SSCC Fall 2009 Newsletter

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SouthSide Lights

South Side CommunityCouncil, Inc.Brashear Center

2005 Sarah Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

412.431.2236

southsidecommunitycouncil.org

Board of Directors

Joe Bielecki,PresidentJim Anderson, 1st VP

Wanda Jankoski, 2nd VP

Jason Imbrogno, Treasurer

Eve Trbovich, Secretary

Thomas Barry

Virginia Carik

Richard Cupka, Jr.

Chuck Half

Brady Lutsko

Gail Matchett

Catherine Mitchell

Dave Pilarski

Steve RootRoberta Stackawitz

The Gift of Community Involvement

By Norine Minion

My husband Greg and I moved to theSouth Side a week before Christmas

2006. The diversity of our neighbors and

parade of people and activity on Carson

Street won us over. However, like a four

year-old with a new favorite toy at

Christmas, by spring the charm and

luster of our new neighborhood started

to fade as we began to see the scabs of

graffiti, litter, and neglect outside our

doors. Greg and I still loved our new

community, but we wanted and knew it

could be better. We did all

we thought we could to im-

prove our surroundings.

Greg painted over the graf-

fiti on our home and I picked up litter as

we walked the streets, but we didnt

know what else we could doand hon-

estly we didnt feel as if we had the timeor energy to do much more. So after two

years of sitting on the sidelines and wish-

ing for things to change, change began in

our very own alley.

Two years ago, Larkins Way behind our

house was a mess. The buildings, com-

mercial and residential, were marked

with graffiti, weeds were over three feet

high, and the sides of the street looked

like a garbage

WINTER 2009

Inside This Issue

Continued Page 3

COMMUNITY NEWSLETTERFALL 2009

Carnegie Library 1

Graffiti Watch 1

Annual Pie Sale 2

Wanted 2Josephine Kenney 2

Kids Corner 3Green nat 4

Duquesne Thanksgiving 4

South Side Tree Project 4

Letter from C. Mitchell 5

November Open Meeting 5

Police Blotter 6

311 Blotter 6

Membership Application 7

SSCC Subcommittees 7

The South Side Branch of Carnegie Li-

brary of Pittsburgh first opened its doors,

February 1, 1909 at the corner of East

Carson and 22nd Streets. The original site

location was to have been the corner of

Mary and 19thStreets, but the

c o m m u n i t y

wanted their

jewel to be visible

to all; so a peti-

tion was written

by a group of men

and signed by

over 250. The

Library Commis-

sion was ap-

proached, and

because consid-

e r a t i o n w a s

given, those citizens were successful in

their request to have the South Side

Branch visible to all who traveled on

East Carson Street.

The most notable memory of the first day

was that all the books in the library were

checked out! Until more books were ac-

quired for the collection, books had to be

borrowed from Cen-tral Lending (todays

Main Carnegie Li-

brary in Oakland) for

customers to borrow.

Since the idea of a

library free to the

people was new, peo-

ple of all ages visited

the library in droves.

Children were al-

lowed access in shifts,

because there were

too many to accommo-date the childrens room all at once.

Although the library

South Side Library Centennial

Continued Page 2

GRAFFITIWATCH(An action committee of South Side Community Council)


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PAGE 2 SOUTHSIDE LIGHTS FALL 2009

SSCC Third Annual

Pie Sale Pick up!!

What: Pie sale delivery and pick up of

scrumptious frozen fruity pies

ready to be baked for the holidays!

Date: Friday, Nov. 20th: Noon till 4:30PM

Saturday, Nov. 21st: 9AM till 12:30PM

Where: Prince of Peace Parish Center

93 S. 13th Street

has now been in the community for

100 years, we sometimes still get

crowds. Sixty-one adults and chil-

dren celebrated the end of the Sum-

mer Reading Club this year. We of-

ten have a queue for our public com-

puters, and our childrens room is at

full capacity during special pro-

grams.

