Reports from the block, ups and downs

Photo by John Hoff.
This door is now secured by an official city board.


Answering the Polish lady's "May Day" went fairly well...

...I drove up to the building, saw it was open, and called the police first before taking any unilateral action. I was able to report the boards had been ripped off some time between noon (when I went by in the vehicle of Kevin Gulden of PPL so he could go wheel and deal with land baron and mayoral candidate, Phil Kleindl) and 7:30 P.M., when the Polish lady left a message on my phone.

"Are you the block watch?" the 911 dispatcher asked me, when I relayed these specifics.

"Officially, no," I answered. "I don't think this block has one. But I've effectively taken on the duties."

I have to admit, the question and its tone made me feel warm all over, helpful like a Boy Scout. The police showed up in the pouring rain, looking very retro in their long blue coats, like cops from the Eisenhower era. One shined a light into my car. I waved. They walked around the building and left. They did not go inside.

Because the cops had no concern whether there was a squatter inside--I guess they have some way to tell--clearly I should have no concern. They didn't feel it was necessary to talk to me and I had even told the 911 dispatcher about how some of us had "taken to putting the boards back up ourselves." And this is true. I am not the only one who does it.

So after the cops left I got my hammer and nailed that sucker back up in the pouring rain. The "problem tenants" across the street just watched from the second story window. They didn't do the mocking sing-song thing, like another time when I nailed up the house of the sad, abandoned step full of teddy bears.

In other reports:

* The house across from the little Hmong children which I called in as unsecured, open through the front door, and full of evidence of squatter activity (including that gin bottle of urine) is still unsecured as of LAST NIGHT. My original reference No. is 171739. The "follow up" number is 173357. The 311 operator says they'll try to "expedite."

I've got a hammer, boards and nails. I can "expedite" this one right now. But I need to document how long the response takes. And this is the response I'm actually lobbying for, pushing for, not just calling in once and letting it go.

* The house at 3101 4th Ave. N., across from the water works building, is still unsecured AS OF LAST NIGHT. Reference No. 173360. In addition, the grass is now more than 8 inches high. Reference No. 173365. There are mattresses and other garbage discarded in the yard, and somebody called that in on April 14, 2008. However, that wasn't me. I wasn't even at this building until I called it in as unsecured.

So nothing happened on the April 14, 2008 "mattresses in the yard" call, and now the follow up call is 173366.

Me and my son stayed in a hotel last night, and we'll stay in one tonight. Last night, we called in an apparent drug dealer in a red truck, license plate XPC 221. My son helped me remember the license plate. A day later, he can still tell me the plate number.

This morning, we checked the block again. A guy was blatantly dealing in front of the Apartment Complex of Anarchy. We called it in. Two squad cars showed up. They put the guy on the hood and called me back to ask if I had any idea where his "stash" might be. I said I saw him interact with a woman and a young girl from the apartment complex, so I suggested they might want to try the apartment complex. We didn't stick around to see what happened.

* The apartment complex at 3119 4th Street N. just got slapped with "unlawful occupancy" stickers and evacuation is ordered by May 15. Somebody peeled at most of the sticker today. I'm sure that won't make a lot of difference.

* 416 30th Ave. N. got slapped with fresh paper, warning of condemnation by July.

Actually, I saw "fresh city paper" all over the block, even though some of it was just replacement paper.

* A moving van was in front of Pooky's house today, taking everything out. Me and my son watched to make sure it was legit, not copper thieves. It was legit. Pooky is gone. We just lost another resident.

* I spoke to a woman with a little boy, 4 years old, a friend of "Jane." She says soon she will be the only live human being living on her block, so empty is the block.

* 3018 4th Street, pictured above, is now secured by an official board over the door instead of just the padlock.

* The garage where "little Jane" chased off two crack heads is now completely boarded over on the front by official city boards.

* I found out amazing things about the Thai pork organ stir fry at Bangkok Market.

Stay tuned for THIS one.