How long have you lived in your neighborhood?
35 Years! My wife and I live in the “starter home” we never finished.
How did you get involved in your neighborhood?
When we were raising our kids we volunteered at their school, their playgrounds, and our church (which is in the neighborhood). When they moved out I felt it was time to do some community work. We didn’t have an active association. But another Aurora Gardens resident named David Wadleigh wanted to start one and I agreed to help. He became the first President of AGNA and I was the Vice President in the first 2-3 years.
What do you love about your neighborhood?
Mostly the trees and the large yards. I also love to walk through the neighborhood, usually in the early morning when everything is quiet. I like the fact that Aurora Gardens has many different housing styles since it was developed over several decades. It is definitely not a cookie cutter development.
What successes have you had in your neighborhood?
In the first two years of AGNA we successfully opposed a plan to put five Therapeutic Group Homes in the neighborhood. We have also had some success getting blighted houses remediated by attending many code enforcement hearings and working with successive council members. Also, AGNA members are very active in Algiers-wide community meetings and events, such as clean-up days, 4th District NOPD Mardi Gras breakfasts, etc. And we’ve sponsored a number of events ourselves. This past year we ran a successful blood drive and a Red Cross training on CPR and hurricane preparedness.
What are you working on right now in your neighborhood?
Recently we’ve had a number of streets getting renumbered by DPW, without homeowners getting adequate warning or sufficient help with the problems that causes. So we had a public meeting which was attended by Council Member Freddie King, representatives of 4th District NOPD, members of the media and a fair sized crowd of concerned residents. We then created a petition regarding the issue, which we are still trying to resolve. We continue to focus the handful of blighted properties that detract from our many varied and well-maintained homes. We are also trying to get more roadwork done. A couple of streets in Aurora Gardens have been repaved in recent years, but many are in a failed state and/or lack adequate drainage. One – Berkley Dr from Woodland to Sullen – has been listed as “planned” on the Roadwork site for five years. We feel this is too long for residents to wait for needed street repairs. Especially when better streets get priority over the worst streets. That, in my opinion, is a fairness and equity issue.
Any words of advice for other neighborhood leaders and change-makers?
Community work is a marathon not a sprint. It takes patience and perseverance. It also requires neighbors with differing viewpoints, opinions and personality types to work together. That’s not always easy. It can also be tricky to find the balance between offering needed criticism to city departments, elected officials and representatives of service companies like Entergy, S&WB, etc. and maintaining civil working relationships with those same people. I can’t say I’ve always succeeded at these “people skills.” But I do keep trying.