Operation Phoenix Makes Strides (SB Sun 07122006) Code Enforcers Sweep Complex: Mayor gets update..

Operation Phoenix is on its way, The mayor has made the right guy in charge of the program, now he just needs to keep finding the funding to keep it going. If it is working then keep it afloat for a while and see if you can clear out as many Gang members, and Gangs as possible. Kurt Wilson while on the council at Rialto City at that time was put forth with the Idea that they should think about Contracting with the Sheriff Department. In fact it was there Questions to the Sheriff at the time, that brought the Bid to them. Then Kurt was for the change however, we the community kept talking to him and he slowly changed his mind. I don't know if he tried to run and lost to Ed Scott or if he just dropped it because if personal reasons? I guess if I run Into him I will ask him.

I keep hoping that the Phoenix will take off and fly!!!

BSRanch

__________________________________________________

Operation Phoenix makes strides
Code enforcers sweep complex; mayor gets update
Selica Kennedy-Ross, SB Sun, Staff Writer..

SAN BERNARDINO - Members of the Operation Phoenix team swarmed the Amber Court apartment complex Tuesday, responding to a caved-in ceiling in a first-floor apartment of the complex in the 1400 block of North Sepulveda.

Code-enforcement officers cited the owner for multiple violations including general dilapidation, trash and debris, and a failure to maintain landscaping and cleanliness. The San Bernardino Fire Department also found breaches in fire safety where the leak had occurred.

During a meeting the same day, representatives of various agencies involved in Operation Phoenix, Mayor Pat Morris' anti-crime plan, discussed their progress and how to prevent such situations from happening again.

The first phase of Operation Phoenix, which focuses on a crime-ridden 20-block area northeast of downtown, began June 10. The plan entered its second phase late last month.

"This is good stuff - precisely what I'd hoped for," Morris said of the meeting. "Collaboration and problem-solving on the part of public agencies to help these families into a world of peace and good health."

Morris' plan includes a "Safe Summer for Youth," safe recreational activities for kids that center around the city's aquatics program, schools and faith-based organizations.

Starting Monday, the city Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department will hold summer activities from 2 to 8 p.m. at First Church of the Nazarene on the corner of 16th and Sierra Way.

The San Bernardino City Unified School District and the city will expand the hours of after-school programs at Curtis, Arrowview, Del Vallejo and King middle schools to 8 p.m. starting Monday.

Other segments of the plan include keeping city pools open longer and opening city community centers on weekends.

City officials are also looking for a camp site for "Camp San Bernardino," a place to send 25 at-risk youth on weekend camping trips to the mountains.

The plan will also help clean up the area and will hire young people for neighborhood cleanup projects, said Glenn Baude, director of code enforcement and Operation Phoenix.

Among the plans for the test area are transforming a homeless encampment next to an alley that fosters prostitution and drug activity into a community garden. Sixty bikes will be provided to kids who help with the project. Code compliance officer Rebecca Daugherty said she made arrangements with the community-based group, Los Padrinos, to clean up one alley in the 20-block area every week.

The plan also includes making absentee landlords and property owners accountable for the condition of their properties. Daugherty said 50 homes have been identified as troublesome properties while an additional seven homeowners are being publicly acknowledged for keeping their properties neat and attractive.

Karen Bell, chief deputy district attorney, also suggested posting landlords' names and phone numbers on troubled properties, a suggestion that was met with approval by the mayor.

"So anyone passing by can see who the devil's in charge of that property are," Morris said.

Mark Sanchez, agent for Antonio Luna, who owns the Amber Court complex, said plumbing problems are common in all apartment complexes.

"This happens everywhere," he said of the caved-in roof. "It wasn't this bad on Saturday. The leak just continued and it got worse."

Baude said the condition was a life-safety issue that could have been tragic.

"It's life-threatening when you're in that room because the whole room could go," he said.

An apartment complex in the 1300 block of Sierra Way, owned by Edward J. Harding Enterprises LLC, made a more positive stride this week. It was certified as the project area's first crime-free housing participant.

Daniel Nackerman, executive director of the San Bernardino County Housing Authority, vowed to hold landlords participating in the Section 8 housing program in the test area accountable.

Nackerman said he would drop landlords from the subsidized housing program who allow their tenants to be a menace, but added that most tenants are "law-abiding."

He followed through on his promise Tuesday by dropping from the program the owner of a rental home at 1395 N. Lugo Ave., near where 17-year-old Anthony Johnson was gunned down earlier this year. Nackerman called the condition of the property "deplorable" in a letter to the owner.

The owner of a parolee house in the 1500 block of Wall Avenue is voluntarily shutting it down, said Nick Gonzalez, an assistant to the mayor.

"His contribution to Operation Phoenix was that he thought it would better succeed if he wasn't there," Gonzalez said of the property owner.

Staff writer Megan Blaney contributed to this report.