March 2021

Can I talk about miracles for a second? The third weekend of February, after a harrowing week of shivering in the dark and cold, we asked neighbors to donate and help other neighbors who were without food or water to make it through the weekend. Honestly, I did not know what to expect, because everyone was trying to get back to normal (whatever that means). Thanks to Sarah Woolsey with The Impact Guild, Christine Wright from Alta Vista, and over 50 volunteers, we were able to help about 175 neighbors! We door knocked, organized food and water, made deliveries, shared resources, made maps and Excel sheets. I’ve never seen such dedication and organizing skills as I witnessed from Impact Guild employees and volunteers.

And just when we thought we were out of supplies and could not help those who still needed, volunteers showed up with hot meals, packaged foods, fresh vegetables and fruit, eggs, milk, bread, and water! Sarah Woolsey writes, “Over the course of three days, help and materials poured in from The Beacon Hill Area Neighborhood Association, Alta Vista Neighborhood Association, The Impact Guild, TIG co-working members and their friends, churches, BH community members, and Trinity University students. We also received water donations from Councilman Treviño and State Representative Diego Bernál, and hot meals from State Senator Jose Menéndez.”

Sarah told me that it was an email from Ann Helmke from CoSA’s Faith-Based Initiative that sparked Neighbors Helping Neighbors: “Research clearly indicates that the most effective and efficient method to impact community need is to act as locally as possible in expanding concentric circles...” But impacting community need doesn’t always take the form of organized efforts or big gestures.

Just as important were smaller gestures: neighbors shared resources (everything from hot soup to help with plumbing) as well as help. I’ll never forget Dale Bracey snow plowing the very dangerous intersection of Woodlawn and Blanco in the middle of the storm! We shared advice, information, and comfort on social media. Neighbors physically checked on neighbors next door and on their street to make sure they were ok.

All of this said, “You are not alone. You have your neighbors.”

Thank you Beacon Hill residents, The Impact Guild, and the Alta Vista NA for your generosity of spirit and your love of your neighbor. It was extraordinary, but not surprising.

— Cynthia Spielman

February 2021

The weather has been mild enough on some days to walk Weenie the dog in the Linear Park. I start across the street from the Community Garden on Gramercy (at Capitol) and then walk to Hildebrand and back. We are so lucky to have this little winding gem in our community. On one walk I saw both playgrounds being used, two women shooting baskets at the basketball court, people walking dogs, a couple pushing a stroller, some men sitting in chairs talking and laughing, and a couple of people working in the community garden. At six blocks, it is the perfect distance to give your dog some exercise without the cars (mostly) or angry dogs protecting their front yard. There are water stations and poop bags available as well as trash cans to dispose of them. Improvements, such as exercise stations, are being made and will be finished soon. Even now, as we still remain socially distanced, outdoor spaces like the linear park and the community garden, provide a place for us to say hello. Check out the new bocce court across from the community garden on Capitol. Bocce is fun and easy to learn.

Public parks like this one create green infrastructure, promote physical activity, learning and opportunities for children (particularly at the community garden), and provide a sense of community with BHANA events like movie night and the picnic in the park event. The weather is unpredictable this time of year, but I hope you get a chance to enjoy this wonderful neighborhood amenity.

If you are out and see me walking with Weenie the dog, say hello.

- Cynthia Spielman

January 2021

Goodbye 2020. Where’s your hat, what’s your hurry? – as my grandfather use to say.

 It may be ironic that In a year in which many of us isolated to protect not only ourselves, but our loved ones and neighbors, we began to reach out for community, for a sense of belonging that we had taken for granted.

 We  found joy in a Fiesta car parade and a Christmas car parade that lifted our spirits. We sat in lawn chairs children and elders and in between, waving like we were watching the Macy’s Day parade. The Easter Bunny and the Easter Skunk (who became the Christmas Skunk) visited children in the neighborhood, standing on the sidewalk to greet their neighbors. We cheered one another on Facebook. We organized socially-distanced outdoor movie nights. We ordered food from our Beacon Hill restaurants and tried to help keep them going.

 Even more importantly, we helped those neighbors in need. We signed up elderly neighbors for Meals-on- Wheels, we baked for each other, we donated books to our little library at the Community Garden, we gave food to neighbors, we provided resources. Lucy Eller and Lola Rodriguez (co-chairs of the Benevolent Committee) with the donations and help from neighbors, provided Thanksgiving turkey dinners to six families, then provided ham Christmas dinners and toys for the children to another six families for Christmas. We helped to locate lost pets and offered advice from everything from bread making to curing animal allergies.

