This is not a snow job

On Tuesday, Oct. 4 in council meeting, Norristown municipality introduced a proposed new ordinance and amendments to an existing ordinance.

The proposed laws would clearly make it illegal to a) shovel snow into the street or alleyways; and b) give the municipality the power to issue citations or tickets for such violations. The initial penalty for a resident would be $10, with a possible increase to $100 if the fine goes unpaid.

Read the text of the proposed changes here.

The sole purpose in drafting these laws is to improve quality of life in Norristown. Snow removal is a key issue when it comes to CLEAN and SAFE streets during the winter. And we need to send a strong message that everyone must work together to keep our streets clean and safe during a snowstorm.

The municipality has a responsibility to plow streets and make them clear and safe for travel during and immediately after a snow event.

But that can only happen in coordination with residents, who, when needed, move their cars, and in shoveling their cars out do not shovel snow into the street or place chairs, garbage cans, and other objects into the street to save spots.

The reality is that both these actions impede Public Works' ability to do their job. And I don't want to make any excuses for Public Works. Those guys work hard, and I want them to work even harder and smarter.

And these changes are one way for them to do that.

There will need to be greater coordination with the community to make this work. We can make it work if we all work together.

I would note, I have been talking about these changes as part of a comprehensive plan to improve quality of life in Norristown during a snow event.

I launched this blog with an article on our proposed snow plan, which has been made available to the public.

And I have written about this issue in my monthly column in the Times Herald newspaper as well.

In these posts, from last winter, I called for the following:

1. A copy of our draft snow plan should be linked to on the holding page for the website, until the new site is launched.
2. Norristown should use the web, radio and newspaper to inform residents of rules when it snows.
3. Council should publicize (and if needed revise) all relevant ordinances about snow to give clear guidance on suspending parking rules, prohibiting shoveling snow into the street, and most importantly, banning the placing of items in the street to hold parking spots. We have these laws now, but they are not enforced.
4. Council, staff and residents must continue to work together to ensure the seamless and consistent pattern of salt-and-plow, strict enforcement of rules after suspended period ends, and zero tolerance for behavior that impedes clearing streets.

I see these proposed changes as a culmination of those initial efforts. But we must do the hard work to inform and partner with residents and businesses to make our streets clean and safe during a snow event.

This is not about punishment and bureaucracy. It's about working together.

Thank you and I look forward to your feedback.

Night Out in Norristown for the Anniversary

Well, here is a quick post to say, I had a thought about how to celebrate my fifth wedding anniversary.

First, you must know, frankly, my wife and I are kinda cosmo, and we, or more aptly she, likes to do things like Philadanco performances at Kimmel, or an award winning play at Stagecoach Theater in Chestnut Hill.

I've learned and learned to love this about my wife, and I too, at times, can be a patron of the arts myself.

We both love cuisine, and whether is a delightful and delicious brunch at Georgia Brown's in the K Street corridor of DC, or taking in the finest jazz with dinner and a set at Manhattan's Birdland, we roll like that.

So imagine me thinking about what to do for the big "5" anniversary, and yet stay around the corner.

Well, I must say, I feel rather impressed with our effort, and I share it with you just to encourage you to continue to find wonderful things to do in our own borough.

First, I must admit, I'm an online fiend as a consumer, and have routinely bought bouquets for my wife online. However, this time, after passing Blooming Affairs Florist, at 803 Sterigere Street, day after day taking my kids to child care, I said, let me go local this time. And I'm glad I did. The owner arranged a wonderful array of pink lilies (we had calla lillies in our wedding) along with pink roses and an assortment of sprays or whatever you artsy folks call the design. It is a great bouquet, and for a very reasonable price. I would highly recommend Blooming Affairs to you for any event or special occasion and I will be going back. They don't do online, so they are not for sending to grandma in Kansas on Mother's Day, but for all your local needs, if you want to impress the wife, or the mother-in-law around the corner, please, by all means drop in.

So, with the night set off right, with a wonderful floral display of affection, next up was dinner. I had lived in Norristown for years, but had never visited August Moon restaurant. My wife and I have an appreciation for Pan Asian cuisine, and had developed an affinity for certain Chinese and Thai restaurants outside of town. But then Mrs. Kim, the owner undertook extensive renovations to her fine-dining locale, and I had the privilege to eat there with a delegation of business and political leaders a few months ago. I was hooked!

What fabulous Korean and Pan Asian cuisine they have at August Moon, with to-die-for sushi, a full bar, and a wonderful decor, including a piano room for catering, mixers and other special events. I don't want to carve up the names of the Korean dishes we had, but they were splendid, and my wife really enjoyed her meal. And it didn't hurt that we bumped into some other diners we need, who were headed where we were going next.

After dinner, my wife and I strolled up Main Street to the Montgomery County Cultural Center on Dekalb Street, where Theater Horizon is currently housed. If any of you have met Erin Reilly, one of the artistic directors and co-founders, you know how incredibly vivacious and talented she is. Erin, a native of Upper Merion, is also an incredible promoter of the Norristown Arts Hill and of Norristown generally. She is literally bringing diners to restaurants and patrons of the arts into downtown, from out-of-town, at night. We saw them in August Moon, and they joined us for a wonderfully different, dark comedy, Kimberly Akimbo, playing now at Theater Horizon.

