WWNA Meeting Minutes

Minutes for April 9 Meeting

April 9, 2007


Minutes of the Westcliff West Neighborhood Association


Clif Overcash, President called the general meeting of the WWNA to order at 7:15pm in the auditorium of Westcliff Elementary School.

Clif asked all in attendance to sign in and include email addresses for future events. Dues are $10 per family/per year. Clif explained that dues are used for printing & postage for the newsletter, expenses for the 4th of July parade, membership for League of Neighborhood Assoc., WWNA street signs, park benches, etc.
Clif mentioned that Eleanor Normand had volunteered to be the Webmaster for a website, that is free through the Fort Worth League of Neighborhood Associations.

Sara Gillaspie, Principal for Westcliff Elementary, spoke out how proud she is that our WWNA is involved with her school. Some of the points of her discussion:

· Westcliff Elementary is a TEA recognized school, borderline exemplary
· The school has 70% low-income students.
· Mr. Fell won a teacher award from Lockheed Martin, which awarded him $5,000 cash.
· Parents have volunteered over 5,000 hours at school.
· Family Science Night, Family Reading Night and Family Math Night were very successful.
· Washington Mutual (Westcliff branch) provides school banking every two weeks for students. They also sponsored the Family Night program with hot dogs.
· Computer Lab- 27 new computers are in place at the school.
· Garden Area- Mr. Renta, 3rd grade teacher, harvests vegetables and the sponsor for the Garden Area is Rainwater Foundation.


Caroline Carson, Secretary

Caroline thanked all the block captains for the delivery of the WWNA newsletter this month.
She also announced new block captains:
Michelle Drozeski in the 3600 block of Westcliff Rd. S.
Lee Kinard in the 3600/3700 blocks of South Hills Ave.
Toni Meadows for all Encanto blocks.
Sheryl Becan, replacing Lynn Moore, who will be moving, for Manderly Place.

A sheet was passed out to those attending with a list of street blocks that are still in need of block captains.


Caroline also mentioned she is forming a committee for the 4th of July parade asking for any volunteers to see her after the meeting.

Clif Overcash

Clif asked how many attending the meeting had been contacted by gas companies to sign a lease? He mentioned the church (First Congregational) property had been approached about a possible drilling site. Clif wants to form a gas drilling committee and asked for volunteers.

Officer Gonzales, Neighborhood Police Officer

Officer Gonzalez passed out maps showing all in attendance where crime is being reported and what is being done to correct those problem areas. Burglary of Motor Vehicle’s (BMV) are the biggest crime in our neighborhood and he stated that we can do something about that by simply taking all belongings out of your cars and lock up and keep garage doors closed. He also stated that all solicitors going door to door have to have a permit with the City of Fort Worth.

Chief of Fort Worth Police, Ralph Mendoza

Chief Mendoza also talked about BMV citywide being a problem. He also stated that FW is a safe city. He is working with State Senators to urge them to raise offenses for BMV, repeat offenders. He suggested keeping a record of serial numbers of all DVD player, TV’s, generally to mark all property so it can be located if your property ends up at a pawn shop.
He mentioned cracking down on DWI offenders and specifically reminded us of the death of Officer Freeto which was the result of a DWI. He said that DWI’s are increasing and the message he wants to send out is “Do not drink and drive or you will go to jail”.
Identity theft is also a problem in Fort Worth. He asked that you do not leave any papers in your car that have personal data, such as driver’s license numbers, social security numbers, personal checks, or date of birth. Fort Worth has a fraud unit that is available to come out to speak with neighborhood associations, if you wish.
Chief said that citizenship involvement is very important to neighborhoods as well as successful schools and good citizenship.
He mentioned graffiti was not really a problem on this side of Fort Worth; most of what we see is called “tagging”.
Crime stats in Fort Worth show 50% are domestic violence (crimes of passion). Family counseling can prevent these.
Fort Worth needs more police officers and detectives. He said that this year we have added 48 additional officers. It takes 1-2 years to train officers. Police academy classes are ongoing. Chief said that his standards are going to be very high for his team of officers.
He also mentioned that narcotics are a big problem in Fort Worth and asked that we report any suspicious activities or smells in our neighborhood. If you choose to report any suspicious activity your identity will remain anonymous.
Robberies can be prevented as the Chief stated that if you lock up all property. Bank robberies are also on the rise with most thieves being caught.
He stated that we have a safe neighborhood, to give back to your community and volunteer. He said that rape decreased last year. There is a class for women that can be organized thru the FWPD to teach safety seminars.


Chuck Silcox, City Council Representative

· There was some discussion regarding home alarms, false alarm responses
· Sidewalks- program called “ Safe Passage” especially around schools
· Gas drilling around TCU area was discussed
· Noise due to drill sites
· He wants cameras on signals for whose running red lights


Sara Fullenwider, Assistant City Attorney and Tom Edwards, Code Compliance Officer
* A lengthy question and answer period regarding gas drilling sites, noise levels, pollution, traffic ensued.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:15

Caroline Carson
Secretary