It's Safety First for VaHi's Public Safety Chair

Q: So what's your title?  

A: I’m the public safety chair for the Virginia Highland Civic Association and the same for NPU-F, but I am not big on titles.

Q: What do you do for them? 

A: I coordinate our neighborhood watch system, the VaHi Safety Team. I also work with the other three public safety chairs in our NPU, as well as many other nearby neighborhoods to share safety and quality of life info on a timely basis. I also am on the board for Keep Atlanta Beautiful. This is a perfect fit since I strongly believe in the broken window theory of crime prevention.

Q: I'm not familiar. What’s the broken window theory?

A: Basically it came from a book written back in the 80s by George Kelling that states that neighborhoods that have broken windows — showing that folks do not care about their surroundings — tend to have more crime than in areas where people fix the windows, pick up the trash, erase the graffiti, etc. 

This was the theory that really got New York back on track after their bankruptcy when crime was rampant there. They started by keeping the streets clean and worked up from there.

It's a damn simple idea, but it works.

Q: How long have you been doing that? 

A: Probably since 2006. I've really forgotten how long for sure.

Q: What is the most challenging part of your job? 

A: Managing my time to get the maximum amount of tasks done. I am a procrastinator at heart, and sometimes this makes it difficult getting to all of the tasks I have taken on. I also have trouble saying no when asked to take on new tasks and projects related to public safety and quality of life which means that far too often I bite off more than I can chew.

Q: What's one thing people don't know about you?

A: I am a very shy person and hate to talk in front of groups even if they are people I know. Even worse for me is appearing before a TV camera.

Q: What book is on your nightstand right now?  

A: Because genealogy is one of my hobbies, I am reading the 1907 History of Marion County, Ohio. Under that book is a volume of The New York Times crossword puzzles.

Q: I noticed you nixed all the festival proposals at the August 15 NPU meeting. Why?

A: I am not against the festivals themselves, but I feel strongly about the overuse of Piedmont Park as a metro-wide festival and event site.  The city desperately needs a dedicated festival/event site with adequate parking and Marta train nearby and [I] am hopeful that the redevelopment of Fort McPherson will become reality soon, as an event site is part of this ambitious plan.