Sean C. Morgan
Residents of 12th and 13th Avenues, near where they intersect with Poplar Street, complained to the City Council last week about crime, loud and obnoxious behavior, foul language and bonfires.
The complaints were focused on the area around the 1800 block of 12th Avenue and the area of 13th Avenue and Poplar Street nearby.
Linda Iljin told the council during its regular meeting on Aug. 13 that she moved to Sweet Home four years ago because she heard Sweet Home was a quiet, family-type community. Within a few days of buying her 12th Avenue home, the big problems began.
A big group of people were taking advantage of an older man in the neighborhood by moving in, she said. They started big fires. The police and firefighters responded, and that situation was straightened out in about a year.
Since then, there have been new problems with people renting in the area, Iljin said. In a matter of three days, dozens of people were coming and going all night, making noise.
If anyone said anything about it, noting that children are sleeping, they responded with foul language and insults, Iljin said. Diapers are burned in the backyard.
Two days before the council meeting, Iljin said, police officers came to the area, but said the situation wasn’t a police matter.
Also nearby, during the Jamboree, people around a bonfire were getting into fights and trying to throw each other in, Iljin said. She had to move her bed away from the bedroom to sleep. She called 9-1-1, and now they’ve moved into the house.
“For the past three months, all of us neighbors on 12th street have been housebound,” Iljin said. “The children don’t come out and play because we are surrounded by horrible, foul language.”
Bruce Weir said his neighbors, around the intersection of 13th and Poplar, are fed up with crime – theft in particular, and some of those neighbors are talking about taking matters into their own hands, something he doesn’t want to see in his neighborhood.
The area has almost no police presence, Weir told the council. He wants to see officers driving on those streets.
“There are folks down there getting good and tired of having things stolen,” Weir said. “It’s been going so long, there’s an element down there leaning toward vigilantism.”
He doesn’t support vigilantism, he said.
“We’re willing to work with the police. We’re not willing to substitute for the police. It’s going to take a concerted effort. I realize that.”
Police Chief Jeff Lynn said that area of Sweet Home has a number of properties that are problems for police.
Lynn said he has called the residents and is setting up a time to meet with them after the conclusion of a trial that is keeping personnel busy in court. He promised that the Police Department will work with them to find solutions to their problems.
Residents of both areas are considering a Neighborhood Watch program, he said.
Every town has different areas that have more problems, and these are two, Lynn said. A lot of times, it comes down to landlords and to whom they rent their properties.
“I can’t control who people are going to let live in a particular house,” Lynn said. “Our reach is limited, but what’s happening around that house (on 12th), we can have an impact.”
Problems with noise violations, fires and disturbances can be handled by police officers, while other problems can be handled by code enforcement, he said. “We just need to be kept in the loop.”
Iljin contacted the Police Department during the Jamboree. Previously, her last contact was in 2011. Weir last contacted the Police Department in 2009.
Residents need to call the police, Lynn said.
“If it’s that bad, call us. Ideally, call us before it gets that bad. We’d love to try to tackle the problem as it’s developing.”
Present at the meeting were councilors Greg Mahler, Craig Fentiman, Dave Trask, Bruce Hobbs and Mayor Jim Gourley. Absent were Scott McKee Jr. and Marybeth Angulo.