Here is a description of the season opening production at Theater Horizon now: Surviving high school is hard enough, especially when you have a rare condition causing your body to age faster than it should. Despite extraordinary circumstances, Kimberly is trying to live a normal teenage life, but her irresponsible father, hypochondriac mother and scam-artist aunt are making that next to impossible. Now, on the eve of Kimberly's 16th birthday, time is running out. This hilarious play by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay Abaire puts a new spin on family dysfunction and redefines the term "young at heart."

So after a wonderful night out, my wife and I strolled back down Main Street to our car, got in and rode home. We still need an after-dinner and after-theater spot to get coffee, tea and dessert, but I'm sure some innovative entrepreneur will figure out a way to fill that need. Without a doubt, five years of marriage has shared with me a life of ups and downs. And without question, Norristown has its challenges, poignant moments in the production seemed punctuated with the sounds of police sirens and fire engines responding to criminal activity or household accidents.

But all in all, we had as pleasant and wonderful a night out as anyone would hope to have, when we have to get back to two small children, and a babysitter who wants to go home and relax on a Friday night. And I, even after typing this, will hit those same streets for Season of Peace, walking to reduce violence in our town. That's something that surely impedes our progress as an evening arts and eating-out community, but with the effort and commitment of religious leaders, elected officials, and restauranteurs and artists, can be, and will be overcome for a more family-friendly and prosperous community for all.

Happy anniversary honey, you're part of what makes Norristown so wonderful. I'm glad we could share it with each other and celebrate our life together in Norristown -- where we -- and YOU -- belong!

Doing Justice as a spiritual discipline

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? 

Micah 6:8 (NRSV)

As I have participated in the streetwalking effort in Norristown for most of the summer, I have given great thought to what faith-based public engagement ought to look like?

What can people guided by religious beliefs do in the public square, and do as explicitly guided by their beliefs?

As I have shared, consistently and clearly, we are not out to witness in a manner that seeks to proselytize or convert people to our Christian faith. Rather, as Christians, we are seeking to live out our faith in how we serve young people caught in a cycle of violence and lack of opportunity in Norristown, regardless of if they believe like or as we do or not.

It's a fundamentally different understanding of the role of faith in my personal life and public engagement in this community.

And it is also one that leads to some division among Christians who are citizens and residents in Norristown and beyond.

There are Christians, mainly Evangelical, who believe this work requires saving, rather than serving.

Let's be honest about church here people. Anybody involved in any church knows that there are LOTS of things that go on in churches that have nothing to do with SAVING people. Chicken dinners, Fish fries, car washes, Gospel concerts, outlet mall trips, and church anniversaries have little or nothing to do with SAVING people. But they are very important activities in the lives of many local churches.

Those activities also rarely serve anyone other than the members of a local church, who are personally edified by and enjoy participating in such activities.

However, when many churches clearly and explicitly start talking about serving people -- the homeless, the hungry, the prisoner, the drug addict, anyone really, many churches start with a disclaimer that they can't serve anyone they can't save.

I have already shared how I believe the actual proclamation of the Gospel -- the good news -- is about establishing who Jesus is precisely by proclaiming what Jesus did. And Jesus actions -- the saving of our sins -- was done in very concrete terms like feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and sacrificing his life in a death by crucifixion. These concrete acts in the lives of human beings make any Christian claims about God intimately bound up in the cultures of human existence. We all know something about hunger, illness and death.

However, most people want others to be saved, or that is to know something about who Jesus is, and by extension who we as Christians are, by what we say, rather than by what we do, which is to serve people.

This dichotomy simply must be overcome if churches in Norristown are going to have an effective witness in our community through Season of Peace. Streetwalking is primarily about serving. If you want to hand out tracts, and talk about Jesus, but not really listen to people describe, and help meet their material needs, the same needs you and your kids have, then I must say, you are probably not serious about your WWJD bracelet, since you don't want to do what Jesus did, but rather just talk about what he did.

So, I won't dwell on that argument. There is a time and a place for pure proclamation of the acts of Jesus. And there is a time and place where we let our actions be our best proclamation of Jesus.

And that's what I think is the point in the verse in Micah here. And it is why I bring it up related to how can we move past Evangelical proclamation of words as the sole type of public engagement churches have.

Micah here challenges us by saying God wants to see something out of us. And first and foremost it is to do justice.

I wonder how many Christians think about doing justice? Again, when we talk about things like love your neighbor as yourself, we are talking about justice. How do we love our neighbors? By babysitting their kids when their parents are sick? Perhaps. But we can also love our neighbor by advocating for youth services in a community to provide more recreational, educational, cultural and employment opportunities for youth who need them. Maybe we challenge churches, even churches who do best at telling the story of Jesus, to do some acts of justice, by providing these activities to youth themselves.

To do this and to sustain this, we must begin to think of doing justice as a spiritual discipline. A spiritual discipline is a habit or exercise intentionally maintained and sustained in order to grow in one's love of God and love of neighbor, which I believe is front and center of what it means to claim to be saved, born again, filled with the Holy Sprit or a Christian, a follower of Jesus.

However, most people narrowly define spiritual disciplines as acts that only help us grow in our relationship to God. And we have a heretical view of God as purely immaterial, because we don't take the incarnation, that God took on flesh, and became human in Jesus Christ, seriously. We are not orthodox or Evangelical on that point.

