders, director of Spokane Block Watch, sent a letter to Karen Kilgore asking her to resign her volunteer post. Kilgore said she won’t step down.

Kilgore said Monday in an interview she would not resign the post she’s been doing for the past seven years.

For the most part, officials saw a positive outcome.

“When all was said and done, the neighbors did come together and began problem solving,” said Nancy Lewis, a Block Watch specialist for Spokane COPS.

Days after the meeting, the Kilgores walked to Parker’s home. They asked her for recipes.

“I went over, and me and my wife apologized,” Les Kilgore said. “We straightened everything out. They don’t bother us. We don’t bother them.”

Parker said it’s better, but it’s not perfect.

“It made me feel comfortable that people took the time (to attend the meeting),” Parker said. “It’s better, but I’m still not comfortable.”

But she plans to stay, she said.