No Vacancy!

All corners of the park are reserved. Geez-us.  As quoted by Rank Security Officer, John, "Enslen Park is a mess!", or "Under Siege".

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, is this mic on?  Hello?

What about ticketing bike trailors? How about issuing fines for sleeping? I am not talking about the occasional nodding off of a dad as his child plays.  I assume there still are kids playing at the Southern quadrant of Graceada Park while the North side is reserved for blankets, naps, trailors and recycling.

Wow, tough crowd.

Give our patrol that us neighbors pay for the ability to scatter these vagrants, or at least being able to ask if they utilize services.  If they actually use services, then they get a pass.

Pretty sure that if any of you dignitaries lived across the street from this it would be taken care of.  Problem solved.

Excuse me Mr. Mayor, but F**K Salida.  Let that one go. Sorry, I rarely cuss on this site, but annexing Salida means "More industry and jobs" to the area.  Who wants to LIVE here when this is what they see on the streets and parks?  Get tough and take care of this issue first! Lets get a positve vibe in Modesto before we ask others to move here.

Don't forget to tip your wait staff, and if you would, feel free to fill out a COMMENT card on your way out.

(BTW, the lady in red wandered in circles on my lawn before a voice in her head told her to head North). S.A.D.

My vote...

 Just in case I cannot make it to tonight's "Community Engagement" forum downtown, my 8 votes goes to whatever eliminates this.

The biggest black eye to Modesto is the homeless and vagrancy issue. My thought is that it shows a city that does not give a damn about it's image. When a city does not care about its image is what leads to crime and gangs.

Just driving around town you see the homeless, vagrants and mentally ill shuffling around.  It is the vagrants who all look like they have bad intentions on their faces.

If the city wants to continue with their services for the homeless, then fine.  Lets find out who utilizes the services given to them.  For those who refuse to use the services, then they need to move on.  It is up to the city to figure out who those are with help of the Department of Mental Health and MPD.

Enslen Park Recycling

It is no wonder that Modesto repeatedly ranks at the bottom of city rankings.  Modesto is simply under siege with the homeless issues.  Like I have mentioned before, it is like the Apocolypse has hit the city.

I have to watch the recycling at Enslen Park, look at the drying of laundry, listen to the bickering amongst the residents and even more annoying listening to barking dogs.

As written in an letter to the editor in the Bee by a "Edward",  "Our community is compassionate beyond words to the indigent, homeless, and less fortunate.  We provide them with legal heroin substitutes on McHenry Avenue and we have created not one but mulitple homes and feeding centers at the entryways to downtown for the homeless."

I feel that the city just needs to get tougher.  Lets document these homeless and see if they are utilizing city services and if not, it is time they hit the road.  I know it is a major project, but it is time to put the hammer down so to say.

Apathy?

JARDINE: Finally, a list or two Modesto is proud to be on - Kaepernick - Modbee.com

Why is it that Modesto folks have become apathetic? New chief Galen Carroll says "there is general apathy about neighborhoods, crime, the city in general." Well maybe, for instance, it is when a neighbor witnessess a brazen burglary of a home and then follows the vehicle to it's home or destination while on the phone with MPD and gives exact detail to the vehicle, perp, and location, and an officer never shows up! I read on Facebook everyday of citizens who are fed up with the crime and whom are wanting to get out of Dodge.  It is often followed up with a response from a friend that says "Glad I am out of Molesto, good riddance"!

Carroll described it as people throwing up their hands as if to say, "Oh well, there's nothing we can do about it." Well, yup.  Sure the city can pass out a few anti-theft devices and we can create neighborhood watches, but we are being overrun.  We are fighting with the preverbial toothpick here.

Area Under Siege

Wow.  Burglary after burglary.  The beat goes on.  I pretty much "lost it", or gave up hope when I learned of the armed robbery at Millennium Market at Sycamore and Morris Monday evening.  My son and I stopped by to see Sonny and to console him.  He showed me the video of the burglary.  Shocking.  Could have been worse, but at least MPD was able to get the SOB's.  This posting is not at all an attempt at a "dig" towards our local law enforcement. It simply is a cry out to society and our city in general that we need help!