 We found our best, most resilient selves in countless and unnoticed acts of kindness throughout the year.  We faced challenges together.  We can continue to work together to bring joy and help to our community in the coming year. This is what a real neighborhood, in the best sense of the word, does.

 Happy New Year Beacon Hill!

- Cynthia Speilman

December 2020

The holidays are upon us! However you celebrate this season, joy and peace and health to you and yours

 Twinkling Christmas lights, house decorations, and of course, the iconic Christmas skunks are evidenced everywhere as I walk around the neighborhood. Even houses that normally don’t usually put out a lot are putting it on this year and I am thankful and cheered by the effort. 

 I am sorry to say we won’t have a BHANA Christmas party this year because of COVID concerns. However, we can keep up the holiday spirit not only with our families, but with our neighbors as well. Checking up on the elders on your block and helping Lucy Eller and Lola Rodriguez with their Christmas dinner and toy deliveries and participating in some neighborhood events like caroling or the BHANA Christmas car parade are ways we can bring some Christmas happiness to our community. 

 This year has been a historic, and for many, a difficult  one as they worried about COVID, losing their jobs, and wondering how they would pay their rent or mortgage, or waiting hours in line for food.  There are resources, particularly through the Neighborhood and Housing Services Department or through churches or organizations, that might be available to you.  If you are struggling, please let us know and we might be able to refer you to those who can help.

 Merry Christmas and happy holidays Beacon Hill! Here’s to a great New Year full of hope and goodwill towards all!

- Cynthia Spielman

November 2020

In my last President’s letter when I served from 2015 to 2017, I wrote, “Thank you for all the people that volunteer in our community – and there are many of you who give selflessly in all kinds of ways. Thank all of you for being the kind of neighbors worth volunteering for,” as I welcomed Daniel Hubbeling as the new president.  I couldn’t sum up Daniel’s service to our community any better. Daniel has generously given his time and skills for our benefit and I could not think of another person that could have been a better leader in these troubled times. Thank-you Daniel for your hard work and dedication. Daniel and Kim will continue to be an important part of our community as they continue their work. We are lucky to have them in Beacon Hill!

- Cynthia Spielman

November 2020

I think I mentioned in my first president’s letter two years ago that, prior to moving to Beacon Hill, I didn’t give much thought to the concept of community. Now it’s almost a preoccupation. What can we do to make people feel more connected to their neighbors? I don’t think one could overstate how important that sense of connection is. It increases our happiness and well-being in good times. But, more importantly, it helps us through the disagreements and bad times. Simply feeling connected to our neighbors doesn’t mean we’ll like all of them or always get along. But it does remind us that we need to work through those obstacles for the sake of something larger than our individual opinions. Right now we dearly need to remember that, despite differing opinions, we are all part of the same neighborhood, city, state, and country.

- Daniel Hubbeling

September 2020

I've spent the last month covering Beacon Hill and surrounding neighborhoods for the US Census. I have met many gracious and helpful residents. I have also met some rude and even hostile folks, including the charming man who screamed profanities into my face. The latter group doesn't particularly bother me. The churlish are always with us.

 What did trouble me was how many people simply couldn't be bothered. For many, the few minutes it takes was too much to ask. I certainly understand the pressures of trying to juggle jobs, children, and household work. However, I doubt many of us can't manage to carve out five to ten minutes for something that only comes around every ten years.

 My concern here isn't so much with this specific request for our time. It's with the larger issue of a sense of civic duty, a concept that seems to be wholly lacking in many people. This is a problem. A democratic republic is premised on the participation of its citizens. When we stop doing our part as citizens, the system starts breaking down.

 Our country's foundational phrase is "We, the People...". In a country as large and complicated as ours has become, it's easy to think of the government as separate from the citizens. But our system is not intended to have any real division between the two. That division becomes a reality when citizens fail to do their part. Completing the census, serving on a jury, voting, sharing our concerns with our elected representatives - these are all ways we can participate in our country and not merely live here.

 An all too common response census workers hear is "I'm not interested." As if they were trying to sell a product, rather than assisting residents fulfill a constitutional mandate. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but it seems that we've heard ourselves referred to as consumers so often that we've forgotten that we're citizens first.

- Daniel Hubbeling

June 2020

"May you live in interesting times."

