S Warren Neighborhood Association
Concerned Citizens join our free Association. Help us help each other.
For discussions or to join go to facebook.com then search for Warrenites
Contact us at wecare@macombhistory.us
The purpose is to help each other.
We support neighborhood watch groups to help protect each other. Please report any crime activity both to the police and us so that we can warn our members. This is why email works best. We do not have the staff or manpower to knock on doors.
See crime alerts at http://macombhistory.us/miscitems/nw.html
We become aware of problems and find solutions.
South Warren Facts (from SEMCG and city-data.com)
19% of S Warren residents are over age 60 and dependent on Social Security
24% of our population are children
In Poverty 23%
Of Female headed families with children 37.5% are in poverty.
Unemployment rate in South Warren is 20%
People on fixed low income due to disability 10%
38% of homeowners are below water meaning they are in big trouble. There are about 300 foreclosed homes in South Warren Others are about to lose theirs.
The total residential vacancy rate has more than doubled in 2008 and has not bottomed out
In 2008, the median wage and salary income in the region was only $31,400.
In summary over half of south Warren residents are hurting, and many unemployed. We hope this will turn around in the next couple years when we will support a millage.
Fitzgerald used to be first or nearly first in the county in academic scores. Now with all of the millions Fitzgerald has spent on technology, Fitzgerald is next to last in the county in test scores. We don't see that spending millions more at this time for more technology as the solution. Shouldn't elementary students learn math the good old fashioned way. Now students on graduation can't even make proper change for a $20 dollar bill without a calculator or solve practical math problems.
Throwing expensive technology at students is not an excuse for not teaching and requiring students learn the basics especially at the elementary level. Where is the individual responsibility. Why don't you have end of the year tests for each grade.
Warren is Reducing Fire Coverage in South Warren This is putting Lives at risk.
Warren is cutting Fire Service and appears to be cutting Police Service to South Warren. We have had increasing crime in South Warren. And why are South Warren Residents and businesses being harassed by Warren City Police and Inspectors?
New Map of Warren
|
Warren |
|
696
Sub Warren Some are now calling it North Detroit |
Sub Warren is the area of the old Warren south of 696 which is having its Libraries, and Community Center, closed
and Fire Service, Police service and other City services cut and having its residents harassed by Police and City Inspectors.
Fire House #1 located at Federal and 9 Mile Road is shutting down Ladder Engine #1
We have several cases of police are going thru S Warren harassing senior citizens and homeowners who are taxpayers with petty harassments when they open your gate and go walking in your back yard looking for any imperfection then issuing tickets and insisting on expensive building permits even for such petty things as they don't like the paint job on your house.
Other examples:
Gutter has a leaking joint and inspector says you have to get a building permit (over $100 just to caulk it)
firewood not up 18 inches
an old tire setting at back of house
Garden vegetables and Corn are more than 6 inches high
Not allowed to have a rabbit or chicken in a cage in back yard even though no neighbor has complained.
Senior citizen was hit from behind damaging his car and sending him to the hospital on Sunday. Had his car towed to his house until could find repair shop Monday, and make arrangements for repair. Released from hospital Monday to find city had towed his car to an expensive impound lot less than 24 hours from accident time and costing senior citizen hundreds of dollars. (He would have had car repair shop pick up car that same day.)
Another citizen reports was selling car in driveway whose license just expired (by two days) buyer coming over but police towed car to impound lot.
S Warren neighbor reported to us that she parked her van with a trailer which had a car on it overnight on Warner just outside of the trailer park because there was no room in the trailer park. Both vehicles and the trailer had up to date insurance, plates and tags. Se gets up the next morning to find all three gone. Calls police to report them stolen and discovers that the police had them towed. Then the impound yard wanted over two hundred dollars to get them out. Why? The vehicles were legally parked and had up to date plates and tags. What is going on? She stated that the city is making money off of citizens unfairly or taking kickbacks from impound yard but she doesn't have money to hire a lawyer to fight the city and police department.