If we were, if we truly believe He who was truly divine was truly human, we would be more comfortable engaging in concrete acts of service as ways to build our faith in the One who redeemed our humanity.

That said, I like the work of the Christian ministry Renovare. Renovare is led by a Quaker, Richard Foster, who believes practicing disciplines are basically about becoming more like Jesus, and becoming means doing what Jesus did.

Here is what he says:

Jesus gave us a complete picture of God, and demonstrated how we can experience vitality and fullness in our life with God (Col. 2:9, Jn. 10:10).  The historical Church (Christians), despite its divisions and differences, has upheld the core characteristics of Christ’s life through what we now call traditions.


Taken together, these traditions help us envision a balanced spiritual life.  They serve as a guide to help us take on the life of Jesus.

Foster's ministry outlines several types of disciplines, and approaches to the life of Jesus, with which people would be familiar and comfortable. He talks about the virtuous life of holiness, the Spirit-filled life of the power of the Holy Spirit, and the Word-Centered life of studying the Bible. But these aren't the only practices or avenues to the life of Jesus. He also talks about the compassionate life, a life focused on bringing justice, as Jesus did. He describes this justice, this compassion, as service to others.

Richard Foster specifically lists service as a spiritual discipline, along with worship and prayer.

It seems to me a life of worship, a life of Bible study, must be put into action with concrete acts of service in the world.

And taken a step further, these acts cannot be defined simply as personal acts of charity, or compassion, but must also be viewed as public acts of justice, not to just individuals, but to neighborhoods, towns and even nations. In the words of Foster, "true service builds community."

In parlance that might be better accessible for churches in Norristown, it's what Pastor Alyn Waller of Philadelphia's Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church called moving from ministries of mercy to "substantive help."

And to build community, to provide substantive help, you cannot engage in a one-time act of service. You must develop the discipline of serving over a long period of time.

It is moving from what Evangelical theologian Miroslav Volf calls "idle faith," a faith focused solely on the personal needs and identity of the individual who evacuates him or herself from engaging systems and structures that affect people, to an engaged faith, one that acknowledges the plural environment of beliefs (or non-beliefs) in our world, and yet realizes as Christians in such a world, we can probably show people better than we can tell them.

And when it comes to saving our youth, if we can't build the capacity to serve them, to keep them safe, to keep them involved in school, to help them find employment, to provide opportunities for recreation. If we cannot do that -- as a Christian act of justice -- if we can't serve this present world, it's unlikely we will save them.

My hope that our zeal for evangelism will be translated into our commitment, or engagement for justice, for one without the other creates an imbalance in the Christian life, and prevents Christians from living with full integrity in a world, where even if people don't believe you for what you say, they may come to faith because of what you do, and certainly recognize those concrete acts as sustaining the common good.

Leaders lead, workers work -- mobilizing the right mix in Norristown on youth violence

Many people have read the various articles that have recently described Norristown council's efforts to distribute the remaining funds in the Norristown Weed & Seed program's 2011 budget. Getting to this point has not been easy.

There are many who believe the government that governs best, governs least.

America has had a love affair with the mythic narrative of simplicity, though most of what makes us what we are as Americans is very complex.

The struggles in this country that overturned slavery, or gave women the right to vote, or are opening doors of recognition for marriage equality for same-gender couples are never issues that simply come down to are you for or against.

Democracy has so many voices and so many people who want their opinions heard, that you must have people who can sift through all the noise and all of the arguments and challenge us to come together. We must have people who can see the complex and different issues and points of view and still struggle to lead a working majority who can forge consensus and get things done.

In a thought -- we need leaders and workers.

We need people to express their points of view, but we also need people to point us to that view of getting something done.

And that is exactly where we are in Norristown on youth violence.

I am a person that believes in strategy and planning. As a former business journalist, I often read the business plans of many, many, start-up businesses. I became as good as a big five consultant in my ability to evaluate and review a strategic document that a new company used to gain contracts or raise money from investors.

These documents served a crucial function. Without such documents, a business could not get what it needed to make things or sell services.

The willingness to make things or provide services was not enough. You needed a plan, a strategy, a vision. In a word you needed leadership as much as you needed workmanship if the business was going to be successful.



A public debate will begin in earnest soon about how to use the remaining 2011 Weed & Seed budget. Many will come asking for money for their WORK, their own group's WORK. And that is fine.

I also hope, many will come with a vision to use this small amount of money for a vision of a measurable effort that will significantly and sustainably reduce youth violence in Norristown over time and for years to come.

You know there is a stereotype cliche that says "too many chiefs, not enough Indians."

However, frankly, my experience is that too many folks in Norristown, or too many of the same folks in Norristown show up for community efforts with a willingness to work, but not the wherewithal to lead. Leadership and workmanship are not the exact same thing.

When I complained about the state budget, how it was zeroing out Weed & Seed, a prominent leader in Norristown challenged me to go out and figure out a way to replace W&S. Well frankly, this process has been part of my fight to do just that.

The point is not another group of talking heads, but rather, a group of leaders, mobilizing resources and measuring outcomes from a comprehensive, community strategy. And while residential input is welcome, it's not enough to just live in Norristown, we need folks who can lead in Norristown.

I recently learn that Montco OIC has a Norristown Youth Development Council. Denise Ashe has a group of young people her organization is working with, and a group of partners who collaborate with OIC. These efforts must be measured for success or improvement, and if warranted, must be expanded with leaders from other grassroots and community organizations.