 While the claim that the phrase is a traditional Chinese curse is not true, it still has truth behind it. We're certainly being reminded that living through a period of historically significant events may be interesting, but it's not very enjoyable.

 As with most events of social upheaval, people have wildly differing opinions about their causes, meanings, and impact. I certainly have thoughts of my own. But it's not my job to share that here. My job is to ask you to listen to each other. Help each other sort through the barrage of information and changes assailing us. We need to keep talking to each other. Writing off those who disagree with you won't do much to promote a cohesive society. And if you're simply plastering social media with messages deriding others whose politics don't agree with yours as idiots, crazy, or even evil, please stop and ask yourself what you're really trying to accomplish. Are your actions truly helping build a stronger community and country?

 On the other hand, there is something I think most everyone has a similar opinion about: property taxes. Although they were delayed, the 2020 notices of appraised value are going out. If you haven't received yours yet, you will soon. As has been the trend for several years now, appraised values continue to go up. Which means taxes continue to go up.

 These values are largely based on recent home sale prices. Since prices keep going up in Beacon Hill (some topping $400,000 now), it gets harder to argue that the appraised values are unfounded. But I would encourage you to protest anyway. For one thing, those high sale prices are for newly constructed or highly renovated houses. I don't mind telling you that my house is a long way from being in that condition. It shouldn't be appraised as if it were.

 Protests will need to filed by June 29th. It can be done by mail or online.

- Daniel Hubbeling

April 2020

Such strange times. It's hard to realize mere weeks have passed, as there's so much to absorb. Every day seems to bring some startling new change. 

This may come under the heading of cold comfort, but we have been here before. One hundred years ago, the Spanish flu swept the globe. So many died that no one is sure what the final count was, but a common estimate is 50 million. At a time when the total population was less than a third of today's. All while the most destructive war the world had ever seen was raging. We are experiencing some of the fear and uncertainty that the people then must have felt. And yet they carried on; society did not crumble.

I'm certainly not going to suggest that we have no cause for anxiety. While the data is still not clear about the fatality rate of C19, even the more conservative figures are sobering. And aside from the direct health concerns, the economic fallout will touch all of us. We need to ration our dismay; this will not be over soon.

But we have been here before... and we have come through. We have seen worse than this, and we have come through.

We can do so now the same way people always have. By looking out for each other. By taking care of each other. Social distancing may mean physical separation, but it doesn't have to mean that we're left to our own devices. Almost as soon as restrictions emerged, Beacon Hill residents started reaching out to help each other. It was a beautiful thing to see.

 This is a good time to relearn why so many of our Beacon Hill houses have porches. Sit on your porch and see your neighbors out walking. Talk to them. Remember that we are not alone if we don't want to be, even if we have to keep some distance.

-Daniel Hubbeling

February 2020

Transportation & Capital Improvements (TCI) is the department responsible for maintaining San Antonio's infrastructure. I reached out to them recently, because I've been puzzled by how they choose which streets to resurface.

Huisache (which they did recently) is a good example. While the 900 block certainly needed work, the stretch from Grant to the highway did not. I could have told them half a dozen other streets in greater need of attention. They listed a handful of factors in how they rate streets. But we seemed to be talking at cross purposes, as I couldn't get a straightforward answer to why they would resurface average streets before bad streets.

What I finally gleaned was that they will put off already damaged streets as long as they can. Because they can resurface more streets with mild wear and tear for the same amount of money that it costs to do one bad street. By covering more ground, they seem to be accomplishing more for more people. Even though the people who need their help the most continue to suffer.

I think that's the rationale. Can't say I'm a fan.

While I was at it, I asked about sidewalks. They said that they are only scheduling projects where there are currently no existing sidewalks (called it gap fill), i.e. they aren't doing any repair work. Repairs would be left to home owners, using the rebate program if available, or the Sidewalk Squad. Unfortunately, the Sidewalk Squad will only work on a block in which less than 30% of the sidewalk needs repair. That will disqualify quite a bit of our neighborhood.

I don't mean to simply dump on TCI. They have done a fair amount of street and sidewalk work in Beacon Hill in the last few years. I'm glad of that. But I think their allocation of resources has room for improvement.

- Daniel Hubbeling

November 2019

Last month I wrote about the complaints on Facebook regarding unusually high water bills in the neighborhood. A couple dozen people said they had been affected. That suggested a large enough problem that they deserved a chance to demand answers from SAWS. So I arranged for representatives from SAWS to come to Beacon Hill to speak with us directly.

