Huntington Needs To Come Clean!

About two-years ago, I personally adopted a portion of 8th Avenue in Huntington. My adoptive “spot”, which is from 10th Street to 16th Street, was so littered that it took me three-weeks to dig up the several layers of glass and plastic bottles and newspapers, not to mention the plastic bags that lined the bushes and were flapping in the wind. Oh, yes, and thousands of cigarette butts tossed as if all of the Earth were one big ashtray.

Adopt YOUR Block - Be a Litter-Gitter promotes litter control in every neighborhood of our city, and I personally continue to maintain the neighborhood of Kanawha Terrace on the Southside, which is my home-area. I have continued to keep my “spot” along 8th Avenue clean and neat, and the City of Huntington has been good to keep the grass cut along the avenue. But within 72-hours it is again littered by passing motorists and pedestrians.

No doubt about it, trash is ugly. It spells defeat and a lack of concern. It makes a city with old and interesting neighborhoods look sad and abused, and despite years of anti-litter slogans and community cleanups, it is still a problem. I truly do not understand the mentality. I do not think anybody picks anything up that drops anymore. You drive up to any intersection and look down, someone has emptied his or her ashtray, and you think, “What makes you think that's OK?” I truly believe that, if you allow yourself to live in trash, you will accept that as normal. Yes, you will live in a “trashy” neighborhood. My feeling is we have to keep fighting it.

The real key, as many of my friends and business associates remind me, is ENFORCEMENT! Others cities are successfully combating litter and open-dumps; why can't our city government? Huntington needs to come clean!

We Must Accelerate Our Preservation Efforts

The Madie Carroll House Preservation Society received permission from the Greater Huntington Parks and Recreation District in 1988 to restore the Historic Madie Carroll House built in 1810 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house is used as an historic house museum and cultural community center. This historic structure is a treasure worth preserving. There are many other homes in Huntington that deserve to be preserved for future generations of our citizens to admire. Our government leaders need to focus on identifying significant structures and neighborhoods, enforcing zoning ordinances and creating additional ordinances that will lead to identifying all historically significant homes and neighborhoods. If we continue to allow our architecturally significant homes to be subdivided and turned into multi-unit apartments, we will end up with a city consisting of only mixed-use neighborhoods. Huntington will be totally devoid of that special historic character that makes any neighborhood an attraction.

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We can do better! Do you feel that we should preserve the integrity of our historic neighborhoods through zoning laws that are intended to ensure historic preservation?

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For More information about the Madie Carroll House, click on this link: http://www.madiecarrollhouse.org/history.htm

The NAACP Continues To Fight Injustice

I'm proud to be on the Executive Committee of the Cabell-Huntington Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and as the current chairperson of the City of Huntington Human Relations Commission, I felt that I should share a message I received today from Mr. Dennis Hayes, Interim President and CEO, of the NAACP. I felt the isue he discussed is important enough to share with you. Here is the email:

"Dear Richard,

On Friday afternoon, just hours after the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that his sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment, Genarlow Wilson was released from prison. In 2005, Genarlow Wilson, a 17-year-old star athlete and top student, was convicted of aggravated child molestation for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old classmate.

The NAACP has been involved in the Wilson case since 2003, when the youth was initially charged with rape, working with both the Georgia legislature and the judicial system to free Genarlow. He had been incarcerated for almost three years of a ten-year sentence, even though only months after his conviction, a "Romeo and Juliet" law was passed that would have had a maximum allowable sentence of 12 months. Genarlow remained incarcerated until Friday in spite of a June decision by a Monroe County Superior Court judge to void the original sentence on constitutional grounds and reduce it to one year.

Cases like Genarlow Wilson, Marcus Dixon, and the Jena 6 highlight the rampant discrimination against African-American youth that exists in our criminal justice system. The NAACP is committed to doing whatever is necessary to see justice served in these cases and the hundreds of others, as well as working to reform the judicial system so that our youth are afforded the dignity, respect and equal treatment they deserve under the law.

Sincerely, Dennis Hayes, Interim President & CEO"

I encourage your support of the goals of the NAACP.

