The Bottom Line

I attended the meeting last night for the residents of Ward 3, and I couldn't believe some of the informtion that was being revealed. I was also shocked that I was the only person that felt that the police was not partolling enough in Ward 3. I kept hearing about lack of respect, and that the police officers are not respectful towards our youth. As this was being stated, I began to have flashes of my encounters with the youth that are always hanging out on the corners of Myrick Avenue and North 10th Street. At no point have these individuals been respectful. Now, if they are not respectful towards the people that live in the area, I am certain they are not respectful when they are approaced by law enforcement.

There was also a series of quesitons about the amount of patrol on Myrick Avenue, and the lack of patrol when it comes to the crowds loitering around the Shell Station. Well, I am not concerned about the people hanging out at the Shell Station, I am concerned about the people that hang out on Myrick Avenue. The people at the Shell Station are not standing outside my windows cursing and fighting on a nightly basis; the people at the Shell Station are not throwing rocks at the stop sign on my corner hour after hour; the people at the Shell Station are not using my yard as their garbage can.

Also, there was all this talk about there is nothing for our children to do. As a volunteer for the Lumberton Library, I take part in several programs that are geared for the children of Lumberton, and it is a rare occassion that the children from Ward 3 participate. The library host movie nigts, game nights, reading clubs, pizza parties, and a slew of other events, but we are not taking advantage of the FREE activities becasue we want to sit around and say there is nothing for our kids to do.