Many visitors remember attending

story hours in the childrens room.

Their first comment is usually, It

hasnt changed. Some of the furni-

ture is original, including the large

customer service desk in the middle

of the first floor.

The library is here for all citizens, for

there are a myriad of reasons to visit

the public library for business, per-

sonal growth, and pleasure. The li-

brary has a lot to offer: public com-

puters, regular childrens programs,

recreational reading (including fic-

tion and non-fiction), reference mate-

rial for serious study, various books

on CD, (also childrens material of

the same), DVDs, music CDs, and a

plethora of subjects and formats that

would interest the beginning to the

advanced reader.

Our Friends of the Library Group

South Side Community Council seeks a volunteer

to fill our Public Safety Committee Chair Position.

If you are invested in the community, enjoy working

with neighbors, interested in public safety issues andcoordinating events, you might be the one. Candidates

need to be comfortable when interacting with Zone 3

Police and able to attend public safety meetings which

occur throughout the city limits. Please call Joe Bielecki

with any questions or concerns at 412-390-0900.

hosted a 100th birthday party for the

library on Saturday, Oct. 3. All

friends and community members

were invited. Various fun activities

were planned, including games,

crafts, and discussions of memories

in the library.and of course, birth-

day cake was served!

It is a privilege to work in a library

that has been designated an historic

landmark by the Pittsburgh History

and Landmarks Foundation, and

that serves such a diverse commu-

nity. Such diversity makes working

in the South Side Library absolutely

fascinating, because there are al-

ways new adventures.

Longtime South Side Community

Council board member Josephine

"Jo" Kenney passed away recently.

Born Josephine Bujarski, Jo worked

in the mayor's office until her retire-

ment.

Jo was very active in her civic life.She was a founding member of the

Friends of the South Side Library,

where she created and copyrighted

the "Taste of the South Side" fund-

raising event and was also an avid

volunteer with the Polish Falcons

and St. Adalbert (later Prince of

Peace) Parish.

For many years, she was a board

member of South Side Community

Council and through her efforts,

the Community Council received a

grant to create its first Web site.

Jo was devoted to the South Side

and took great pride in her family

and in her neighborhood. She con-

tinued to volunteer with neighbor-

hood groups and events until she

was well into her 90's.

In gratitude and appreciation of

her efforts and commitment, South

Side Community Council board

members awarded Jo with the title

" Director Emeritus" and presented

her with a large certificate recog-

nizing her many years of service.

The City of Pittsburgh also ac-

In Memory: Josephine

Bujarski Kenney

South Side Library from page 1

knowledged Jo. Tuesday, December

13, 2005 was proclaimed JosephineKenney Day in honor and apprecia-

tion of her work and volunteerism in

community efforts.

Jo was preceded in death by her hus-

band Clarence Kenney, and is sur-

vived by her son Clarence "Larry"

Kenney, Jr., her daughter Susan

Kenney Nial, and several grandchil-

dren.

Next

Graffiti Watch

Meeting on Nov. 18For information, call

412-496-2272 oremail:

[email protected]


3/8

This is Gemmas 2nd Halloween trick

or treating. Gemma enjoyed walking

door to door with her cousin and beingdressed up. Our neighbors make it es-

pecially fun for her and give her special

treats. Our neighborhood enjoys Hal-

loween and getting together. Its a

good time to catch up with those we

havent seen coming or going.

We were a little disappointed in the

turnout of children this year. It

seemed as though there was a mis-

communication about the time to

trick or treat and maybe that was

the problem. Many years we have run

out of candy, though my nephew was

happy to claim the leftovers.

I missed the Halloween parade South

Side used to have. Having a toddler

makes us become more aware of the

activities for younger children.

All in all, we enjoyed ourselves, and

not to mention, our jack o lantern is

still in one piece! Thats a pretty

good Halloween.