If Nothing Else, It Just Makes Good Business Sense!

If the City of Huntington would begin enforcing littering laws, the income from fines would be significant. Why does our city government not consider enforcement as a revenue stream that is easily tapped?

My wife told me yesterday that a friend-of-a-friend was in Elkins, WV, last week and, without thinking, dropped a chewing gum wrapper on the sidewalk. She was issued a citation and paid a fine of $350. They even set her up to pay the fine in installments, as she did not have the money to pay it immediately.

Why not do the same thing in Huntington? If nothing else, it just makes good business sense.

Why Do I Do What I Do?

Have you ever been reading a newspaper article and it seemed to jump right out and grab you as though the writer had written the words especially for your personal enlightenment? It happened to me this morning. My wife, Carter Seaton, and I read The Huntington Herald-Dispatch every morning with our coffee. On Sundays, we read the Huntington paper and The Charleston Gazette-Mail. We enjoy our coffee while discussing local and statewide issues.

A column in the Gazette-Mail by Rebecca Kimmons, titled “West Virginians don’t have to fight over culture", caught my eye. While reading the column, it struck me that she had clearly answered questions I have been asking myself for the last two-years – “Why do I continue to battle to eliminate litter and solid waste on the streets and in the alleys of Huntington?” “Why do I care?

Here is what Ms. Kimmons wrote that answered my questions. “Creative West Virginians, those born here, those who got here as soon as they could, and those who are about to come, do not have to ask permission to spawn a good idea. They take their cues from the spirit of Buckminster Fuller, who answered a 10-year-old boy’s question as to whether the futurist was a “doer or a thinker.” (Now for the pearl of wisdom that gave me the answers.)

“The things to do are,” Fuller said, “things that need doing, things that you see need to be done, and the things that no one else seems to see that need to be done.”

Fuller encouraged the boy to “conceive your own way of doing that which needs to be done – that which no one else has told you to do, or how to do it. This will bring out the real you that often gets buried inside a character that has acquired a superficial array of behaviors induced or imposed by others on the individual.”

Ms. Kimmons continued in her column, “In other writings, Fuller exhorts the reader to “take the initiative, Get to work, and above all, cooperate and don’t hold back on one another or try to gain at the expense of another. Any success in such lopsidedness will be increasingly short-lived … These are not man made laws. They are the infinitely accommodative (sic) laws of the intellectual integrity governing [the] universe.”

So, why do I strive to educate (by example) Huntington’s citizens that we all must participate to help clean up our neighborhoods and our city? In short, it brings out the real me that got buried inside as I acquired a superficial array of behaviors induced or imposed by others. It is so freeing to recognize and, then, resolve to do something that needs to be done. Will you join me? Adopt YOUR Block – Be a Litter-Gitter!

Comments?

(Email me at richardcobbsr@comcast.net, or call me at home - 523-7902, and I will deliver a litter-stick to your front door. All you have to agree to do is keep the block on which you live free of cigarette butts and litter.)

Preserving Our History at a Standstill?

The "Coin" Harvey house at 1305 3rd Avenue, built in 1867, is one of the oldest houses in Huntington. As you can see by the photo (click on the photo to enlarge it) the Huntington Historic Preservation Society is not adequately protecting it - let alone preserving it! This architectural treasure is being lost to the future, due to a lack of effort on the part of the folks who are supposed to be leading Huntington's effort to preserve historically significant structures and neighborhoods. It is another indication that we citizens need to evaluate our commitment to this city we call home.

And what about future citizens; wouldn't they like to have this once beautiful home preserved for their enjoyment? Our preservation commission needs to up-date our citizens on its efforts to move historic preservation along. I understand that the roof was replaced, but the structure beneath the new roof is unprotected and garbage can be found on the porch and along the front porch area at ground level. We can do better! For more information, go to http://coinharvey.com.

Register To Vote - If Not Now ... When?

Voting is a fundamental right and a tool to express your opinion about how the government should function and who should be its leaders. By voting, you are exercising your right to be a part of the decision-making process that determines who will represent you, your family, and your neighbors at the local, state, and federal levels.

