To the editor:

ROBBERIES HAVE SKYROCKETED on Division Avenue – West 25^th Street area, two streets north of Detroit Avenue — since last fall.  Outsiders, as well as new Lakeview Estates residents transferred in from closed down east side estates, have turned the relatively quiet street into a robbery zone.  On February 20, 2014, CMHA’s Progressive Action Council held a meeting at Lakeview Estates’ Community Center to address the issue.  At one point in the meeting, the question was asked: What is the current councilman and precinct committeeperson representing the area doing in response to the increasingly dangerous situation.  The answer: “absolutely nothing.”

When Progressive Action Council President Lillian Davis asked the name of the precinct committeeperson four times during the safety discussion, the precinct committeeperson sat there too embarrassed to identify herself.

It must be nice to spend ones time looking down on constituents rather than serving them.  Election to public office – even for a precinct committeeperson — comes with the responsibility of working to improve the quality of life of voters. That includes working to increase funding for positive programs for children and working to protect residents from systematic threats.

In addition to the robberies, there have been two murders at Lakeview Estates in recent months and at least one incident of rivals gangs members squaring off against each other in broad daylight outside of the recreation center. One glaring problem is the shortage of manpower at the CMHA Police Department, exacerbated by the Cleveland Police Department’s reluctance to lend a helping hand.

One thing that was clear to anyone attending the Progressive Action Council meeting: Not only did the current precinct committeeperson fail to initiate the safety meeting; she played no role whatsoever in addressing resident’s concerns and has no intention of doing so in the future.

Jeff Mixon

Editor’s Note: Jeff Mixon is a candidate for precinct committeeperson running to represent Ward 3, Precinct A of the Democratic Party’s County Central Committee.