The accompanying photos were taken by my neighbor yesterday.  This obviously was an attempt to scan the neighborhood.  Who goes to two houses (where there were no cars at the residents) to sell tamales? I was home at the time, so they did not knock on my door.  Seems to me there are groups of hispanic "packs" looking to score in this city of late.  All in the name of their gang.  The neighbor who was home, but with no car, watched where they went.  Her house, a neighbor and then gone.  One of the guys walked to the end of the street.  License plate: 4HMG798

Stay alert! In the meantime, HELP!

Encouraging news on the Modesto Inn

It is nice to read about the efforts of the owners/operators at the Modesto Inn and how they are trying to change things.  If it works out, then it is the best case scenerio.  Looks as if they are trying to get "legit".

The worst case scenerio was, as a neighborhood, to continue fighting with them and continue to have the issues that was plauging the place.  The last thing the area needs is another blight issue.  If it were to close, then the squating that would take place would make the area look like the apocolypse.

I can see the changes being made as I drive by.  At least it will be a viable business potentially.

I already see less vagrant foot traffic at the parks since the residents were booted.  Of course, some of that has to do with the weather, but a difference has been made.

I hope that the city continues to monitor the situation (which I know they are currently), but they need to keep vigilant after the change has been made too.

Knife Pulled at Enslen Park

As my son walked across Enslen Park yesterday on his way to the corner market, he called me saying there is a fight developing at Enslen Park.  What he witnessed were two homeless men verbally harassing a group of young adults (who were at the park all morning, doing what, I am not sure) when the gals of the group started going after the homeless dudes.  Then the young men started going after the homeless guys, and that is when one of the homeless men pulled a knife and the group backed off.  This all took place behind the backstop of the baseball field.  I witnessed the screaming and folks running.

One of the homeless guys, is a guy that rides around on a unicycle. Maybe he is not homeless, but just a vagrant.  It also "may" be the guy that verbally assaulted me last week when I confronted him for smoking marijuana during the "Zumba" event (not "Red). Not for sure, but just an instinct of mine.

This is exactly why I do not walk across Enslen Park when I go to the "Green Store", or Millennium Market at Morris/Sycamore.  I just gets me more infuriated so I choose to drive.  My son is much more brave than me.

Now I want some answers from those whom this blog gets emailed to.  I want some accountability! I keep this blog basically private as it goes to city council members, the Chief of Police (interim), the Mayor and a few others.  I try not to open this up to public consumption too much.  I want to work with city administrators and do not want to turn this into a bitch session.  However, I am getting ever so closer to opening this up and getting park residents across the city to join in a mass effort to hold the city accountable to keeping our parks safer.

The Blue Ribbon Committee findings have been set aside.  I have heard of nothing about park patrols and what WAS on tap initially in experimenting with camera's etc.

When this incident happened yesterday, I did not call the police.  I used to in the past, and I normally received a good response with an officer at some time or another driving by the park.  Lately, that is not happening, so I do not bother.  I know, budget cuts, etc, but last year we were in the same boat, and at the very least, a patrol would come by.

Another note

As I sit down to type, I get the aromic smell of pot being smoked across the street at the Enslen Park.  Not a vagrancy issue, just some punks.  Yes, it is that easy to sit down at a table at the park and smoke openly at a picnic table while they probably scrawl some graffiti on the bench.  I am sure they have their medical marijuana cards though!

Got a response from my last posting telling me that the Blue Ribbon Committee's reports have been "shelved for the time being".  All that hard work, and we are just going to let it sit for a bit.  How long?

For us residents of the College area, I would like to see our Rank Security be able to approach the "do gooders" who come out and do feedings.  They would need to be armed with literature trying to show that there is a coordinated efforts in the feedings and not to be totally against what they are doing.  Of course, that is done by evaluating what the Blue Ribbon did, (see above for their status).

I would like to see the Department of Mental Health get up from behind their desks and go on a sabatical of sorts.  If officers or social workers could, ask the vagrancy at the parks if they utilize the services provided by the city?

