Several Neighborhoods Speak Out to the City Council

Floating around on the neighborhood email distribution lists this week and published in the Omaha World Herald, A response from several prominent Omaha neighbors and neighborhoods.

At the Omaha City Council meeting on Jan. 13, Councilman Jim Suttle asked that neighborhood associations think about a number of issues, including the nature of free enterprise, the effects of empty storefronts on communities and the appropriate role for neighborhood associations to play in our city.After much and careful consideration, the undersigned neighborhood associations offer the following response:Neighborhood associations form when groups of citizens band together to improve their neighborhoods. Some form around a rallying cause; some, around a desire to have standards for upkeep and maintenance; some, when the safety of homes and neighbors is in danger. These groups of residents want to have a voice in what our neighborhoods look like.We have a common objective: keeping neighborhoods safe, healthy and vibrant.Neighborhood associations tackle a broad range of public issues. While neighbors don’t always agree about the solutions to problems, they always agree that the problems must be addressed and solutions brought forward.Asked why neighborhood associations don’t support whatever businesses choose to locate within their borders or on their periphery, our answer is quite simple. When zoning laws enable predatory businesses to fill in the empty storefronts of our neighborhoods, we see increased crime, decreased property values and neighbors afraid to walk outside their doors after dark.Predatory businesses — like payday loan operations or convenience stores with off-sale liquor licenses — prey on those whose ties to society already are weakened.In this time of extreme crime and violence in Omaha, the common good is not served by allowing more predatory businesses in neighborhoods already struggling with crime, where investments are needed in businesses that enhance our communities.No one wants empty storefronts or neighborhoods full of empty buildings. We see the repercussions of that every day. But we do expect — demand — that the city planning and zoning officials and City Council members pay attention to the types of businesses they allow to operate.We don’t need civics lessons from our elected officials. We need elected officials who care as deeply about the well-being of our neighborhoods as those of us affected by these issues.So what, then, is happening to the role of the neighborhood association? In short, the neighborhood association is filling the gap left when city employees and elected officials fail to protect our citizens and neighborhoods from those elements that bring crime and violence to our doorsteps.Our role is to pay attention to the needs of those who live within our borders, to protect our communities from those who would prey upon those least able to protect themselves, to be advocates for growth and change that bring hope and betterment to our citizens.Councilman Suttle’s comments display a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of enterprise in this country. Our Constitution grants rights to our citizens, not to corporations.It is disingenuous of the councilman to suggest that regulating where a business can operate and what it can sell thwarts the free enterprise system. We regulate those activities each and every day — as we should. We regulate our businesses both to protect our citizenry and to reflect the moral standards we hold dear. Neighborhood associations often act as the watchdogs of these activities.Yes, neighborhood associations plant trees and sponsor social events. But we are also on the front lines of the struggles our city faces. We get involved in extraordinarily difficult issues like group home regulations, zoning code violations, crimes against property, violence against our neighbors — and appropriate economic development.If we believe that our issues are not being adequately addressed by our elected officials, we have an obligation to speak out. Others will speak more directly and forcefully on the density of off-sale alcohol outlets, the issue that sparked this response. But none will speak more powerfully than those groups of citizens who band together to protect our homes, our neighbors and our community.

Joel Davies, president of the Joslyn Castle Neighborhood Association, and cosigned by the Aksarben/Elmwood Park Neighborhood Association; Bemis Park Neighborhood Association; Gifford Park Neighborhood Association; Ford Birthsite Neighborhood Association; Joslyn Castle Neighborhood Association; Miller Park/Minne Lusa Neighborhood Association; Orchard Hill Neighborhood Association.