You see the daily news. Your most valuable freedom is meaningless, unless you register and vote in every election. God Bless America!

Scenes Around Our Town

Enforcement is the only answer! If residents don't clean it up, issue citations and follow up with court appearances and fines. Do you agree?

Speaking of STOP Signs

This one is located at the intersection of 9th Avenue and 22nd Street in Huntington. This is only one of many traffic control signs citywide that are in need of replacement.

It would be almost understandable if someone were to run this one. Doesn't the City of Huntington Street Department ever inspect street and traffic control and directional signs?

Call me at 523-7902, if you see a traffic control sign that needs repaired or replaced. I'll make sure the folks at the City of Huntington are made aware of it.

Children Are Precious - Stop Signs & Speeding

Huntington drivers are notorious for running stop signs, or merely coasting through them. As if that is not bad enough, motorists are often seen driving through residential neighborhoods at speeds above the posted limits.

Our children are precious, and with cars parked on both sides of most streets, the chance of a child suddenly appearing out of know where and darting into the path of a speeding car should be a constant fear for all drivers. And what about our elderly citizens? Sometimes they are not as alert as they should be, and they may walk into traffic not realizing the potential danger.

Let's all slow down and come to a complete stop at stop signs. S-T-O-P means a complete stop! And give some thought to the terrible aftermath of a child or adult being struck by you. How's the driving practices in your neighborhood? Huntingtonians should look out for each other. Right?

Enforcement? What's That?

The Executive Apartments at 1020 9th Avenue have always been poorly maintained, as it relates to yard trash and litter. The front yard of these buildings is always full of litter. As if that isn't bad enough - these photos show their dumpster and a dump that has been started right in the very middle of their alley! According to neighbors, the wet and smelly carpet has been there for months. Hello? Can anyone say "enforcement"? What's that? When will landlords be held responsible for furnishing adequate trash receptacles for their tenants? When will the City of Huntington start fining property owners who violate its ordinances? When will the City's enforcement activities be publicized as a warning that violators will be prosecuted and fined?

Sculpting the Earth? NOT!

My wife, Carter Seaton, and I attended a prayer vigil on top of Kayford Mountain on Saturday, October 20th. We were stunned by the scene of destruction we witnessed. The Friends of Coal call it "Sculpting the Mountains"; we call it an environmental disaster!

Carter sent the following email to her family members, friends and especially to the ones who no longer live in West Virginia. I wanted to share it with you:

Dear Friends and Family and especially those of you who no longer live in WV,

These photos were taken on Saturday, October 20, at Kayford Mountain just south of Charleston at the head of Cabin Creek. It's the most appalling scene of destruction you can imagine and the photos don't do it justice. This is what Mountaintop Removal looks like up close and personal. Yet the coal companies euphemistically refer to it as "sculpting the earth."

We were told that within two months, the trees on the mountains behind this awful pit - now some 400 - 600 feet in depth would be gone as well. The site changes weekly as they eat away at the mountain and push the land into the valley so they can run the trucks on it to haul out the coal. The tallest piece of earth moving equipment in the photo is 80 feet tall and it looks like a Matchbox car. The results of their reconstruction and reclamation efforts are pitiful. Where are our trees? Do you think they'll ever be back? Not likely.

If you want to help stop this devastation, please go to websites about how to reduce your energy dependence and do something, anything to try to help. I hope you are as moved as were Richard and I when we were there.

Carter

Is this a "Neighborhood Issue"? You bet! Remember, the mountains and forests of West Virginia are a part of every West Virginian's neighborhood!

How'd You Like To Live Next To This?

We hear about fire-damaged houses in Huntington, but unless we live in the same neighborhood we may never actually see one up-close-and-personal. Here is one that needs to come down - and quickly! It is located directly behind 13th Street, West, Huntington.

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How would you like to live next door? Just imagine what the presence of this burned-out structure would have on the fair-market value of your home, let alone finding someone who would even buy your home at any price. We can do better!

A Little Less Talk & A Little More Action!