FALL 2009SOUTHSIDE L IGHTS PAGE 3

truck exploded. Then one Saturday

morning, Greg and I heard some

power equipment in the alley, we

opened our garage door to see what

was going on. Standing in the mid-

dle of Larkins Way was a handful of

our neighbors cleaning up OUR al-

ley. Neighbors we never knew till

that morning. Fellow South Siders

wearing fluorescent green Graffiti

Watch t-shirts were doing exactly

what Greg and I thought about do-

ing: getting rid of the graffiti and

cleaning up our neighborhood. I met

this band of merry workers who in-

vited me to join them on their next

paint-out. After seeing the im-

provement this small group of vol-

unteers had made on our block and

knowing that due to their efforts our

backyard is now virtually clean of

graffiti, weeds, and litter, Greg and

I agreed to join their team.

Now, less than a year later, Greg

and I participate in the monthly

paint-outs with our new friends and

neighbors. Prior to a paint-out, I

canvas our zone for new graffiti,

talk to home and business owners

about eliminating the graffiti, and

coordinate what graffiti will be

painted over at the next paint-out or

removed by Graffiti Busters.

On the day of the paint-out, we

Graffiti Watch volunteers spend

around two hours painting over the

designated areas of need. Addition-

ally, Greg does the dirty work, and

cleans up the paintbrushes and roll-

ers. And for those of you who may

ask the same question that I asked,

Why bother painting over graffiti if

the vandals continually return to

the scene of the crime? The answer,

based on our own and others ex-

periences, is that most of the graffiti

which is painted over is not re-

tagged and, if it is, the time span

between the volunteers work and

the vandals destruction becomes

continually longer. So, for approxi-

mately four hours a month (there is

also a monthly meeting that is short

and generally sweet) from spring to

early fall we are part of a team that

is responsible for helping return thecharm and luster to our community.

The benefits from this mere four

hour per month invest-

ment have been mean-

ingful. We are building

a stronger connection

with our neighbors and

community businesses,

in addition to feeling

GraffitiWatch (Continued from Page 1)Graffiti Watch

Calendar Listing

Graffiti Watch meetings are at 7 PM on

the third Wednesday of the month at

the Brashear Center.

All are welcome.

For information call 412-496-2272 or

Email: [email protected]

more responsible to them and our

community. Now we see ourselves as

part of the solution instead of wait-

ing impatiently for the politicians

and public servants to fix things. It

seems that any attention or care we

give to our surroundings continues to

ripple throughout the neighborhood.

And, as we witness less and less graf-

fiti and decay in our zone and theSouth Side, we know we are creating

a better place to live, work, and play.

Christopher, Carla & Gemma Spade-

cene and Lucas Harden are ready for

Trick or Treating.

Kids Corner


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Green N'at Keeps OnChugging

Green N'at has been active

throughout the summer

conducting clean-ups every other

Sunday morning throughout the

South Side. You might think the

activities have cooled with the

weather. On the contrary, the

Green N'at volunteers have shown

amazing dedication to getting out

and tidying up our streets.

W o r k i n g

through South

Side-based Con-

servation Con-

sultants, Inc.

( C C I )

G r e e n

N'at has

had the

opportu-

nity to work with Duquesne Univer-

sity and University of Pittsburgh

students during their monthly vol-

unteer days, dubbed Keep It Clean

South Side (KICSS) and Make A

Difference Day respectively.

The efforts of each group have hadan incredible impact on both the

aesthetics of South Side as well as

the relationships we are building

between residents and students.

Green N'at volun-

teers have re-

cently been focus-

ing their efforts

on weeding some

overgrown areas.

Pictured is the

corner of 24th

and Sarah, the

corner of 22nd

and Wharton, and 19th Street.

We remove as much growth as

we can. Green N'at also works

with property owners to ensure

they are tending to their land.

With respect to 24th and

Sarah, Green N'at cleaned up the

area outside of the fence. The area

inside of the fence was promptly cut

down by the property owner after a

call from a Green N'at volunteer.