 Despite the number of people who expressed great consternation over their excessive bills, only six residents came to the meeting.

 SAWS wants to brush it off and say "you probably just have a leak." With so few people coming out, it was easy for them to stick to that narrative. If everyone who'd been complaining had come, it would have been a lot harder to dismiss their concerns.

This is disheartening. I have accepted that very few will respond to my repeated calls for volunteers to help improve the neighborhood. But I was still surprised that more people weren't willing to put in such a small amount of time and effort to protect their own pocket books.

On the other hand...

We held our first neighborhood movie night in the park a couple weeks ago, and it went quite well. Around 50 people showed up despite the cool weather. They brought popcorn, cookies, pan dulce, and hot chocolate to share. The neighbors next door made it possible by providing electricity. The image and sound were great. The screen didn't deflate in the middle of the movie. And the cameos by a barking dog, a passing train, and a hint of skunk aroma somehow made it even more fun.

- Daniel Hubbeling

October 2019

A few weeks ago a post on Facebook raised the issue of unusually high water bills. The comments made it clear that this was not an isolated problem. I contacted Mary Bailey, the VP of Customer Experience and Strategic Initiatives with SAWS, to ask about the problem.  She said that SAWS had been hearing many such complaints. Only one could be chalked up to a misread. And as they have all but phased out estimates, that was also not the culprit. It was her belief that most of the differences from past years could be attributed to two elements. The first is that people may be using more than they realize as this was the first summer in some years without water restrictions in effect. The second was the tiered rate structure that SAWS uses. This means that they charge more at certain thresholds. Say 7 cents per 100 gallons for that first 3000 gallons, then 13 cents for the next 1500 gallons, then 17 cents for the next 1500 gallons. So the cost doesn't increase in a straight line with increased usage.

 The Board felt that was an insufficient explanation. They decided it would be better for residents to speak face to face with SAWS representatives about their individual cases. So I invited Ms. Bailey to come to Beacon Hill to answer your questions in person. She will bring colleagues who will speak with residents one-on-one. I can't promise they will give answers that will satisfy everyone, but we hope this opportunity will resolve issues for many of you.

- Daniel Hubbeling

August 2019

1%

 There are approximately 5500 people living in Beacon Hill. Only about 1% of them are actively involved with the Neighborhood Association.

Think about that the next time someone asks, "Why can't we (as a neighborhood) have such-and-such program or amenity?" It's because finding people willing to volunteer is like pulling teeth.

 Those volunteering now are organizing and staffing social events. Acting as liaisons with city officials. Trapping and neutering feral cats. Scanning stray dogs. Keeping watch over zoning and land use. Representing the neighborhood in development of our park. Tending the neighborhood garden. Collecting and delivering supplies to school kids and needy families. Composing, printing, and delivering a newsletter to every household each month. Planning and attending meetings to further neighborhood affairs. Fundraising to support events. Fielding questions from residents. Supporting and promoting neighborhood businesses.

 That's with 1%. Fifty-some people. Imagine how much 100 people could do.

 Because that is definitely not the full list of things we'd like to see the Association doing. We would like to have a regular program of helping people with repairs to their homes. We would like to have a lot more social events: movie nights, picnics, brunches, block parties, etc. We would like to have a network that would regularly check on elderly residents to see if they need any help, such as a ride to the store or some yardwork. We would like to have a neighborhood watch program and a liaison with law enforcement.

 I'll bet you can think of other things that would be good additions to that list. They could all happen... but only if you take part and make them happen. I see lots of folks complaining about the state of the neighborhood on the BH Facebook page. If they are actually concerned about a perceived problem, they need to get to work. Start making the neighborhood you want, instead of just carping about the one you have.

- Daniel Hubbeling

June 2019

You've probably noticed that there's been a fair bit of road work in Beacon Hill lately. Starting with Grant, some half dozen streets have been resurfaced. Pleased about this and curious about what else might be coming, one of the Board members did a little research and found a helpful tool. The Department of Transportation and Capital Improvements has a map showing where they intend to do work on streets, sidewalks, and drainage through 2023. As it turns out, there are plans to do more Beacon Hill streets in 2021 (Capitol and Gramercy) and 2023 (Michigan, Lullwood, and Mistletoe). All welcome news. He noticed something odd though. They only intended to resurface Michigan from Fred to Fulton. This would leave the stretch from Fulton to Hildebrand untouched. If you've been on Michigan recently, you'll probably be as flummoxed by that plan as he was. It was completely backwards from what needed to be done. He sent a message to TCI explaining this and asking for a revision to their plan. Just about the time he decided they weren't going to respond (7 weeks), they wrote back. TCI had investigated and decided he was right. So they were changing the plan to include the northern section of Michigan. If you're concerned about a neighborhood issue that is under municipal control, I encourage you to contact the City. You may be able to effect some change also. If you're not sure where to start, try the District 1 office.