But beyond that, I know of no other serious, meaningful collaborative that isn't more than non-profits drinking coffee and eating bagels.

That's the cabal of inertia we're trying to break up in creating a new comprehensive community collaborative.

These non-profits are not driven by performance based solutions that could potentially put them out of business. I mean, solve a social problem and the social services agency goes away, right? Or at least has to reinvent itself.

We have a concentration of service agencies in Norristown that warrants a real discussion and measure of if these folks simply serve problems but do not solve problems.

Moreover, this process may be contentious because a few vocal residents will show up and attempt to have non-stop debate drive the process. They will remind of us every effort that has failed in the past. Such historical memory, while useful information, does not mean someone cannot go ahead and lead to forge an effort that might succeed.

There is little I can do about that, other than to set forth an agenda and a goal that challenges everyone who participates to raise the bar, and to focus on something bigger and greater, that requires critical thought and broad-based action.


We don't just need more volunteers, we need greater VISION.


We don't just need more laborers, we need more leaders. Those who can assign, manage and conceive of the work, as well as get down in the trenches, dig the ditches, pour the mortar, sweep the floor and wash the walls!


What happens if we have lots of workers, those who can take direction (and often wrongly want to give it), but no leaders, those who can conceive and offer direction?

Well, if that happens, we will look at the social problems, or institutional weaknesses that have to be addressed, but believe if we just work harder, alone, we can address them.

You know, we can blame parents. But what can we do to impact the reality of disinterested or uninvolved parents? Can we just tell babies who have had babies, you need to do better? Will finger wagging and moralizing alone do it? What if those parents need childcare, and job training, and affordable housing? Those are system issues that cannot just be resolved by a little prayer and an extra part-time job. Can we solve this by simply locking them and their children behind bars when they break curfew? If not, what else might we do as a community that can be measured and sustained?

If kids need something to do, what might we do in light of the existing things they can do and places they can go to do it?

So here, I am challenging you all to go beyond and beneath the surface. I know you all know thinking, planning and executing is needed here.

In a word, leadership will be needed to reduce youth violence in a significant and sustainable way. That's the goal we ALL should be working toward.

Community leaders to weigh in on faith-based proposal to reduce youth violence

When a 16-year-old girl could be gunned down in an alley and no one will speak up or speak out to help solve the case, and when an 18-year-old boy could be stabbed to death by a man brazen enough to do so in front of his little boy, and in front of patrons at a business near downtown, then we must act.

We most consolidate public will for the strongest measures of law enforcement, while at the same time offering alternatives to incarceration to all youth who would seek to change and improve their own future -- and the future of our community.

READ THE FULL STORY ON FAITH-BASED PROPOSAL TO REDUCE YOUTH VIOLENCE

It takes resources to fight youth violence. Kids need a place to play. Kids need transportation. Kids need summer jobs. Activities, employment, training, guidance, mentoring, these are all valuable things that cost money to be done and done well.

We must find new streams of resources, and build more sustainable public-private partnerships if we are serious about achieving long-term reductions in violence.

For these reasons, president of the Norristown ministerium -- Bishop Richard S. McCray, recently convened a meeting of community leaders, where he and I unveiled a strategy to have the Boston, MA-based TenPoint come in and do training and capacity building of leaders from congregations and grassroots community organizations. The model is not necessarily new. What is new in recent memory, is that this is being initiated from the local leaders, and not an initiative of the state or the county.

We have come together -- council members, pastors, NAACP officials, school board members, NASD superintendent, police and community activists and we are working toward embracing a plan that places faith and community organizations and their leaders at the center of a new partnership paradigm. Police, the District Attorney's office and human services agencies will all be crucial allies. But now more than ever, initiatives must have their beginnings from within a community.

In an effort to be as transparent as possible, and to seek as much input as possible, I make available to the public, the plan released to community leaders on Wednesday, August 10, 2011 at the Faith & Hope Church of the Nazarene.

This plan calls for investments on the part of many different agencies, governmental entities, non-profits and individuals to work. The model proposed seeks to build a new coalition led by local faith and grassroots organizational leaders, including parents, and especially youth.

Read more details, download a copy of the plan and see videos explaining the TenPoint model and a video and a letter of endorsement from the Norristown Police Chief all by going to my councilman website.

Please comment and weigh in with your opinions!

PEACE!

Save the date? Why events alone will not stop youth violence

August 27 is a day I try to remember with great consistency. The reason is simple -- it's my mother's birthday.

And typically, there aren't multiple events on that day, or anyone's birthday. Normally, people try to work together, across lines of family and friends, neighbors and colleagues, and put together one big celebration, particularly as folks cross milestones like 40, 50 and beyond.

Can you imagine your birthday coming up, and your significant other, your best friend, and your close colleague all planned an event, a birthday party for you, but they were all at the same time but at different places?

It doesn't make sense. Sure you could be a party animal, and hop from house to house. But it might, just might make more sense if everyone came together and threw you one great big bash.

In fact, it would probably mean a lot to you to see your coworkers, your neighbors, your friends and your family all show up to show you some love -- together.

Well, while this analogy might not work for everyone, it seems to me that is the same problem we have when it comes to tackling youth violence in Norristown.