Friends of the Pitts-

burgh Urban Forest

South Side Pittsburgh

Tree Project is a com-

munity effort spon-

sored by local busi-

nesses, residents andFriends of the Pitts-

burgh Urban Forest to

help grow our green

space

This project is an ini-

tiative of Blue Tomato

Design and Riverset Credit Union,

who combined make projects like

this possible in the South Side. We

set out to make a difference and

bring beauty to the

place we call home.

We want to plant as many

healthy trees as possible

on the South Side and

watch them grow. Like the

trees we plant, we expect

to start small with man-

ageable planting projectsand then branch out.

That's where Friends of

the Pittsburgh Urban For-

est, Blue Tomato Design,

Riverset Credit Union,

and YOU come in. It is

going to take the sustained efforts of

each to make sure that as the months

go by, more and more trees get

planted throughout the South Side.

While Friends of the Pittsburgh Ur-

ban Forest approves sites, arborists

recommend appropriate trees to mini-

mize sidewalk upheaval and to maxi-

mize the life expectancy of the trees,

and the City of Pittsburgh partici-

pates in cement cutting. Conse-

quently, plantings are done in stages

and you can see why volunteers are so

important.

We need you to volunteer your time

and talents, and donate to this impor-

tant project and opportunity to plant

trees now that will grow for years to

come.

Please contact Kim Collins of

B l u e T o m a t o D e s i g n a t

[email protected] or

visit www.sstreeproject.com to learn

more!

South Side Tree ProjectSouth Side Tree ProjectSouth Side Tree Project

Green IsGrowing Duquesne UniversityCommuter Affairs &South Side Community Councilpresent

A Networking EventWhat: Potluck Thanksgiving Dinner

Who: Residents of the South Side

Slopes and South Side Flats

Where: South Side Market House

15 Bedford Square

When: 6PM on Tuesday, Nov. 17th

* Duquesne U. will provide turkey,

mashed potatoes, stuffing, and gravy

* Residents are asked to bring a side

dish that serves 10. Students are bringing desert.

South Side Community Councils

University Relations Chair Chuck Half

says that Duquesne and SSCC hope to

make this an informal annual gathering

of residents who just want to get to

know each other in a fun and tasty

setting.

Residents, including family members,

interested in attending must either call

412.519.7569 or send an E-mail to


5/8


South Side Community Council

would like to thankCopies At Carsonand its contributing authors

for their outstanding support of

SouthSide Lights

THANK YOU!Our next quarterly edition: Winter 2010

SSCCSCCSCCOpenenenMeetingeetingeeting

When: Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009, at 7PM

Where: Brashear Association, 2005 Sarah St.

What: Graffiti TaskForce, Mayors 311, and

Graffiti Watch

Meet:

Detective Dan Sullivan: City of Pittsburgh

Guns Gangs and Graffiti Task Force;Wendy Ur-

banic: Mayors 311 Coordinator and Steve Root:

South Side Community Councils Graffiti Watch

Action Committee Chair Person

Attend and Learn more about:

-Procedures and the outcomes of reporting graffiti;

-Citys accomplishments in apprehending and con-

victing graffiti vandals;

-311 aspect of reporting graffiti and follow up; and

-Value on getting involved in graffiti prevention and

removal from a grass roots level.

Iattended my first Board meeting

for South Side Community Council.

Its not my first day at a new school

experience. As an Air Force Brat I

had that experience about 10 times before I completed

graduate school. Regardless, it was a first.

Im new to the South Side. My husband and I moved here

in May 2008. We had lived in Sewickley for 24 years. It is

a lovely community, perfect for raising the kids but not so

geographically desirable to my husbands job. Moving

to the South Side was purely a geography choice. It split

the distance between our two jobs.