 https://gis.sanantonio.gov/TCI_IMP/default.html

 The Board has been kicking around another idea to effect change for a couple months. They've been discussing community clean-up and assistance events. Neighbors coming together to help tackle a job that's too big or too expensive for one resident to handle on his or her own. This isn't a new idea. We've done things like this before with Miguel's house on French and the alley next to Blanco Star. What's different is that they'd like to make it a regular thing. Perhaps twice a year, perhaps once a month. How often depends on how many people are willing to pitch in. If this is something you'd be up for, please let us know.

board@bhana-sa.org

- Daniel Hubbeling

March 2019

I’m never sure how to respond to people who say they have no voice in government, but also say they never vote. Can they not see that they have robbed themselves of their voice? Do they assume that, because the outcome isn’t always the one they hope for, their vote doesn’t matter. The people we elect only know as much as we tell them about what we want. And no, venting on social media doesn’t really count.

You have two great opportunities to express your desires for your neighborhood right now. The easiest (I’m talking mere minutes of your time) is to complete the survey the Board has created. Let them know what is important to you. Details are on page 3.

The other one is laid out on the front page. We have been asked some important questions. If you saw the threads related to this request on Facebook, you have an example of why that is not a good venue for productive or informative discussion. Please come to the General Assembly meeting and make your voice heard.

- Daniel Hubbeling

December 2018

A neighborhood is a fragile thing. Some of us have lived here all our lives, in houses that have been in the family for three generations. Some of us moved here last week. How does that hold together? How do we find common ground and purpose? By an act of will. By taking the intentional step of being actual neighbors. People who know one another, rather than just people who happen to live near each other. 

For some that’s daunting. I’m not naturally socially outgoing myself. But once you start down that path it gets easier quickly. One connection leads to another. And suddenly you realize you’re part of a community.

Will you be in perfect accord with everyone you meet in the neighborhood? Of course not. There will be differences of viewpoint, some diametrically opposed. But there can be value in that also. Social media makes it increasingly easy to dismiss those with different opinions. Working with neighbors toward a common goal, reminds you that just because you have some points of disagreement doesn’t mean they are bad people. And hopefully they’ll see that about you too.

Perhaps none of that matters to you. Neighborhood. Community. So what? To be honest, for most of my life it didn’t mean all that much to me. Whatever neighborhood I happened to be living in wasn’t much more than a name. I wasn’t likely to have a clear idea of its boundaries. And I definitely didn’t feel connected to the people living there. Having come from a small town, the anonymity of city life felt liberating.

But a sense of community, of connection, is powerful. It prompts us to work for a good beyond our own immediate needs. And therein lies great satisfaction and happiness. I’m thankful to those who welcomed me into the Beacon Hill community. Have you taken the plunge yet?

– Daniel Hubbeling

November 2018

Frankly, I’m still a bit startled to find myself in this role. When I first moved to Beacon Hill 10 years ago, I didn’t give much thought to the neighborhood as a community. It started gradually through reading the newsletter each month. Four years in, my wife and I started to help deliver them. When she began editing the newsletter three years ago, things kicked into high gear. Meeting so many more neighbors. Going to the general meetings every month. The next thing I knew, I was the board treasurer. And rather to my surprise, I found both the work and the board meetings interesting. (Okay, yes, sometimes they run a bit long.) Every time I turned around, there was another way to contribute to the neighborhood. Following the lead of others who have been at it for years, I started pitching in on work days, helping with fundraising, and organizing social events.

You might read this as a cautionary tale: beware of volunteering. But I hope you take the opposite message from it. The more I’ve become involved, the more I wish I could do. Working to bring neighbors together and build a stronger community is very gratifying. There are so many other neighborhood projects I’d like to do if there were more hours in the day; or, more realistically, more hands to pitch in. I hope you’ll consider playing a part. It can be small. Just an hour of your time. But just think how much we could do if all of us gave an hour. And the more people who get involved, the lower the odds that I’ll be twisting your arm to be president in a few years.

