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Friday, December 28, 2007
Bartlett Park Fractures
Posted by Wayne Garcia on Fri, Dec 28, 2007 at 9:55 PM
CL staff writer Alex Pickett writes for our issue next week about a split in the Bartlett Park civic group. Here's a preview:
On a bright Saturday morning, eight residents of St. Petersburg’s Bartlett Park neighborhood gather in the renovated home of Julie Richey and Stewart Nicol. The former vice president of the neighborhood association, Scott Swift, is here. 
So are Lindsay Myers, editor of the Bartlett Park Newsletter, and John and Rosemary Kitchen, both elected officers in the association. The Kitchens are black, and longtime residents; the others are white, and moved to Bartlett Park in the last three years.
Over crumbly coffeecake, the group shares the successes, failures and frustrations of local activism. But then they get down to business: They are meeting today to plot a defection.
For the last year, these residents have labored to improve Bartlett Park. They helped to form a Crime Watch group, started a newsletter, sponsored litter clean-ups and enforced codes regulations in this oft-forgotten part of St. Pete just south of downtown.
But trying to improve the neighborhood, as Brian Wyllie puts it, is “like pushing a lead ball.â€
Wyllie and the others say the more they work toward making Bartlett Park a safer, cleaner, more hospitable place to live, the harder some in the association push back.
“To those of us that are new, [revitalizing the neighborhood] is still a very slow process,†Swift says. “We do a project every three to four months. Everyone else in the city does one every two weeks.â€
So this group of eight — and two other relatively new residents who couldn’t make the meeting — have formed their own organization: the Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, which will focus on the area between Fourth and Martin Luther King streets and 13th and 18th avenues, approximately half of Bartlett Park.
“We’re going to continue to do positive things for the neighborhood,†Swift says. “But the association has served as an obstacle."
Change has never come easily to Bartlett Park. In the 1970s, white flight turned the 30-block neighborhood into a predominantly African-American district. When the crack epidemic hit St. Pete in the ‘80s, Bartlett Park regressed to a crime haven, sheltering the most powerful drug dealer in Tampa Bay. Throughout the ’90s, the neighborhood was synonymous with poverty.
Then, during the latest housing boom, investors and homeowners eyed the area, buying up the cheap housing stock and filling vacant lots with new homes. But progress created another kind of discord.
As the neighborhood inched toward revitalization, some longtime black residents worried aloud that the influx of mostly white newcomers was pushing them out. They complained change was happening too fast. New residents and investors disagreed and wondered why anyone would question their improvement efforts.
After the April Creative Loafing story, several residents said relations between neighbors warmed, leading to the launch of several projects: the first Crime Watch group in 15 years, a newsletter and numerous block parties and beautification projects.
But tension remained.
Newcomers complained changes were coming too slow. Myers, the Bartlett Park newsletter editor who moved to the neighborhood in April, says there were disagreements over putting the city’s codes enforcement phone number in the newsletter. Other efforts, like holding crime watch meetings in new residents’ backyards, were also criticized, she says.
But worse, newcomers say, some longtime association members viewed their neighborhood activism suspiciously. And this suspicion manifested itself in racial terms. “White takeover†has been a phrase heard often.
“I feel vilified just for living here,†Myers says.
And during neighborhood association meetings, newer members felt excluded from decision-making, says Swift.
“[Some members of the association] oppose the credibility of anybody new,†he says. “You can’t say, ‘I’ve been here 30 years and you’ve been here one year and your opinion doesn’t matter.’â€
Discord came to a head at the December association meeting when elections were held, and fierce arguments arose over who was allowed to vote. In the end, Swift resigned from his post as vice president and walked out.
“It makes people uncomfortable to see all this hostility,†says Tom Tito, the association’s president, who is white. “A lot of black residents have stopped coming [to the association meetings]. They don’t want to disagree, so they just don’t come.â€
That, in turn, creates an association in a predominantly black neighborhood led largely by white new residents. Tito says this can give the rest of the neighborhood a bad perception of the work the association does.
“Not having enough African-American leadership in the community is a problem,†he says.
Tito argues that differences over issues like codes have pushed older black residents away from the association.
“You have neighbors turning in neighbors,†he says.
The Buena Vista members disagree that code enforcement is driving people away from the organization, and contend that rumors are dividing the neighborhood.
“We got to let them know what they’re hearing is wrong,†Swift says.
So, instead of fighting within the association, these residents split to make a difference in their own way.