Could we have gotten any luckier? IF we had known what

a wonderful experience it would be to live here, IF we had

known how many great new friends we would find, IF we

had understood the great value of living in a community

with such diversity, IF we had realized that living in the

South Side would make us better people..well, we

would have moved here a long time ago.

My first experience with community involvement came

through the Graffiti Task force. I thank Steve Root for his

persuasive nature in encouraging my further involve-

ment.

All around me, I am seeing more and more of my

neighbors coming forward to do something to improve the

community. Some of their endeavors are complicated and

time consuming, while others are as simple as having a

can of grey paint and walking around once a week paint-

ing over graffiti on electric boxes.

As I have joined in on clean-ups and paint-outs, I have

run across a lot of people who ask if the city is paying us

for our efforts, or they tell us we shouldnt bother its

never getting better. My response to them is that we

dont get paid money, we work on behalf of our town, our

place, our home, and our neighbors. We work so that we

can be proud of where we live and hopefully that pride

will spread.

Our city government cannot do everything that needs to

be done here. We just cant afford it. But through volun-

teer community effort an amazing amount of work is get-

ting done. Terra McBride has managed to organize

neighbors to have community clean-ups on Sunday morn-

ings throughout the summer. At first there were just a

few people helping, but now there are more and more.

Kim Collins has organized the South Side Pittsburgh

Tree Project (see related article), bringing more trees to

our neighborhood. Steve Root and the Graffiti Task Force

has painted over hundreds of square feet of graffiti.

What we do does make a difference. If this news-

letter has been mailed to you then you must have

an interest in the South Side. Please take the next

step and volunteer. If everyone on this mailing list

gave one day to a volunteer activity just once a

year it would make a huge difference. Dont let anyone

ever tell you that South Side isnt a nice place to live

simply because we have our issues. My husband and I

think living on the South Side is wonderful and we feel

honored to be part of community that is working hard to

make itself a better place for all its residents.

