Last night, Senator Joe Schiavoni attended National Night Out in Youngstown's Wick Park. Senator Schiavoni, Mayor Jay Williams and Police Chief Jimmy Hughes address the crowd of about 300 people.
The purpose of the event was to raise awareness about crime in the city neighborhoods and to give all of the block watch and neighborhood organizations an opportunity to get together in one location.
Below is the text of Senator Schiavoni's address:
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Everyone knows that we all have to be on the same team to move our valley forward.
I grew up on Elva and used to ride my bike up to Handel’s and United Family to buy baseball cards and always felt 100% safe. I have watched the neighborhood that I grew up in take a dip in quality and it has been upsetting to me.
But in recent years, I have seen a steady improvements in many parts of our valley, which is reassuring. It is exciting to see the strength and dedication that all of you show.
An example of this just happened this year. I had many members of the MVOC/Lien Forward and other citizens coalitions make multiple road trips down to Columbus to argue on the importance of the creation of a county wide land bank. It was just recently signed into law a few months ago due to the persistence and dedications. This will give our community another tool in the fight to rebuild the neighborhoods and also help us to be more competitive for clean up grants.
This is just a start. We need to continue to grow neighborhood associations and educate young people to take care of finances and to take care of their things.
I am currently working with community leaders on other bills that can further assist the push in neighborhood improvement.
I’m always available for meetings to discuss ideas and take suggestions how I can help in this fight and will continue to as long as I have this job.
Thanks again for your continued work and have a nice night.
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To see pictures from the event, visit:
http://picasaweb.google.com/OhioSenateDemocrats/SenatorSchiavoniNationalNightOut
Read the Youngstown Vindicator article here:
http://www.vindy.com/news/2010/aug/03/event-shows-opposition-to-crime/?newswatch