August 27 is not only my mom's birthday, but I'll be running around town to multiple events that supposedly target youth as they prepare to go back to school.

Parents Against Violence Everywhere (PAVE) will have an event at the Greater Norristown Police Athletic League; Tabernacle International Deliverance Church will have a youth and family fair in the church parking lot at Marshall and Barbadoes Streets; and Living Ground Ministries will have Family and Friends Day in Elmwood Park.

Each event is targeting youth, and offering fun, games, free food, and free giveaways of book bags or school supplies.

And to top it all off, the following day, Sunday August 28, it's like the party isn't over yet, witih UNITY DAY in MLK/Simmons Park, where we will do it all over again.

Now, please, please, please, don't miss the point.

We ought to support our youth, and celebrate them and offer fun activities for them. But really, should we make them troll all over town, with multiple conflicting events among organizations who could have done a bigger and better event if they had all worked together?

And what do we do after the party?

You know, I'm married, and I'll celebrate my fifth wedding anniversary this year. I love my wife, and I still look fondly at the photos of our wedding day. But you know, we never got the video done. And we never officially got a photo album.

We immediately jumped into the work of marriage. The day-to-day activities of communicating, sharing, paying bills, having date night, raising children. We had to get past celebration and honeymoon, to the hard work, the real work of building a life together.

And that's what our children really need -- us coming together to build infrastructure all year long that supports youth.

Let me give you just one example. When I lived in Washington, DC in the 1990s, an African American colleague asked me to volunteer in a program in which she volunteered. It is called Project NorthStar.

Project NorthStar, then and now, was a program that literally reached hundreds of mainly black and Hispanic youth, who lived in the District's only two women and family homeless shelters. You can imagine that homeless kids have many challenges, not the least of which was no stable place to live. Churches and groups often came to the shelters to do one-time events -- puppet shows, carnivals, face painting, they gave them school supplies. You get the picture.

But Project NorthStar was different. Very simply, Project NorthStar provided one night of tutoring per week for the ENTIRE school year for these kids. We also provided a meal. When I volunteered, I was asked to make a commitment for a full school year. I attended training classes from an educational specialist, and my Monday night schedule revolved around showing up at one of DC's elementary school cafeterias to work with my kid.

Now, sometimes the kids didn't show up. It was inevitable. The shelters had a limit on how long families could stay, and families could be in and out of shelters, depending on their circumstances.

I became attached to those young African American boys I worked with. Today, 15 years later, I still remember DeJuan and DeVaughn. I remember how they were in special education, and I had to learn specific techniques to work with a special education child. I remember talking with their mother, and sometimes taking them back to the shelter in my car, rather than letting them ride the bus.

I also remember trying to stay in touch with the family even after they moved out of the shelter and into an apartment, far away from where the shelter was.

It wasn't an event, it was an investment. It wasn't a celebration, it was a commitment. We had events, like a Christmas party, but it wasn't like that would be the first and the last activity we did with these kids. We were there week in and week out.

The black and white professionals (mainly lawyers) who came together to start this program were shocked they had to create a board, get 501 (c) 3 status, and grew to a budget of $250,000. But to sustain the work, and not a one-time event, required structure, leadership, measurable outcomes, proof of success and financial investment from public and private sources.

Mentoring programs like Project NorthStart, when done right, where folks are trained and committed, have been proven by research to improve the life outcomes of such kids. Programs that involve training and longterm commitment have been proven, over time, to reduce youth violence.

Rather than offering ourselves self-congratulatory citations because we threw a party for some young people, why don't we get to the hard work of building longterm programs that require organizational collaboration, financial investment, political will, evidence-based outcomes and personal commitment? Most importantly a strategy to reduce violence period in Norristown will require both vision and LEADERSHIP.

Don't you know every time I walk these streets on Friday and Saturday and talk with our youth, they still say they need something to do. Folks, their needs don't end when our one-time event ends. And their needs don't end when PAL and Carver and churches close their doors for the evening. Their needs are ongoing, and so our efforts have to be ongoing.

When August 29th rolls around, and the weekend is over -- who is going to help these kids use the school supplies they got? When the weekend is over, who is going to help these kids eat, if the best meals they had all week were at our events?

The social traumas, which give rise to youth violence, don't disappear because we all did the electric slide at a community party. If only life was that simple.

But it's not. Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey -- who is dealing with a much larger problem of youth violence than Norristown, put it best in a recent article, where he said, "people want easy solutions to complicated problems. Parenting is a part of this but not all of it. . . . It's not all the schools' fault."

I pray soon that these festivals and parties will mark only milestones in a year-long effort of the day-to-day hard work to reach young people, save as many as possible, and to remove from our community those who refuse to turn around. It's going to take grassroots organizations, churches, police departments, district attorneys, the school district, and it's going to take a commitment to stop fighting over a date, and who gets the money, and who is in charge, to submitting to the scrutiny of research, the proof of a track record, and the commitment of working together. After all, we are only a town of 3.2 square miles.

We have a complicated problem on our hands -- we are not called to save dates, we are called to save lives.

Season of Peace -- a response to a concern, and a word about bullying

On Sunday, July 17, my monthly column appeared in The Times Herald newspaper. The column was entitled Walking and working for a season of peace.

I appreciate some of the feedback I got on the article, and it made me realize I ought to share two things, by way of update.