Regards, Cathy Mitchell

Letter from our new Board Member,

Catherine Mitchell


6/8


Crime Stats for South Side Flats

Aggravated Assault 19

Aggr. Assault w/Police Officer 5

Accidents 34

Armed Person 1

Bench Warrant 2

Burglary 22

Criminal Mischief 95

Criminal Trespassing 2

Disorderly Conduct 4

DOA 5

Drug Arrests 7DUI 36

Forgery 6

Fraud 3

Harassment 31

ID Theft 1

Indecent Assault 1

Intoxication 6

Kidnapping 1

Loss of Property 7

Open Lewdness 4

Receiving Stolen Property 18

Reckless Endangerment of Another 4

Resisting Arrest 6

Robbery 4

Simple Assault 30

Simple Assault:Domestic Violence 1

Stalking 1

Stolen Vehicle 4

Stolen Vehicle:Recreation Vehicle 1

Terroristic Threats 4

Theft by Deception 5

Theft:Auto 83

Theft:Business 16Theft:Person 61

Theft:Residence 6

Vehicle Code Arrestable Crime 1

Warrant Arrests 2

Crime Stats for South Side Slopes

Aggravated Assault 3

Accidents 9

Armed Person 2

Arson 1

Business Burglary 1

Bench Warrant 1

Burglary 16

Criminal Mischief 15

Criminal Trespassing:Residence 1

DOA 1

Domestic Violence 2

Drugs Arrests 5

DUI 5

Escaped from Police Custody 2

False ID 1

Forgery 1

Harassment 31

ID Theft 1Protection from Abuse Violation 1

Rape 1

Reckless Endangerment of Another 1

Receiving Stolen Property 5

Robbery 2

Simple Assault 14

Tampering with Evidence 1

Theft:Auto 29

Theft:Person 6

Theft:Residence 2

Vehicle Code:Arrestable Crime 2

POLICE BLOTTERJuly 8 through October 8, 2009

Weeds/Debris 91

Potholes 42

Abandoned Vehicle 23

Overgrowth 18

Signs-Replacement 17

Graffiti 16

Parking 16

PermitResidential 16

Tree Pruning 15

EnvServ:Violations 14

Patrol 12

Sidewalk Need Repaired 12

Sewers 10

Street Resurfacing 10

Building Violation:Residential 9

Dumping 9

Sign Request 9

Sinkhole 8

City Steps 7

Dumpster Permits 7

HCP Related 7

Tree Removal 7

Noise 6

Dead Animal 5

Trash: Early Set Out 5

Trash:Missed Pickup 5

Inspections 5

Street Cleaning 5

Demolition 4

Drug Enforcement 4

EnvServ:Dumpsters 4

Guiderail 4

Litter Can 4

Occupancy:Residential 4

Violations

Commercial Building Violation 3

EnvServ: Missed Blue Bag 3

Litter 3

Occupancy/Commercial 3

South Side 311 Service CallsJuly 13, 2009 THROUGH October 9, 2009


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Please mail your application to: South Side Community Council

Membership Application

Name: ________________________________________

Address: _______________________________________

City, State, Zip: __________________________________

Phone - Day: ____________________________________

Phone - Evening: _________________________________

Email Address: __________________________________

Yes! Save a stamp - email me the Newsletter!

Payment Information:

Enclosed is my $10 check or money order made pay-

able to the South Side Community Council. (Student and

Senior Citizen membership annual rate is $5.00.)

Enclosed is an additional donation of $_____ in support

of the South Side Community Councils efforts.

I am interested in make an in-kind donation of materi-

als or services. Please contact me.

Membership Benefits

INFORMATION & EDUCATION

South Side Community Council hosts programs

on topics of interest that are open to the public.

Members receive a copy of SSCCs SouthSide

Lights newsletter four times a year.

ADVOCACY & COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

You have firsthand knowledge of issues affect-

ing the community and have a outlet to voice

your concerns.

Work with residents who feel the same about

issues affecting the community.

SSCC connects its members with activities that

benefit the entire community, such as the Trash

Bash.

SSCC board members serve on committees and

boards for various South Side organizations and

offer these organizations insight regarding resi-

dents issues and concerns.

In addition, SSCC provides financial support forlocal organizations like the Brashear Associa-

tion.

SOCIAL

SSCC offers its members opportunities to meet

their neighbors and have some fun!

Involvement:

Yes!I want to get involvedplease contact me about the:

Internal Processes Subcommittees:

Membership Committee

Communications/Marketing Committee

Event Planning

Fundraising Committee

External Relations Subcommittees:

University Relations

Neighborhood Community Liaison

Business Liaison

Action & Advocacy Subcommittees:

Graffiti Watch

Beautification/Green Nat

Public Safety

Building & Zoning Committee

I have a questions and/or issue regarding our

community. Please contact me!

SOUTH SIDE COMMUNITY COUNCIL

SUBCOMMITTEES:

Internal Processes Subcommittees:

Membership Committee: Recruit new members.

Communications/Marketing Committee: Get the word

out about SSCC programs and community efforts.

Event Planning: Help plan events within the commu-

nity to encourage communication and

Fundraising Committee: Raising money for the SSCCs

efforts in the South Side

External Relations Subcommittees:

University Relations: Work with the Universities for

the purpose of reaching out and welcoming students,

while instilling a sense ownership and responsibility

while living in our neighborhood.

Neighborhood Community Liaison: Work with

neighbors to learn of their concerns and issues.

Business Liaison: Work with businesses and the com-

munity for streamlining communication purposes.

Action & Advocacy Subcommittees:Graffiti Watch: Prevent and remove graffiti

Beautification/Green Nat: Beautify our neighborhood

through community artwork, landscaping and ridding

the neighborhood of litter and trash.

Public Safety:Address quality-of-life issues across the

neighborhood including safety

Building & Zoning Committee: Work on zoning, ACHD

and BBI residential issues


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SSCC Fall 2009 Newsletter

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