Another example of this possible kickback scheme. The 70 year old caretaker for Warren Union Cemetery legally parked his car on Chicago road along the fence of the cemetery. The car had up to date plates and tags. He walked to the back of the cemetery to do some work and returned to his car less than an hour later to find a huge sticker ticket placed with nearly impossible to remove cement in the middle of the driver's side windshield preventing the car from being driven. It stated that the car was to be towed. Later the owner confronted the officer to ask why a legally parked car was to be towed and was told that that was police policy. The owner pointed out that there were no no parking signs along the road and that the car was legally parked. The officer told the owner that he was lucky that he did not have the car towed immediately. Why is the city so gung ho on towing cars. Why are they harrassing senior citizens? If I can't park my car for an hour in a legally parking area where can I park it? So I have started opening the cemetery gate and parking in the cemetery. Then I had three police officers come in and question what I was doing there. They could see that I was cutting up a tree that was laying on gravestones. How is a 70 year old man supposed to get home if they tow my car? I am on social security I don't have a couple of hundred dollars lying around to pay the impound yard. And why should my car be towed if it is parked legally for an hour? I don't understand.
My hired help sitting in my back yard eating a slice of pizza was arrested for trespassing but when I tried to say he works for me to clean up my back yard the police officer told me to shut up and they cuffed my laborer and put him in jail for 30 days for trespassing when he was not. Then the court forced an attorney on him who insisted he plead guilty when he objected he was told to shut up. Then the court ordered him to pay $250 dollars to the attorney who had forced him to now have a criminal record. This really happened. Look at case of Curt Manhart
Why not be allowed to rent a goat to cut grass in big back yards thus saving environment from noise and fumes from gasoline mower.
Senior Citizen finally finds classic car and has it towed to his long driveway far off of the street. Car needs engine so he is making arrangements to get an engine. No neighbors object to his one classic car. Police open his fence gate and go to the back of the driveway where his one and only classic car is and since car has no plates yet they have his car towed. No neighbors complained, no one objected to him having his dream car in his back driveway. This was not blight. This man was in a war defending our country and has several medals. This is harassment.
Meanwhile our South Warren neighborhoods are suffering a crime spree. It seems to us that it would be more productive for the police to spend more time preventing crime than harassing our taxpaying residents.
And South Warren Business Owners are being harassed. Example Big Boy and car dealers are allowed to have waving banners up for weeks but little struggling Brothers Restaurant couldn't have a little string of triangular wavers at its front door. They were threatened with a stiff fine. And Brothers is struggling for survival because all other businesses in that strip mall have been harassed out of business or otherwised closed.
General Distributors called the police to report their sign on their building had been stolen then they later found out that the city had paid someone to dismount their sign and was billing them for that. The sign was not defective and posed no safety risk and was attached to their building. The city's complaint was that it was a little too big according to the code. But the business owner was not given sufficient time to modify it.
Again and again we hear from business owners who are harassed by city inspectors. Of course if there is a health and or safety concern that should be addressed. But business owners in South Warren are reporting petty harassments and if they don't comply they face multi hundred dollar fines. I have heard several South Warren business owners say that they would move out of Warren if they could to cities who are more considerate of struggling business owners.
We are bringing issues to your attention as these are often not mentioned in
the Warren Weekly. We do this
so that hopefully we can help create a better place to live.
We can help keep you better informed on local issues.
If you are interested in possibly joining our group send an email to wecare@macombhistory.us
Everyone who is interested in helping or getting information is welcome to join regardless of address.
We are happy to both assist and welcome members of the Lincoln Neighborhood Association. We salute this organization for the fine work they do to help Warren residents. See their web page http://www.lincolnneighborhoodassociation.org/
We are not at the point they are because we do not at this time have volunteers to do repairs or grass cutting..
Discussions are easier, faster, more convenient and timely held by email as that fits everyone's schedule. This is better during heat, cold, bad weather, during mosquito season and during flu outbreaks. Better for those with children as no babysitter needed. This saves on gas and time. Also restrooms in the parks are often locked. No cash outlay needed if local restaurant is used as we must buy something to use it.
For those who don't have email you can use the library computer and log on to yahoo.com or mail.com or webmail.aol.com/ or do a search on free email accounts. You can sign up for a free email account. Then you will be able to participate in our discussions and receive information. Email discussions are more timely, save time, gas, best during bad weather, heat, cold and best of all fits everyone's schedule.