“This isn’t a secret society and it isn’t personal,†says Myers. “They can join us for positive projects. We just have different ideas of what a community is.â€
Comments (40)
Showing 1-40 of 40
Scott Swift could accuse the minister of being unethical, get up, and storm out of his own funeral. It is his Modus Operandi, and he is a crybaby who insists on getting his way. He has resigned, thrown accusations of impropriety or stormed out of CONA meetings, SPNHS meetings, Bartlett Park meetings, and crime watch meetings. Swift has also thoroughly alienated local Fire and Police with his ridiculous efforts (http://forums.leoaffairs.com/viewtopic.php?t=26448) to end their pensions.
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Good Morning Anon, Thanks for your reply. The slanderous statements and lies in your response is what inspires people like me and my neighbors to get more involved in community and city activities. The unfortunate thing about blogs is that some people choose to use them to throw mud rather than exchange healthy debate. I think you are referring to a private letter I wrote to city council this summer about the growing gap between public and private retirement plans and suggested they keep it in mind during budget cuts. For some reason it was forwarded to the union leader of the Fire Department. He wrote a public response with some strong opinions as if he was speaking for me; which he most certainly was not. Afterwards, he and I had very positive conversation, agreed on just about everything, and realized there was just a breakdown in communication that created the misinterpreation of my letter. People on my circles know that I stringly supoort our Police Department , and think they have done an outstanding job cutting down crime in our neighborhood over the past 12 months. We've had differences but they are minor. No matter our difference, they are always a pleasure to work with and deserve whatever increases in equipment and compensation they can get to improve their safety and livelihood. I wrote the letter get people thinking. The retirement gap is a problem we all need to think about over the next few years. Many people in the private sector are convinced they may never be able to retire and that is discouraging. Cutting public employee pensions is not the cure for this problem. I'd rather see more efforts toward the development of private plans with greater earning potential and stronger legal protection. Since the Enron scandal where thousands of employees lost millions of retirement dollars, many Americans are scared to trust putting their retirement eggs in the 401k basket. Public employees could be a great asset in helping the private sector fight for improvements in our retirement plans without cutting their own, so that we can ALL feel financially secure enough to enjoy our senior years. Again, thanks for your reply… you've inspired many of us!!!
Correction- 2 of our members (one in the picture) are hispanic. That means that of our current membership of approximately 14 people, nearly a third represent minorities. Our organization welcomes ALL law-abiding residents and property owners with a positive attitude and willingness to help.
I would join, but I can't support any group that allows a coffee cake to crumble(second paragraph, above). It's better to work with your neighbors toward a more perfect coffee cake, than to allow the existing one to fragment. Once it does, and the parties involved take no steps to unify the cake, what is to prevent a further fracturing? Taken to its conclusion, we'd end up with random cake crumbs sprinkled all over our community. If that happened, the Chamber of Commerce could just ram any ridiculous proposal down our throats. Like a new taxpayer funded waterfront stadium.
Please excuse my failure to use "spell check" on my last response. I was typing while talking on the telephone which is never wise. Here's a few corrections to piece of the article shown in quotes below. "Discord came to a head at the December association meeting when elections were held, and fierce arguments arose over who was allowed to vote. In the end, Swift resigned from his post as vice president and walked out." 1) I did not resign as Vice President. I was elected to that position in both 2006 & 2007 and served full terms for both years. 2) I most certainly did not walk out on the meeting. In fact I was one of the last to leave after helping put away tables and chairs and carrying leftovers to a friend's car. 3) I don't recall any fierce arguments at the meeting, however, some neighbors did express their opposition to the decisions being made regarding the election. 4) Some people were already aware of the inappropriate actions taken prior to the election and agreed that if they did not follow the rules, we would withdraw. I withdrew from running for President prior to the vote because the election was not following the association’s by laws nor the rules we had agreed on at the Governing Board meeting the previous week. (Brian Wylie and April Gausman were running unopposed for Secretary and Treasurer respectively. They also withdrew from consideration for those positions prior to the vote for the same reasons.) Thank you to "mmmmm, cake" for your response. I can assure you no one in our group wished for this split in our neighborhood. We've exhausted every avenue currently available trying to find common ground where we could work together and agree on some issues. In fact, many of us were confident we were already doing that which made their choice to selectively enforce the by laws very difficult to understand. May be just naive about politics but I'm more concerned about the integrity of an election than who wins. I don't think supporting "the ends justifies the means" types of practices is a benefit to any organization. We know they are nice people and we've had some positive experiences with them, but right now short-term passions are having a negative affect on our ability to work together effectively. Our doors will always be open to working with them on positive issues in the neighborhood, but first we’d like for them to join us in putting principles before personalities.
