Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 20, 1991 TAG: 9103200134
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER MUNICIPAL WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"We need to communicate better, to get to know each other," said Johnson, who has lived in Lincoln Terrace for 35 years.
If top housing officials knew more about conditions in the projects and the residents' concerns, she said, problems of crime, drug abuse and violence could be dealt with more effectively.
As president of the Lincoln Terrace tenants council for six years, she has tried to voice the residents' concerns to management.
Now Johnson can view issues from both perspectives: She will be a resident and a policy-maker.
City Council has appointed her to the Redevelopment and Housing Authority Board of Commissioners to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Wendell Butler. She is believed to be the first tenant ever appointed to the board.
Several years ago, a board member moved into a housing project for elderly residents after his appointment. But he lived in private housing when he was named and is no longer on the board.
"We felt there was a need for the residents' viewpoint on the authority's board," said Councilwoman Elizabeth Bowles. The seven-member board includes mostly professional people and business executives.
Bowles, who nominated Johnson, said council thinks she can help the board better understand conditions and problems in Lincoln Terrace, one of the city's two largest and most crime-troubled projects. "We felt her knowledge of that area could be helpful," Bowles said.
Johnson hopes to use her background and experience to improve communications among the residents, the board and the authority's top managers.
"I would like to share with board members information about the concerns of people who live in public housing," she said. "I'm sure a lot of them don't know what the conditions are like."
Johnson, 40, has lived in Lincoln Terrace since she was 5. She lived with her mother until she was 21, when she moved into her own apartment. Her mother still lives at Lincoln Terrace.
Johnson has a 19-year-old daughter and a 5-month-old grandchild living at Lincoln Terrace, and she also has a sister living there.
She is worried about increasing violence in the housing projects, particularly Lincoln Terrace. In the last six months of 1990, Lincoln Terrace was the scene of two homicides, six malicious woundings and two armed robberies. Two men were shot there last week.
"We need more security, more police in the area. And we'd like to see police officers get out of their cars and mingle with the people," Johnson said.
The Lincoln Terrace tenants' organization has been focusing on crime and drug problems, she said. "We've been targeting that, trying to clean up things and make it safer," she said.
Councilman Beverly Fitzpatrick Jr. recently raised the possibility of a more visible police presence in the Lincoln Terrace neighborhood.
Fitzpatrick has asked City Manager Robert Herbert to study the possibility of establishing a police precinct station in the area.
Johnson said the city and authority need to develop more recreational programs and other activities for young people in the housing projects. "We are trying to get agencies to come in and work with the youths," she said.
As a board member, Johnson said she will urge residents in housing projects to work together on common problems and issues. The city has about 1,500 public housing units in 10 projects. Lincoln Terrace has 300.
"I think all of the projects need to band together and work for change," she said.
Johnson also is a member of the city's Community Relations Task Force that is studying race relations and the shortage of black police officers. She has been active in PTA work and is a former president of the Lincoln Terrace Elementary School PTA.
She said the authority's management hasn't always been responsive to the residents' concerns, but she will be a better position now to express her views.
"Sometimes, I don't think they have listened, but maybe I can help them to better understand some things now," she said.
by CNB