Community Involvement Key to Safer Neighborhoods, Police Say

By Christina Georgiou

Lt. John Remaley, of the Easton Police Department, told
attendees at the city's quarterly Block Watch meeting
Wednesday evening that reporting suspicious activity
to authorities helps make neighborhoods safer.

Residents that see something amiss or that witness suspicious activity need to report incidents--even small ones--to authorities so they can better serve the community, police said  Wednesday evening.

Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo and Lieutenant John Remaley, who heads the EPD's Problem Oriented Policing program, addressed a group of about 30 people from several city neighborhoods that gathered at the Nurture Nature Center to attend the Easton Block Watch's quarterly meeting.

Scalzo said the number and scope of recent drug raids, including some that shut down makeshift labs manufacturing methamphetamines, have put a dent in local illegal drug dealing, and the department will continue to put pressure on dealers and users.

But there are only 62 officers to the nearly 27,000 city residents, and to do the best job, police need community assistance and cooperation, Remaley said.

"You're our eyes and ears," he said. "The more you get involved in your neighborhood, the safer it will be for you."

Remaley praised the work of various local community organizations, such as Weed and Seed, the West Ward Neighborhood Partnership, the College Hill Neighborhood Association, and others, noting that while they are all separate groups, "you all have the same goals."

He said the various groups should work together and with police to continue to improve quality of life in Easton's neighborhoods.

"Pooling our resources, sharing information is a great way of working," Remaley said.

But private citizens should also be involved in helping to keep their blocks and neighborhood safe too.

"Chances are, if something raises the hackles on your neck, something's wrong," he said. "If you sense something's wrong, let us know about it, and we'll check it out."

The combination of vigilant residents and strong neighborhood organizations can improve the quality of life and increase safety, Remaley said.

"Let's pull all the resources into one barrel and make it a better barrel," he concluded.

While the meeting was less than a week following the homicide death of a woman found shot to death in a pickup truck in the city's West Ward neighborhood, police did not specifically address that or other recent violent incidents at the meeting, and authorities have not issued any further information since the murder that happened this past Sunday.

When asked about it after the meeting's conclusion, Scalzo declined to offer more details, saying that the investigation is still in a "delicate" stage, and that detectives are working diligently on the case, but to release more at this point could jeopardize the investigation.

Scalzo added that he expects more information about the homicide will be released"in the next few days."

Envision Lehigh Valley Meeting in Easton Draws a Crowd



Holly Edinger, director of sustainable development
 for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation,
 talks to a crowd of about 50 Easton residents gathered
at the Easton Area Community Center  Thursday evening.

By Christina Georgiou

The Lehigh Valley is the third largest metro area in Pennsylvania, and its population is growing.

 

But without a vision and planning for that growth, the full potential prosperity that could come with it isn't so likely to happen.

 

"We really need to set the structure for the future," Holly Edinger, director of sustainable development for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, told a crowd of about 50 Easton residents gathered at the Easton Area Community Center  Thursday evening. "We really need to set the structure for the future."



Click on any image for a better view



The Lehigh Valley was one of only 47 communities nationally to receive a federal planning  grant, and it was among the largest--$8.4 million. That money will be used to gather input from citizens and to create and implement a vision for the region's future, she said.

 

"Hopefully, if we do our job well, it will put us on the national stage and help with things like job creation," Edinger said.

 

Citizen engagement and input is key to any comprehensive plan to be a sucess, she said.

 

"Plans are not good unless they have buy-in and commitment," Edinger said. "They become doorstops otherwise."

 

The planning project, Envision Lehigh Valley, is conducting numerous public input meetings across the Valley, gathering ideas and hearing citizens' thoughts on what works and what doesn't, what their concerns and experiences are, and what they'd like to see for the future.

 

Thursday evening's meeting is the first of a total of four planned in the city, and others in the greater Easton area, as well as in and around Bethlehem and Allentown,  have happened and are planned for the coming months.

 

The project will study everything from housing to jobs to transportation, as well as other quality of life matters, such as food access and environmental issues, she said.

 

Defined by the criteria of low- to moderate-income neighborhoods being more than one mile away from a grocery store, Envision Lehigh Valley has identified "food deserts" in the region.

 

"There are four 'food deserts' in the Lehigh Valley, but none of them are in Easton," Edinger said, though she added that the city could use a second grocery store to be ideal.

 

As the region grows from being home to nearly 650,000 today to a projected 800,000+ population in 2030, based on its current demographic profile, the area will "age" too, she said.

 

"And that means more LANTA riders and less drivers," Edinger added.

Mayor Sal Panto said he supports the goals of Envision LV, particularly since he thinks the initiative will help with job creation.

 

"The Lehigh Valley really is one community. Maybe not one neighborhood, but one community," Panto said. "Unfortunately, sometimes we don't work (together) as a valley. That wasn't the case 20 years ago, and I think we need to get back to that."

 

However, both Panto and Edinger, along with Easton Planning Director Becky Bradley, said what really matters when it comes to the city's future and its role in the region is what its residents think.

 

"What do you really want your community to be?" Panto asked. "Not me, you, as a stakeholder."

 

Bradley said she thinks Easton's future is a bright one, and the city has a lot of the elements of a successful future already in place.

 

"Even though Easton is a (population) dense place, you don't have to choose between growth and sustainability," she said. "Actually, it already (has both)."

 

The city's transportation infrastructure is also a plus, she added.

 

"Another wonderful thing about Easton is we have a wonderful grid system and sidewalks, which give a lot of ways to get around," she said.

 

While some of the meeting presented facts, most of it was spent with local residents from all four city neighborhoods discussing their ideas and sharing observations about the city's strengths and weaknesses, while facilitators from the Envision LV project recorded their discussions.

 

Quality of life issues, such as neighborhood environment, transportation and walkability of the area, traffic, and job availability seemed to dominate a number of discussions.

 

Future meetings to gather public input will follow a similar format, Edinger said.

 

Three more public input gathering sessions are planned:

• Monday, January 7, from 6 to 8 p.m., at St. John's Lutheran Church, 330 Ferry St.
• Thursday, January 10, from 6 to 8 p.m., at Shiloh Baptist church, 403 Davis St.
• Thursday, January 17, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at College Hill Presbyterian Church, 501 Brodhead St.

Participants don't have to be from the neighborhood the meeting is held in to attend, officials noted--all are open to all local residents.

 

Those that cannot attend the meetings or missed the ones in other communities in the greater Easton area are still encouraged to participate by completing Envision LV online surveys and communicating ideas though the project's website, Edinger added.

 

To learn more about the Envision Lehigh Valley project, visit www.envisionlehighvalley.com