According to Village Council member Lottie Person, who represented Village West at the business-residents liaison meeting, we are getting an influx of the wrong type of visitors in the way of people coming into Village West to buy drugs. While it's bad enough that the drugs are being sold, it is worse that the police are not keeping people from outside the area from cruising around to buy the drugs.
Lottie felt that if the buyers were chased off by police, then there would not be much of a drug trade.
She did go on to talk about many positive things going on in Village West like youth programs and church groups. Many of us didn't know there was a nice swimming pool at Verrick Park, which goes along with their great basketball courts. Gordon Fales, also at the meeting, talked about that. A swim team is being formed and he talked about Black Top Basketball, there are also YMCA programs and there is a beautiful library -- he called all of this "unknown incredible resources." I plan to go and check some of this out and report back.
One thing everyone agreed on is that free parking is needed, whether it is weeknights or weekends or one day or whatever. But something needs to be done about that.
The major police presence was also touched on like at the Seminole Boat ramps and on 27th Avenue, where they have frequent check points which only serve to intimidate visitors to the Grove. The police cars that are randomly parked around the village with lit up signs on the back are a major buzz kill, too, according to most at the meeting. No one sees the point in them.
Sylvano Bignon from Greenstreets and John El-Masry from Mr. Moe's both agreed that the Grove is no longer fun. Many agreed. We need to bring the fun back.
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