The Herald-Dispatch has been replete, during the last several days, with news articles focusing on issues that must be addressed, if Huntington is to re-establish itself as a community offering a desirable quality of life environment. I am always a little skeptical when a flurry of discussion suddenly gushes forth (during an election year) from public officials and potential office seekers enumerating their solutions for resolving long-standing problems.

Putting aside my skepticism for a moment, I must admit that I am encouraged by the strong indications that critical thinking is in-play on the local and state levels. The issues of dilapidated housing is, in fact, not just a West Virginia problem; it is a national problem. Housing and commercial inventories all across the country are suffering from the ravages of age and neglect. It is an issue that will have to be resolved with assistance from the federal government by means of a massive infusion of capital. Add-in the deteriorating nationwide infrastructure, and it is most apparent that the states are not capable of the enormous revitalization effort that must be undertaken for our cities and towns.

On the local scene, along with dilapidated and fire-damaged housing and commercial structures, there is also recent talk of legislating home rule - and all that that implies - elimination of the economically-damaging Business and Occupation Tax and the implementation of a new taxing system that will provide adequate revenue streams, allowing the City of Huntington to provide quality public services to its residents.

These and many other issues are the topic of conversation and posturing by potential candidates for public office. What the citizens of Huntington deserve is a little less talk and a little more action!

What do you think? (You can have your say anonymously. Just click on "Post Comments"; then, click the button beside "Anonymous" and speak out!)

Man-made Dumps Shame Us All

I photographed this man-made dump today. It is located on Memorial Blvd. West just past Harvey Town Road and underneath the West Huntington Bridge. I have been observing this location for the past month to document the fact that it becomes larger by the week. The dump is comprised of anything you can imagine and is a health hazard. The stench is unbearable.

However, the real danger here is fire. Numerous automobile tires are mingled in with other combustible material. If the pile gets ignited, there is the real and present danger that the pilings under the bridge could be damaged.

I have advised the West Virginia Division of Environmental Protection ( WV DEP) about the size and location of the dump, and I am confident they will respond and alleviate the potential danger. I am asking them to place one of their cameras at the location in order to identify and apprehend the violators. If convicted, violators can face a fine of up to $25,000 and/or serious jail-time.

If you know of a location that has become a dump-site, let me know by clicking on "Post Comments" at the end of this posting. You can do it anonymously by clicking on the button that says "Anonymous".

TASK #1 - Citizens' Understanding & Discussion

TASK #1 - To educate all of the residents of Huntington and to encourage their participation in a community-wide discussion of Huntington's present and future problems.

We must first identify our problems and ensure that all citizens have a thorough understanding of the facts regarding each issue - and the financial burden associated with resolving each. You can't have a plan of attack without possessing a thorough knowledge of each issue, and just as important our citizens must have the will to get involved in the development of a strategic plan for overcoming our critical quality of life issues.

Here are some of the critical issues that the citizens of Huntington must address (not in priority order):

1. Loss of population



2. Loss of businesses



3. Loss of industrial and manufacturing jobs



4. Deteriorating housing inventory



5. Condemned and fire-damaged structures



6. Infrastructure: combined sewer system; closure of landfill by 2017; establish new solid waste landfill; condition of streets, curbs and gutters; condition and care of trees throughout the city



7. Litter elimination through re-education and equipping all city streets with trash and cigarette butt disposal equipment.



8. Negative impact of Business and Occupation Tax; seek and obtain Home Rule status for the city



9. Establish multiple historic preservation districts and emphasize preservation of significant residential and commercial areas and structures.
   
   
10. City government's union contracts, pension plans, self-insured insurance program; city's inadequate workforce in all departments. Investigate benefits and pitfalls of departmental privatization.



