Here is another chance for me to do that.

For ten days in March we held the 16th Annual First Energy Berks Arts Council Jazz Fest in the Greater Reading area.

Hotels were booked solid, restaurants were busy: the streets were full of jazz aficionados and the music was everywhere.

Visitors from every state in the union, and from several foreign countries, come regularly to enjoy our area.

None of this would have been possible without the financial support of First Energy, Sovereign Bank, the Reading Eagle Company and many others.

But the real work was done by the Berks Arts Council staff, members of their board and hundreds of volunteers, many of whom take off the entire ten days of Jazz for “vacation”, helping at the various venues to hear and see the 140 different performances.

When I compare the people who roll up their sleeves and get to work, who care about this community enough to give up their personal time, (with no compensation in many cases) to the ner-do-wells who take the mike and spew their venom whenever they get a chance, I then realize how unfortunate we are.

One friend asked me how I can keep my cool in the face of diatribes.

I can honestly say that first I “consider the source”, then I think “there but for the grace of God go I”, then I begin to feel pity for the poor souls who cannot find even the slightest good thing to say about anything.

Avoid these people like the plague.

In a town that needs healing as we do in the city; or in the wider community that does not know how to handle diversity, or who forget the immigrant path that their own ancestors took, to those who see a dark motive behind every dark face, I say it is time to wake up, smell the roses, pitch in and do your part.

The mayor, the police and the social service agencies cannot make a dent in the improvement process without the help of you and the people next door to you.

So while the naysayers gear up for another round of mud slinging about what is wrong with the world, stop wringing your hands, get involved in a community group making the neighborhood better, take some time to read to a kid (watch for our roll-out of the Cops ‘N Kids reading program in a couple of weeks), enjoy a concert at the Sovereign Center or indoor football, or hockey, or the new season at the Reading Phillies First Energy Stadium, or come on downtown to the new restaurants.

Come meet the new owners of Dans Restaurant at 11th and Penn who are carrying on the tradition of fine dining that Dan Gallagher began.

Make a reservation for dinner at the new Italian Fine Dining restaurant at the Abe Lincoln Hotel (you will be impressed!); stop in at Jokers at 6th and Cherry, or Ocean Blue, or Judy’s or the Peanut Bar, or Hong Than for Vietnamese food, or the Aashiyana Indian Restaurant at the American House at 4th and Penn, or stop to see Tom and Carol at Sweet Bay Cafe on Muhlenberg St.

Across the river it is Trooper Thornes on Rt 10, the Alpenhoff and the Queen City Diner.

Don't forget the Ugly Oyster for Giuness and Irish Music, or the Speckled Hen (ask the waitress about our wedding package)

Or...Greek and American specialities at the Taverna Restaurant at 5th and Washington St.

Pop into the Pike Cafe - see Mike and his smiling crew who move at breakneck speed to bring you great food surrounded by more video screens than you can count.

Park in his enclosed new lot.

Or enjoy coffee and a snack at City Espresso on S 5th St, or the Hard Bean at Court and Church St, or the Outside In at 6th and Penn. The list goes on.....

Watch for the opening of DeCarlos new restaurant on Penn Street, stop in for lunch at the great little Mexican Restaurant just up from the Sovereign Performing Arts Theatre, or for a sandwich at the coffee shop at the Goggle Works (now under new, friendly management, serving good food at reasonable prices, with a SMILE)

Don’t forget Canal Street Pub, or Anna’s at 6th and Washington, and who else did I forget?

Of course… the Crystal Palace, Marvel Ranch, Sandi’s Salads, Williams Family Restaurant, Quiznos, Café Waldorf, Pachiulos, and many others.

Readers of this blog: do me a favor.

Post a comment on your favorite restaurant in Reading.

Tell me what you like about it.

Maybe even take a naysayer to lunch……(:>

March 04, 2006

Fixing Broken Windows

Urban sociologists James Q. Wilson and George L. Kelling introduced their “Broken Windows” thesis in 1982 and it gained immediate attention from academics and policy makers alike.

“Broken Windows” acknowledged the connection between disorder, fear, crime, and urban decay that has been playing out in America’s cities for decades.

Kelling, an Adjunct Fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, co-authored his book, Fixing Broken Windows, with Catherine M. Coles, a lawyer and urban anthropologist.

In it they explained in detail their prescription for solving the pervasive problems of crime and decay in our nation’s urban centers: control disorderly behavior in public places generally and a significant drop in serious crime will follow.

The traditional impulse for restoration of order is to go after the major criminals, but the Broken Windows approach went after all the quality of life issues.

In New York city, the people who jumped the subway turnstiles to avoid paying the $.50 fare were often seen as just a nuisance by police, but when they began to arrest them, the police found that many were convicted felons, some carrying weapons, and many having warrants out for their arrest.

More recently, in the city of Lancaster, our current Chief of Police, Bill Heim carried out the philosophy there and also began to connect his police officers with the community in an approach that gives more visibility and responsibility to the patrol officers to help maintain order, and to solve problems in the district.

Now that he is in charge of the Police Department in the city of Reading, Chief Heim is planning to apply many of the same techniques, modified a bit for the Reading environment (linking the codes districts with police districts for example), and doing some strategic reorganization to let the patrol officers handle the day to day quality of life issues in the neighborhoods that lead to urban disorder.

While the details are still being worked out, you will start to see real change in our tactics over the coming months.

The city of Reading is on the move in a number of areas, and the efforts to clean up the city this year with a city-wide trash collection system, combined with a more aggressive codes/police presence, will have a positive impact on the urban environment.

But none of this can be done by the mayor, or by the police alone.

We need each and every one of you who shares the dream of a greater city and county, to come forward.

Help with neighborhood cleanups, report suspicious activity, volunteer in the schools and on boards and commissions, and work with young people to help instill the traditional values that many of them are not now getting.

Together we can make it happen.

Together we can turn the city around to be the most desirable place to live in the entire state.

I am convinced of it.

We have the resources in our people, and now we need the determination to make it happen.

Now...lets get on with it.

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