I think I now have a contact high from the pot smoke, I am getting giddy along with the school children that just walked through the haze!

Zombies and Modesto Parks

I did not find it surprising when hearing about an assault that took place last Saturday at Mancini Park in Modesto.  I also do not find it surprising that it took place in broad daylight, because who in their right mind would stroll through a Modesto park at night?
It was only a matter of time where an incident so violent would occur at a park and actually reported.

Folks complaining about "quality of life" if a shopping center is erected at the corner of Sylvan and Oakdale ought to be thankful they do not live across the street from a park. Now THAT is a "quality of life" issue.

"Zombies" are the latest craze as we get closer to Halloween.  If you are fans of zombies, then make a picnic and go to your local park.  The amount of homeless, vagrancy, and mentally ill that stroll around will amuse you.  I have literally seen these folks walk around in a circle going nowhere.  Just the other week I witnessed a man who was a spitting image of "Animal" from the Muppets, just throwing trash all over Enslen Park.  He picked up a trash bag as if it was a big find and carried it around before disposing it under the stands.

On Saturday morning while the In-Shape/City of Modesto's kids Zumba event was going on at Enslen Park, I noticed a dude rolling a joint at a table.  (When you are doing something and consistently looking up looking for authorities, you are probably up to no good). He proceeded to smoke it with a regular resident, "Red" at the horseshoe pits.  Now "Red" has always been an ally of ours in keeping the park safe from it's curses.  However when I approached him to question his decision on smoking while there are a ton of kids at the park he got defensive.  "Do you see any kids in this area?". Uh "yes" I replied. Then the other dude confronted me and while cussing me out (at the same time he retreated cause he thought maybe the police would be on their way and knowing he had substance on him he got out of "dodge"), but he went kicking and screaming.

At our CANA security meeting, the main emphasis was the homelessness and the vagrancy. That is still our main concern.  We are going to work on a few questions to how we can stop the issues.  Questions like, why are we letting the Modesto Inn continue?  Why are we still seeing park feedings?  Where is the Blue Ribbon Committee and it's findings at?  We recognize that these are a society issue, and if we succeed in eliminating the issues at Enslen and Graceada Park, that it will only continue somewhere else.  However, we are at such a infuriating state of mind, we don't care.  Just get it out of our parks.  That thought process is wrong, but we need help and the city needs to look over its park patrol system first, then see how they want to deal with homelessness and mental illness issues next. If we are going to provide services, then do so in a coordinated effort.

I don't really find any humor in this.  It actually pisses me off, but it is true.  This is from a Modesto Facebook site that makes fun of Modesto even though they say, "it is all in fun". An article in today's Bee chronicles mail box thefts so you can no longer find the blue mail boxes and then there is the pot busts going on daily.  At least law enforcement is making a dent in those busts, but we need to get it together Modesto!

Modesto Parolee

So a parolee just out of Corcoran State Prison yesterday is dropped off in Modesto where he sexually assaults a 15 year old girl on a city bus on her way to school.  Not even 24 hours out of prison for sex crimes,  and he commits this.  My question is why was he dropped off in Modesto?  I can understand if he is FROM Modesto.  I hope this is the case, otherwise, we need to find out why all of them are dropped off in Modesto!

A movement we need to recongnize...Hello?

So I posted on the Modesto International Architecture Festival Facebook site:

Liking the new paint on Suzuki's Garage. However, what about the rest of the property? Is that coming? Thanks for the support. http://hotelenslen.blogspot.com/2012/09/old-gas-station-gets-new-paint-scheme.html

Got a response from a David Burkett:

We are looking for the next Modesto Art Museum project and the building next door is an option… but we are also looking for suggestions. We hope to inspire adjacent property owners to spruce up their buildings and change the feel and image of Modesto one building at a time…

My response:

Sounds great. If you read my recent posting on my blog, Needham has been having a bit of revitalization. I would like to see it continue. You would get support of CANA to help expedite potential improvements. The revitalization of businesses on needham would only help in the push to be rid of the Modesto Inn.

Anybody else up for this? Twainhart Hill? Am I right?