11. Solid waste and litter removal and lack of recycling system



12. Low voter registration, turnout and the participation of citizens in their government; citizens have "detached" and do not stay informed about the issues that affect present and future residents



13. Aging of population and the inability to retain young people and the "creative class"



14. Lack of enforcement of all city ordinances related to private and commercial properties



15. Drugs and crime



16. Continued development and expansion of the core business district



17. Community and business development



18. Qualified candidates running for government leadership positions



19. Improved education; emphasis on stronger teacher standards and development

How about adding additional issues that you have recognized. You can do it anonymously. Just click on "Post Comments" at the end of this posting. Then, click the button beside "Anonymous" and list additional issues that need to be addressed. Your name will not show up, so go ahead and have your say!

In my next posting, we will discuss the "next step", or "tactics", we must pursue to implement our "strategy" of renewing Huntington.

Creat West Virginia's Website Discusses Intolerance

(From Create West Virginia's website)

September 13, 2007

Can Hope Spring from a Holler of Horror?

The reaction to the recent disturbing, horrifying treatment of Megan Williams at the hands of six lunatics in a Big Creek, WV, trailer have been relatively predictable. On the one hand, an outpouring of outrage over the brutal act and compassion for the victim. On the other, a reluctance to reflect on what this says about the existence of racism and a lack of diversity in West Virginia.

On WCHS-AM Charleston 580 radio's afternoon call-in show on Wednesday, an African-American man called in to share his frustration. He described himself as a well-educated professional who often runs into intolerance and racism in our state. The hosts had little patience for his attempt to connect the dots between other acts of intolerance in WV with the current Logan County situation. "Right now, it's about Megan and helping her, not politicizing the situation. We can talk about that other stuff later."

From the dominant culture's (ie, white) perspective, this is an understandable response. The story has been among the most viewed on CNN.com, MSNBC.com and other national news sites. It's the worst public validation imaginable of every ugly stereotype that exists about West Virginia. It's not fair, we think to ourselves. There are good people in Big Creek, in Logan County, in West Virginia...this doesn't represent us! Our traditional response to ugly incidents like this is to resist, to deflect, to protect ourselves from more salt in the open wounds of our self-image. Does national news from West Virginia always have to be about a disaster?

However, from a minority citizen's perspective, the lack of willingness to even consider whether this is a symptom of a larger problem, or a pattern of intolerance against non-white citizens, can be maddening. The lack of any public statements from our state or federal politicians about the situation can seem like cruel indifference. In the least-diverse state in the nation, lack of action and lack of a more public statement of tolerance and inclusiveness can resonate very loudly.

During the process of developing the Create WV initiative, it's been noted that there are few - if any - statewide, sustained, highly visible initiatives on diversity and tolerance that exist. We're trying hard to fix broadband, education and healthcare. But diversity? Not so much.

Past efforts (e.g., Governor Underwood's "One West Virginia" initiative, the Human Rights Commission's previous "Not in Our Town, Not in Our State" campaign) don't seem to have been big enough or sustained long enough to really re-brand West Virginia as a bastion of tolerance...and we certainly haven't enticed minorities to move here or even stop them from migrating out of here. (Side note: Could someone please allocate some budget to develop a modern, full-featured web site for the Human Rights Commission?)

In other cities and states, incidents like the one in Big Creek happen. Perhaps even more frequently than in West Virginia. The challenge is that we can't point to something positive that the vast majority of West Virginians are proactively doing to eradicate prejudice, racism and intolerance. We don't have a notable counter-point to an incident like Big Creek. In fact, we often have the opposite: silence, with hopes that it will all go away and people will remember the #3-ranked Mountaineers instead.

For this reason, a small but growing group of people in West Virginia are beginning to ask the question: what can we do? How can we proactively educate people? How can we embrace and empower people of all types within our state? How can we invite immigrants to our state and embrace them as a source of growth and opportunity like Iowa? How can we build on the legacy of African-American leaders who hail from our state (e.g., Leon Sullivan, Tony Brown, Henry Louis Gates, T.D. Jakes, etc.)? How do we become "Open for Everyone?" What can we point to in the future that is a more powerful image of inclusion and tolerance if, God forbid, something like this happens again?

This is a huge need for West Virginia. This tragedy can lead to something very positive if we embrace the challenge and don't stick our head in the sand, waiting for it to all go away. We would really like to hear your thoughts on this one.

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