– Daniel Hubbeling

May 2017

There are times when a neighborhood is in peril and this is one of those times. The city asks us to make room for more residents as they give tax and other benefits to developers who build multiple storied condos on a lot. What has happened on West Craig—six three-and-a-half-story condos on a lot in a street of bungalows—is the new model for development. Tobin Hill North is fighting a similar development in their community now, and Alta Vista is seeing the same there. Our tax dollars are paying for the demise of our neighborhood. Instead of creating housing downtown, they are zoning for more hotels.

Once our neighborhood is gone, it is lost forever. These homes, designed and built in the 1920s, ’30s, and ’40s, are unique and cannot be replaced. More importantly our Beacon Hill community cannot be replaced. What can you do? Attend meetings and contact your elected officials.

Right now, the most important thing you can do is VOTE. What candidate do you feel will stand up for us, protect these precious neighborhoods, and advocate for a more thoughtful approach to development? Talk to your neighbors and attend the candidate forums. Find people whose opinions you trust and talk it over. If we vote, our numbers become a force that can challenge developer money and the huge influence they seem to have on our elected officials.

Don’t let your neighborhood down. VOTE. – Cynthia Merla Spielman, President

April 2017

Spring is here: Easter, Fiesta, and National Poetry Month. Ms. Eller will be hosting the annual Easter Egg Hunt in the Beacon Hill playground in the Linear Park and at Cotton Elementary. That is funny, don’t you think? Cotton and Easter Egg Hunt? I once taught a girl named Bunny Hopkins but she didn’t live in Beacon Hill, and I knew a man who went to a high school with a football team called the “Fighting Bunnies,” but that wouldn’t happen in Texas unless it was one of those mean West Texas rabbits.

The Beacon Hill Community Garden is in full bloom and a great place to take children to see the butterflies and to take pictures. How would you feel about a dog park in the linear park? There was a picture on the Beacon Hill Facebook recently of a blind dog sitting in the middle of the street in a pink sweater and a cat showed up at someone’s door with a pink hoodie. Maybe we can find something pink for Menudo, the neighborhood pot-bellied pig or perhaps for those wayward goats that were eating flowers last year. I was thinking that it would be fun to have a pet parade in the linear park maybe for next Fiesta. The theme could be pink. It would save a lot of people from having to buy costumes.

It isn’t even April as I write this, but April 1st is around the corner. I would not want to be fooled into thinking that don’t need volunteers to work on issues like dog parks, welcome packets, crime, Easter Egg Hunts, newsletter distribution, community plans, and education.

Enjoy the lovely weather!

February 2017

Although property crime was down from 2015 to 2016 in San Antonio, downtown neighborhoods are vulnerable. In Beacon Hill we have been victims of break-ins and theft. Individuals roam the neighborhood and steal furniture and other items off porches and sell to local businesses or online. We have areas in which drug dealers do their business in broad sight of neighbors. We have people buying “tall boys” from convenience stores, getting drunk and congregating in yards (often using them to urinate) or at VIA bus stops. Law enforcement is an important piece of the puzzle but neighborhoods prevent crime. A concerned and active group of citizens can make our neighborhood an uncomfortable place for drug dealers, thieves, and other criminals. We are the eyes on the street. 

Here are five ways we can prevent crime in Beacon Hill:

1 Work with our District One Councilman, the City services, and Beacon Hill Area Neighborhood Association on solving common problems.

2 Report a crime if you witness it or something you suspect might be a crime. Create partnership with police, focused on solving problems instead of reacting to crises. Make it possible for neighbors to report suspicious activity or crimes without fear of retaliation. If you do not report a crime or “suspicious activity” the crime does not happen in the eyes of the police.

3 Set up a Neighborhood Watch or a Citizens on Patrol (COPS), working with police. Make sure your streets and homes are well lighted.

4 Be watchful and use social media to alert people about crimes in the area as we have done recently on Facebook exposing an individual who stole and then sold to a local antique store on Hildebrand.

5 Clean up the neighborhood! Involve everyone—teens, children, senior citizens. Litter, abandoned cars, and run-down buildings tell criminals that you don’t care about where you live or each other. Call the city public works department and ask for help in cleaning up.

Join your neighbors on Saturday February 25th at 8:30 a.m. at Rosewood and Blanco for an alley clean up showing our resolve to take back our neighborhood and make it safe. If you are unable to work, bring some breakfast treats, make some posters!