First, I believe the proliferation of illegal hand guns on our streets has to be addressed and is rightly part of any comprehensive approach to addressing youth and gun violence.

My position here -- for all the NRA supporters -- is not fundamentally an encroachment or infringement upon the right to bear arms.

But we have to be honest, guns do get on the streets illegally through legal purchases, otherwise known as "straw" purchases. A straw purchase is when someone who can legally buy a gun or guns, goes into a shop and does so -- only to turn around and sale that firearm on the street to someone who is not able to buy a gun legally.

In 2009, I worked with "Heeding God's Call," an ecumenical gathering of people of faith (primarily Christian) from around the county to witness for peace. Among the issues that the gathering took up that was local was the issue of gun violence and this specific issue of straw purchases.

For months, Heeding God's Call witnessed outside of Colossimo's Gun Shop to attempt to convince the owner to sign a voluntary "Code of Conduct." Ultimately, when local and federal prosecutors got involved, their investigation led to the gun shop closing its doors.

However, the ability to tackle straw purchases was made possible by the activism of the faith community, and I'm glad I was a small part of inspiring this effort.

The code of conduct, in fact, further demonstrates the type of collaboration needed in this fight. It did not originate with clergy, but rather with America's mayors.

Finally, while this is a peaceful activism I helped launch in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia seems to often be a dirty word in Norristown, the fact is we must come to grips with the realities of violence in our inner ring suburban communities.

As I have said before, I work at a church in Philadelphia, and so I come face to face with violence routinely. But those whom my parish serves do not exclusively come from the city.

Recently, my church awarded scholarships to two young men -- brothers, who had lived in Landsdowne, a community much like Norristown.

But after the high schoolers were bullied in school and were victims of violence and even witnessed a homocide, their mother made the dramatic, but necessary choice to move to another suburb that was safer, and where her sons could complete their high school education, graduating with honors.

I was deeply moved by learning of this family's struggle, and made aware that this happens in Norristown as well.

Early on the campaign trail in 2009, shortly after I encountered Carter Duncan's family, which mourned his homicide, I met another family on Stainbridge Street, forced to move because their daughter was being bullied at the high school, and there seemed to be nothing anyone could do to stop the increasing presence of gang conflict.

So, I want people to know that this violence includes bullying, and the bullying must be addressed. We cannot simply blame Philly transplants for our problems, as there are people from everywhere in Norristown, including multi-generational Norristownians, whose sons and daughters perpertrate or are victims of this violence.

Moreover, I am not ignoring the illegal gun issue at all. That can appropriately be a part of any multi-pronged effort to confront this problem.

Norristown and Snowstorms -- KNOW THE BASICS and STAY SAFE

When the municipality of Norristown has a snow incident, such as the wintry mix that has fallen this morning and tonight, it is important that residents know what to expect from the town. How does Norristown handle snow?

Below is a portion of a rough draft "Snow Emergency" plan that is being used by our Department of Public Works, and has been reviewed by council. Kudos to the interim director of Public Works, the assistant director, the municipal administrator and all the great staff of the Public Works Department for putting this together. I share this information because:

1) I have a commitment to transparent government and it is important you know and understand our plan

2) Residents abide by the rules contained herein, which cite laws concerning clearing sidewalks and prohibiting placing snow into the street.

3) That you understand the order and priority of salting and snow removal -- major thoroughfares first, secondary and tertiary roads later.

The goal is to get streets clear, and keep residents safe.

I'll post updates on this blog as the situation develops and as our municipal administrator in concert with the Public Works director make critical decisions.

Thank you for your patience and please stay warm and safe!

Sincerely,

Councilman Marlon Millner

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Emergency Action Plan

Snow Emergency

Municipality of Norristown

Introduction

Each winter the Norristown Public Works Department is responsible for snow and ice operations.  Though no two storms are alike, and each may require a somewhat different response, this plan is intended as a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for most winter storms.  

Preparation

The Public Works Director shall ensure that there are sufficient resources available to plow for 48 consecutive hours without interruption.  An important objective of this SOP is to have 16 qualified employees capable of operating snow-plowing equipment.  This will mean that CDL drivers and other employees must be trained on snow-plowing operations. Every employee in the Public Works Department with a drivers license shall be capable of plowing snow either with CDL equipment or a pick up truck.

In March of each year the Public Works Director shall make arrangements with vendors for salt and/or anti-skid material procurement through the Montgomery County Consortium of Communities.

In September of each year, the Public Works Director shall ensure that all qualified public works employees understand how to properly operate and maintain plows and spreaders.  Every public works employee shall receive a review of plowing routes and procedures contained in this SOP.  

In September of each year Public Works Director shall ensure that equipment needed for winter emergencies is checked and sent out for service if required.  

The Public Works Director shall maintain a list of contractors, who in the event of emergency, failed equipment, or excessive snow, can be called upon to assist in Municipal snow removal operations.  In September of each year the Public Works Director shall prepare a RFP for the procurement of contractor services.  The resulting contract shall “lock in” the price the successful contractor(s) shall charge during the coming winter.

Equipment

The following equipment will be used for routine snow events in Norristown:

1. 3 10-ton dump trucks with plows and spreaders; 4 1-ton pick ups with plows and spreaders; and 2 pick ups with spreaders.

