Tag: maria quinones-sanchez

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Residents Of Harrison Street, Councilwoman Sanchez Has Called Me Back!

Burned Out House with Fireman Cutback Sign in ForegroundAt 11:40 am the councilwoman called me back in regards to 1338 Harrison Street.  She said she was passing the information off.  I forgot to ask to whom(this shows I’m no journalist), I assume it was to L&I.  She said steps to remediate this may take some time since this involves a fire.  She also spoke of possibly of citing the owners of the house.

We must stay vigilant however, the mission isn’t over until this shit is gone.

So what have we learned today?  Our councilwoman reads her email(Maria.Q.Sanchez@phila.gov).

[the entire saga] http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/tag/1338-harrison/

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The Residents of the 1300 Block of Harrison Street Need Your Help Maria

burned-house-wreckageSo I was just surfing the net on Saturday and found my way over to Phillyblog.  And there I found a new post by the_town_drunk bringing up the issue of the fire that gutted 1338 Harrison St.  Now I’m jre on there and as you can see I pointed him back to our site where I took pictures of the disgusting mess in the front yard a couple weeks ago.

But you know what occurred to me this morning?  I didn’t do anything else about it.  I shook my head and thought how pathetic it was but went on with my day.  That’s what a lot of Frankford residents do.  Do you know why we get drug and halfway houses?  Because no one complains.  Bustleton gets 500 people to show up when they have a methadone clinic coming to Grant and the boulevard.  But I’ve been to meetings here where the city pols and social service people outnumber residents.  Let’s start to change that, shall we?  But let’s take baby steps.  I’m gonna start with this freaking mess on Harrison Street.  I’m gonna hold someone accountable for this.  I’ve sent this email to councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez(Maria.Q.Sanchez@phila.gov) this morning.  We’ll start with her and see where it leads.  I know she reads her email because she talked to my father after he sent her one about the halfway houses at Church and Griscom.  This is what I said:

Councilwoman Sanchez,

I’m a resident of Frankford and the webmaster for the Frankford Gazette news blog(http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com).  I’m writing you in regard to 1338 Harrison St.  It looks to have suffered a fire some time ago but it’s wreckage has been sitting in front (what would loosely be referred to as a ) lawn for more than a month.  I drive by it every day.  I have taken pictures of it and posted it on our blog(http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/2009/03/31/frankford-has-burned/).  As you can see it is an eye sore, and represents a quality of life issue for its surrounding residents.  And we would like this junk removed.

I am emailing you because I think you may be able to spearhead this project.  If I have misunderstood your role in constituent services regarding matters like this, or if I need to contact someone else, please let me know.  But also let me know if you are going to take actions to resolve this quality of life issue for the residents of your district, as I have published this email to you on our site(http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/2010/04/14/the-residents-of-the-1300-block-of-harrison-street-need-your-help-maria/).  I’m considering this an experiment on the role of new media( i.e. local news blogs) and interactions between residents and their politicians.  I will track the progress (or lack there of) of this issue on the blog for the residents of Frankford to see.

Regards
Jim

She also got my cell phone number.  I also copied her chief of staff Quetcy Lozada(Quetcy.Lozada@phila.gov).  So now I’m sitting here waiting.  I’ll publish her response.  I think this will be easy to fix, and after it’s done, let’s all tackle something harder.

[the entire saga] http://gloomyhappy.wpengine.com/tag/1338-harrison/

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Frankford Civic Shows Some Teeth

Close to 50 people crowded into the conference room last night at Frankford Hospital for the Frankford Civic Association meeting.  Concern about  the possibility of a recovery house at 1522/24 Church Street, in a residential area,  so close to a church and school, seems to be having an effect.

Related to that issue, Jason Dawkins, of Maria Quinones-Sanchez office noted that a Frankford stakeholders meeting is scheduled for next week to update the community on the progress being made on the overall problem of the drug businesses in Frankford.  This is not a public  meeting so hopefully news will get out.

Zoning issues were discussed with approval given for several applicants.  However, the representatives of one applicant were sent packing after being confronted with evidence gathered by the Civic that work was being done to the property without permits and of doubtful quality.  Frankford just will not put up with this foolishness any longer.  The Civic has given notice, do it right or don’t do it.

A new applicant for the expansion of a business on Frankford Avenue, along with his representative, made his presentation and did a very professional  job of informing the Civic of his proposed plans.  That was a model for how the process should be.

The next meeting of the Frankford Civic Association will be on May 7th.

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Update on 1522-24 Church Street

The new recovery house on the corner of Church and Griscom has been visited by L&I who found no activity.  img_2542edit

Our Councilperson has requested a revisit for another inspection.  She will continue to monitor this case until it is resolved to the satisfaction of the community.  It was through an unfortunate office oversite that Father Steve at St. Joachims did not receive a callback on his previous contact.   It will not happen again.

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Frankford Civic Association Meeting

A good crowd once again attend the Frankford Civic Association tonight.  The meeting ran a bit over an hour and fifteen minutes.

  • In addition to the concerned residents of Frankford, some representatives of Frankford drug services were present.  A good deal of discussion was spent on the issue of the perception of the Frankford Civic as unfriendly to these types of businesses.  It seems fair to say that the folks who attended the meeting from the drug services arena are likely to be the best of the lot and expressed a desire to see the undesirable elements weeded out.  That position seems to line up nicely with the goals of the Frankford Civic and most other folks.
  • Zoning issues were updated and the Civic is dealing with them promptly as they come up for approval.
  • Officer katz of the 15th District was at the meeting to listen to citizen complaints and dealt with several with advice on how they should be handled.
  • Complaints from several residents of Salem Street about the clients at the Wedge building on Frankford Avenue centered on loitering by clients waiting for a van to pick them up for the return trip to wherever they live.  They clearly do not live in Frankford.  This is what residents were afraid would happen and now it has happened.  What will our representatives do to straighten this out.  They gave them the green light to move in here and set up shop.  No opposition.  When the same thing was about to happen in Bustleton, red light.  What a surprise.
  • 1522 and 24 Church Street have been purchased and the new owner plans to open a recovery house 120 feet from the door to St. Joachim church and 250 feet from the Northwood Academy Charter school.  Why does that sound like such a bad idea.  Because drug dealers like to go where the business is so they will also be on the church and school doorsteps.  Call your councilperson.  Express your restrained but vehement opposition.  See if we can make this go away permanently.  215-686-3448, 3449.