mmm, Cake said "It’s better to work with your neighbors toward a more perfect coffee cake, than to allow the existing one to fragment." I agree, in theory. But in practice, I don't see how that's possible. We spent over 2 hours in my living room with Tom Tito and our Codes Officer, who brought her laptop so we could look into all these codes citations allegedly caused by "new members". We left this 2+ hour meeting with NOT ONE example of a codes case caused by a new member that caused someone to leave the association. How Tom know who submits anonymous codes complaints ("new members"?) when even our Codes Officer doesn't know is really amazing to me. How do you "just get along" with a group that arbitrarily changes the rules, selectively enforces them, and ignores them when it suits their needs? How do you in good conscious continue to be part of a group that accepts your neighbor's grant money and then reneges on its previous commitment to allow her to vote? What do you do when you triple or quadruple crime watch attendance, spend hours and your personal money to do it, only to hear undermining, derrogatory comments from leadership? I am at a loss, but if you know the answer, please feel free to share it with us. This was no knee jerk move- MANY of us are exhausted by the constant negativity and game playing and just want to pick up litter and reduce crime in our neighborhood.
...they look like a cult. Ony the black dude in the back looks like he's not gonna move to guyana and drink the KoolAid. Those smiles are just weird.
"Discord came to a head at the December association meeting when elections were held, and fierce arguments arose over who was allowed to vote. In the end, Swift resigned from his post as vice president and walked out. “It makes people uncomfortable to see all this hostility,†says Tom Tito, the association’s president, who is white. “A lot of black residents have stopped coming [to the association meetings]. They don’t want to disagree, so they just don’t come.†Essentially correct but the dates are off. He stormed out of the room in the January '07 meeting. First he jumped out his chair and ran across the room to physically intimidate an older woman. Askia Aquil threatened to throw the group ourt of the meeting room if the shouting did not stop. Karl Nurse and Barbara Heck of CONA were there to assure fair counting of the ballots and compliance with bylaws. Scott started arguments at numerous meetings. He sent a written resignation to the association in February with copies to half the city. Check your files. The December '07 meeting featured a heated argument by Scott to allow absentee ballots. Councilman Earnest Williams ruled that the bylaws must be followed. Scott charged that the group (including our councilman) were unethical.
Very convenient and self-serving memory "Friend of Peace". Continuous lies and deceptions by older neighborhood residents trying to keep new people from being involved in the neighborhood have brought out a lot of emotions in Bartlett Park. I was at that meeting in January 07 and witnessed a lot of tension and unruly behavior. Scott was by far not the worst. Mostly the problem was from certain residents??? who seemed to be there stricly to start trouble that we've never seen again???. Even though we were unable to follow the By-Laws because there was no tracking of dues in 2006, Karl and Barbara from CONA did a great job to get us through the election. Just prior to that meeting Scott had been threatened verbally, in writing, and his home and car vandalized when all he wants to do is live as an equal and participate in the neighborhood. He briefly resigned last year b/c the Association President has refused to hold an Executive Board meeting (as was required in the By Laws). Once the city "encouraged" the President to have one and follow the By Laws, Scott rejoined immediately. He was elected with overwhelming majority as Vice President in both 2006 and 2007. Over the past year he has developed great friendships in the neighborhood and knows how to get positive things done . Not sure what Councilman Williams was reading but this year's election did not follow the By Laws on several issued. The leadership had a great opportunity to follow the By Laws and unite the neighborhood but unfortunately, again chose not to. Why? But democracy is not always free...sometimes you have to fight for it. We wish you all the best with your slanderous agenda.
"Discord came to a head at the December association meeting when elections were held, and fierce arguments arose over who was allowed to vote. In the end, Swift resigned from his post as vice president and walked out." This is how the last meeting was described to me by three different sources, although two of them have corrected me on this. To clarify, I was not at the meeting and so I relied on the information passed from these sources. Based on the responses above, it seems they were talking about a Jan. 07 meeting. However, based on the blog responses, I think readers can all agree the Dec. 07 election meeting was "contentious." Secondly, two members of the 14-member association are Hispanic as noted above. It was a mistake I made (and from conversations, is made often in that neighborhood). My apologies.
Hello Friends, I have worked with Scott Swift for about a year now ,and the one thing that I found to be true was that he can not be trusted.Does anyone know where this jerk hails from. he must have left his mark some where.hang in there BPNA . the entire city is behind you.
Good Morning Get Smart, Since you speak on behalf of the enire city should I assume you are the Mayor? Mud throwing like this is one of the main reasons why the majority of members left the BPNA. The Buena Vista Neighborhood Association has a different approach to resolving differences of opinion and felt it better for the neighborhood to start a new, active organization. However, we respect the BPNA and support their right to continue their mission following the style they believe in. Thanks for your feedback. It's inspiring!!!.
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