Plowing Routes

Salting and plowing shall begin first on PennDOT routes and the major arterial routes and collector streets, including any residential streets that serve as a route for emergency vehicles, to ensure access into and out of Norristown by emergency vehicles:

1. Main Street
2. DeKalb Street
3. Swede Street
4. Marshall Street
5. Sterigere Street
6. Airy Street
7. Markley Street
8. Lafayette Street
9. Johnson Highway

A portion of the snow plow force will be redirected to clear secondary residential streets after the initial clearing of the major roads.  All crews will continue to circle throughout the Municipality after the snow fall has ended until all streets are clear.  

Norristown is divided into four quadrants for the purposes of snow plowing: East, West, North and Central.  The following equipment shall be allocated to each quadrant:

1. East: 1 10-ton; 1 1-ton
2. West: 1 10-ton; 1 1-ton
3. North: 1 10-ton; 1 1-ton
4. Central: 1 1-ton and 2 pickups

The East quadrant is bounded by Johnson Highway, the Plymouth line, Arch Street and Washington Street.
The West quadrant is bounded by Johnson Highway, Markley, Forrest Avenue and Washington Streets;
The North Quadrant is bounded by Johnson Highway, Arch, Markley and Fornance; and
The Central Quadrant is bounded by Fornance, Arch, Markley and Washington Streets.

Methods of Snow Clearance

Storms shall be classified as follows:

Amount of Snowfall            Method of Road Maintenance

Class 1 Storm:   0 – 2 inches                salt/cinder only.  No plowing

Class 2 Storm:   2 -  6 inches                salt/cinder and plow.  

Drivers will widen each street as completely as possible before moving on to the next street.  This will often involve two passes down each street before moving on to the next street.  On narrow streets, particularly those with on-street parking, only one pass may be possible.

Drivers will use their judgment in widening streets.  While it is optimal to open a street from curb to curb, it may not be necessary in all situations.  Drivers must balance the need to widen the street against the possibility that cleared sidewalks will be covered.

Sidewalks

Muncipal sidewalks must be cleared within 24 hours of the end of a snow storm.  If there are insufficient numbers of Public Works employees to meet this standard, the Public Works Director may seek volunteers from other departments on an overtime basis to perform this work.

Throwing Snow into the Streets

Clearing snow from sidewalks or cars and throwing it into public streets is prohibited. When this behavior is observed by Public Works employees, they shall contact their supervisor who shall then contact the police for dispatch to the scene.

"Daddy" King -- MLK as a parent and the war on parents

My wife and I took our two small kids to the Norristown Public Library today. I must admit, I get nervous anytime I take my kids out.

Is everything in order? Do we have everything we need? The bottles, the diapers, the wipes, the cookies, the crackers? But there is always the thing I worry about that I can't control -- the behavior!

My son, EJ, is three and is very friendly. He'll go up to just about anyone at least once, and he's definitely at that age where you can't be sure exactly what is going to come out of his mouth. Parroting your parents comments might not always show you -- or them -- in the best light!

My daughter, Imma, is 15 months, and she is so aggressive. The doctor tells us that the clawing, scratching and biting is normal at this age -- but I don't know that it is ever socially acceptable -- at any age!

So, I worry -- will they be too aggressive, too loud, run too fast, fall too hard, spit too far???

And, frankly, my worries are often wrapped up in what the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr said powerfully as his desire that his then small kids, in 1963, would be judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

I worry, yes, that in the "Boondocks" era of portrayals of black youth, and the notable stats on delinquency, truancy, teen pregnancy, and frankly life expectancy, that when folks see my kids shout, scream, cry, babble or boo boo, they are all too often being judged negatively, prejudicially.

But, the fact is that this is not just an African American problem -- it IS an American problem.

I caught a recent debate about the new MTV show SKINS.

The show has young teens doing everything we know they are doing (sexing, drinking, drugging) but we are afraid to deal with -- with them, and certainly not publicly.

I saw the stress in the library as white, Hispanic, south Asian and African American parents routinely admonished their children to well -- not be children. Don't run, don't laugh, don't fall on or over or through one another. Don't chase, scream, hit or hug anyone!

Rooted in the moment perhaps was the fear that MTV, or BET, or Facebook or Myspace or Twitter or the million things I'm not cool enough to even know about already are taking control.

Can I pastor a church, do communications for a large organization, sit on boards or serve on council when I know daily my kids character is being formed by a decadent and often degradable and degrading culture?

There is a war against parents -- and I sometimes fear I have already loss not just the battle to get the kids in the carseat, but the whole war.

If nothing else, I was encouraged again, not by King, but by his family.

His daughter, Rev. Bernice King, who has no doubt had her own challenges and struggles, commented at the recent King Day commemorative worship service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, that her mom, Coretta Scott King was always proud that one of her greatest accomplishments was raising and loving her kids.

But she quickly added that most folks did not know that Coretta really had five kids.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm.

What is this? Some bombshell surprise 40 plus years in the making?

No not quite. The fifth child was the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Non-Violent Social Change in Atlanta.

Amazingly, Coretta seemed to maintain as much love for her two daughters (one now deceased) and two sons as she did for causes like the King Center, which spoke to the social action to bring into being a society where each of them, along with EJ and Imma might be judged by character, and where such character is nurtured by caritas.

Caritas -- the Latin word for charity or love -- is the greatest, the highest of Christian, or theological virtues.

