The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
‘TIME FOR A CHANGE’
Community members helping to organize ‘neighborhood watch’ program
ONEIDA, N.Y. » “Downtown Oneida - It’s time for a change!” is the name of a Facebook group with over 1,700 members that is aiming to transform the city for the better.
Oneida resident and barbershop co-owner, Rick Rossi, started the Facebook group with his father and business partner, Angel Vargas Jr., on the evening of June 29.
“We had over 1,000 members by July 1,” Rossi exclaimed.
He said the page was created to bring greater awareness to the downtown area. Growing up on Almond Street and spending his whole life in Oneida, Rossi said it’s been difficult to watch the “subtle decline” of the city over the last five to ten years.
Issues in the neighborhood, including drug use, vandalism, code complaints, and more, are what Rossi said he and many others want to see addressed. To put it simply: “[Downtown] needs to be taken care of,” Rossi said.
“Last week we were mowing the lawn and found four needles in our lawn, just in our little barbershop lawn,” he explained. That’s the kind of thing keeping both residents and outsiders away, he said, and it needs to change.
With the Facebook platform and input from others, the business owner hopes to see the perception of his downtown home change for the better.
And change, is already beginning.
Rossi stated that he and his father met last week with Assemblyman John Salka, Mayor Helen Acker, the Oneida fire and police chiefs, as well as their ward councilperson to address their personal concerns and concerns from the Facebook group.
With city officials now involved, the ball really started rolling.
Rossi said one thing he and his father pushed for in their meeting was increased law enforcement presence in the downtown areas. From this discussion, Rossi is hopeful for a meeting coming soon to get the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and State Troopers involved.
Acker announced at Tuesday’s Common Council meeting that she would be facilitating a Downtown Oneida Neighborhood Watch program. The program will not be run by the city, but Acker will play a major roll in endorsing the program and getting it started.
“We all want a better Oneida. We all want to feel safe,” Acker said in a Facebook video sharing details about the program.
An open interest meeting is scheduled at the Kallet Civic Center on Wednesday, July 15 at 6:30 p.m. All are welcome.
“She’s trying to help out as much as she can,” Rossi said of Acker’s efforts.
Guidance from the National Crime Prevention Council will be used to run and shape the Oneida initiative, which may include meetings, Block Captains, agendas, committees, and more.
“Neighborhood Watch” is what the program is being called for now, but Acker said that could change depending on community input. For now, the name stands.
Ultimately, the program will take the direction that residents want to take it and will solely be the residents’ responsibility to run.
“You will be the leaders,” Acker said in her video.
Rossi said he and his father hope to see leaders rise up and organize together through this program to turn downtown into the positive place it can be. Potential fundraising could be on the horizon to acquire program T-shirts or vests — some identifying form of clothing that makes a statement and identifies program members.
What’s more, the group has already incited change regarding local properties that were allegedly not up to code.
Rossi wrote an update on the group Facebook page, stating, “There were many written complaints submitted by residents to the city regarding buildings located at 102 and 104 N Main Street. Today the city’s fire and code department did an investigation and deemed that parts of the building are unlivable and dangerous.”
He told the Dispatch that officials are making the landlords clean and fix the codes that were violated.
His Facebook post continued, “As we feel for the residents who are no longer allowed to live there until the issues can pass inspection, we also hope that they now can have a clean and safe living environment.”
Driven by the movement to reshape the city, residents are now organizing for a cleanup event scheduled for Sunday, July 12 starting at noon. Those participating are asked to meet near the Oneida Barber Shop on E Railroad Street to park and gather. From there, supplies will be distributed, and community members will start picking up downtown.
“There’s going to be sharps containers for needles, and we’re going to have a lot of trash bags,” Rossi explained.
Around 30-40 people have shown their interest in participating, he said, with several donating money, food, and other supplies to the cause.
Giovanni’s Big Cheese Pizzeria is donating a few pies, and Oneida’s Karing Kitchen is donating water and juice boxes, Rossi said.
Ice pops will be available for kids at the event, which is shaping up to be a community-led cleanup party, if all goes to plan.
“When we’re walking around, we’re going to be inviting anybody from downtown to come and get a free slice of pizza, a water, and come hang out for the couple of hours that we’re down there.”
Rossi emphasized that the Facebook group wants to be a positive, inviting force for good in the community and does not want to be confrontational.
“We started the group to make change and we’re not really looking for any accolades or anything to come with it, we just want to make our little city better,” Rossi commented.