It is nurtured by deep practices -- practices that engender faith, increase devotion to God and others, and enable solidarity through the toughest, most stressful circumstances of life -- otherwise known as evil.

I can't say if a 15 month old biting a classmate, or a 3-year-old repeating some adult words, or some tweens having sex is evil, but I know a society already too ready to constrain, condemn, convict, commit, incarcerate and kill such youth is one we must constantly fight against, even as Dr. King did, with love.

So I let my kids play, be kids, explore. After all, everyone had to yank their kids up at least once, with a "love" hug.

Sometimes I never want to let them go, but I have to. And I hope, that with love, I will win this war on families with the same strength Martin Luther King called for us to love -- and change -- our children, our community, and our world.

Is affordable housing development all bad?

Dear residents,

Tonight I, and two of my council colleagues, met with a representative from developer The Ingerman Group. Ingerman has proposed to develop a 49-unit, multifamily rental complex in the far East End of town on Sandy Street. This development is called workforce housing by advocates, but low-income housing by detractors.

Initial reaction has been cool at best, because the reality is that Norristown has more renters than homeowners, and certainly has its share of affordable, if-not-quality, places to live for low- and moderate-income households.

Are we just driving Norristown further down a deep hole by agreeing to this development?

Well the jury is still out.

But one thing that can be said is that The Ingerman Group is a quality firm. I have perused their website and was impressed by the variety and quality of affordable housing projects they have done.

Take for example a senior housing project in Chester, PA -- Pentecostal Square:


http://www.ingerman.com/rental.php?property_id=55

This project was a major public-private partnership, funded through a church-based community development corporation.

Such development is a commendable role for the church in service (rather than in worship), and shows an important investment of public funds to provide low-income seniors a quality place to live.

Those who are not affluent nevertheless deserve the dignity of a quality place to live.

I'm not rich, so I don't live in a gated community with private security guards. But that doesn't mean the place where I live should not be a nice, even if affordable, place to live and raise my family.

We are going to continue to listen to The Ingerman Group and learn more. I encourage you to do the same and share your feedback.

Quality development is quality development -- whether it serves wealthy people or working people.

And this could be an opportunity to bring quality development to a community of hardworking folks.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that!

As always, feel free to express your opinion or ask questions as we continue to gather information and learn about what is possible and in the best interests of our community.

Norristown council reorganizes

Dear residents,

The beginning of the year is not only a time to make resolutions, and celebrate with family and friends, but it is also a time that your municipal council reorganizes.

By law, the municipal council of Norristown annually elects a president and a vice-president, from among its members, at the beginning of each year. It also, by law, appoints our town's solicitor (legal counsel), municipal engineer, municipal manager and our ambassador -- the inimitable Hank Cisco!

Things went fairly routine tonight. Congratulations are in order for Councilwoman Linda Christian, who was elected council president by her peers, and to Councilman Gary Simpson, elected council vice-president by the same.

After being elected by her peers, President Christian then made committee appointments, with things remaining fairly consistent. The present committee structure is as follows:

Finance Committee
Chair -- Cathy Lawrence
Vice Chair -- Gary Simpson

Public Safety Committee (Police/Fire)
Chair -- Bill Procyson
Vice Chair -- Cathy Lawrence

Public Safety Committee (Code Enforcement)
Chair -- William Caldwell
Vice Chair -- Marlon Millner

Planning/Zoning & Business Development Committee
Chair -- Gary Simpson
Vice Chair -- William Caldwell

Public Works/ Parks & Recreation
Chair -- Marlon Millner
Vice Chair -- Bill Procyson

You'll notice a hole in our roster. That is because Councilwoman Mila Hayes stepped down at the end of 2010 due to family obligations. Council celebrated her six years of service with flowers and a plaque. We wish Mila all the best in her future endeavors.

The year always has a way of beginning with smiles, joy, laughter and promise. We hope to maintain that throughout the year, even as the invariable challenges come.

Now that I know where I will be serving -- on two of the most important areas in the municipality, I pledge the following:

1) That we will have a strong and sufficient response to any snow emergency. You will know when there is a snow emergency and you will know how you should respond (moving cars, suspension on street parking and street maintenance rules, snow emergency routes, etc). You can expect our streets to be clear.

2) We will hire a new Public Works Director of the first rank and highest order. This person will not just bring a long laborer experience, but more importantly will have professional experience that can be leveraged in management best practices and garnering resources for the department to pursue critical projects.

3) I have a deep and abiding commitment to workforce diversity and contractor diversity. Norristown will take bold steps in 2011 to demonstrate the value of diversity in both hiring and contracting through Public Works and Code Enforcement.

4) Code Enforcement will be closely managed and we will share results with the public of our ongoing effort to tackle a variety of problems from property maintenance, to blight, to recycling.

5) Speaking of recycling, some recent rule changes are now being fully enforced with trash pick up. We are going to let you know what those issues are, and how you can get more information. But basically, the big change is we need more people to recycle. So get those cans, bottles, newspapers and magazine OUT OF THE TRASH and into a recycling bin ... OR ELSE! :-)

6) Finally, for the committee that I chair -- Public Works -- I commit to making our meetings open to the public, and our minutes readily available to the public.

Thanks again for your support and we look forward to continuing to serve you in 2011!

Sincerely,

Councilman At-Large Marlon Millner