Mandell Place Coffee Social

§ May 14th, 2012 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

MPCA members Scott Repass and Dawn Callaway have graciously volunteered to host Mandell Place’s Annual Coffee Social at their very own Coffeehouse! Come by for complimentary coffee and tasty bites from one of Houston’s most exciting new Montrose establishments!

 When:      Saturday  May 19  |  9:30AM– 11:00AM

 Location: Black Hole Coffee House | 4504 Graustark

 

 

Social will include:

  • Meet and greet with fellow Mandell neighbors
  • Update on neighborhood happenings
  • Some insights from Scott on the virtues of business ownership in Houston/Montrose

 

Houston takes steps to distance themselves from local pedestrian citizen patrols

§ May 1st, 2012 § Filed under Uncategorized § 5 Comments

 

 

By now, you are probably familiar with the “Florida situation.” A guy named Zimmerman calls police, identifies himself as a neighborhood watch member, runs after suspect and next thing we know, suspect is shot dead and police let Zimmerman go. Call it what you want, but one thing is for sure: very bad publicity for Police, very bad publicity for neighborhood watch programs.
Houston Public Affairs is definitely aware of what has now become a nationwide case study and one thing has become clear: how does Houston keep something like that from happening here? Houston established a service before all this happend, called V.I.P.- Volunteer Initiatives Program. Within that program is a citizen patrol program cleverly called Citizens On Patrol (C.O.P.). On their site, it reads:
“.. the Citizen Patrol program was established in an effort to bring the citizens and the police department together for a common goal, and that is to improve the quality of life by eliminating crime.”
This program has now become the liability that Houston needs to distance itself from in case any of those citizen patrollers go rogue. So the Chief of Police does his thing and the lawyers do theirs and bake themselves a new citizen patrol pie and decided to debut it today with a mandatory meeting for all HPD officers who run the VIP program and even invited representatives from the participating neighborhoods. Mandell Place was one of them.
After the obligatory common sense things were discussed, like, “don’t carry a weapon on you,” and “don’t pursue potential suspects,” the bomb slyly gets dropped in passing- “You should not be walking.”
One neighborhood representative catches this and after clarifying that HPD insinuates that when patrolling you cannot actually be walking, as in one foot in front of the other, the room takes a collective gasp and chaos ensues. The officer facilitating the meeting, Officer Byrd, tries repeatedly to get the meeting back on track, but representative after representative basically can’t believe that walking the neighborhood is no longer permitted. For the rest of the meeting all you could pretty much hear over and over among the audience is something to the effect of, “You just killed our neighborhood citizen patrol program.”
So here’s the logic: If there is a barrier between a potential suspect and the patroller, such as the inside of a car, the chances of pulling a Zimmerman becomes reduced.  However, let’s chalk it off as safety for the patroller, since they can quickly zip away in their automobile should a suspect they identify become beligerent.  It’s a win, win situation, right? Not really.
The basic concept of the citizen patrol program was originally billed as the following to Mandell Place-

 People take strolls in their neighborhood anyways. So why not take a course on neighborhood safety so that you perform double duty, enjoying a nice walk while also being the eyes and ears of your community. People who walk regularly know what normal looks like because they usually take the same route. They can discern faster than any policeman whether something is off kilter along that route. It also gives people incentive to take those walks, and as more people do it, it adds one more way to facilitate the secure pedestrian-like environment Montrose has been striving for all this time.
We currently have 11 volunteers in Mandell that signed up and got the training, figuring why not: “I walk regularly anyways, why not make it beneficial for my neighbors while I do it?”
Better yet, once our volunteers log in 180 hours combined, Mandell Place gets  placcards placed throughout the neighborhood notifying passersby and future potential residents that we have an active community that watches out for each other.
But now, those 11 volunteers can no longer use their walks to patrol the neighborhood. In fact, if they are caught with thier patrol ID, they will be penalized. Instead, they need to get in their car, gas it up and drive around instead, up and down our streets. How many odd things can you notice while driving vs. walking?
How many of us would even want to spend x number of hours doing that per week? Did I mention you need to place a sign on your car, too?
The hours spent walking by our volunteers are disqualified even though they will be serving the same purpose they have done before any of this happened.
Houston, you did it. You found a way to distance yourself from the liability.

 Oh and by the way, “You just killed our citizen patrol program.”

Commercial Development is Here: come discuss at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Mar 13, 7PM

§ March 11th, 2012 § Filed under Deed Restrictions § 1 Comment

The local economy is starting to pick up some steam, especially in our area.  With that comes stronger interest in development-> commercial development.  So far, we’ve been somewhat successful at addressing some of the development that has encroached the boundaries of Mandell Place, but for how much longer?  

It has become more important than ever for us to put this into perspective and to better understand what this all means, especially when it comes to protecting our property and it’s value.  This is not an issue of whether or not commercial interests will happen.  It’s already here.  The more cohesive we can be as a neighborhood will only do one thing: make us stronger and organized.  It will position us to address any unwanted attempts to modify our neighborhood in such a way that hurts the spirited intentions of why we all chose to  live  and invest our nest eggs here.

Come join us in discussing how we can protect our interests.

Say no to these potential new neighbors: midrise apartments, halfway houses,  parking garages, private for-profit schools—non-residential entities!

Come. Listen.  Be Heard. Unite.

New Option to Renew your MPCA Membership Online

§ February 9th, 2012 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

Friends and Neighbors,

It’s my pleasure to announce that an added level of convenience has been provided on our website that enables you to renew or establish your tax deductible MPCA membership contribution for 2012.

Simply click here for secure processing through PayPal:


or visit our membership page at: http://mandellplace.org/?page_id=7

Thanks and see you Sunday!

 

MPCA Membership Kick-Off & Mardi Gras Social Sunday 2/12/2012 1649 Harold St 5-7p

§ February 3rd, 2012 § Filed under Community, Fun, Meetings § No Comments

1500 Hawthorne Permit Parking Implemented

§ February 3rd, 2012 § Filed under Community, Safety § No Comments

Permit parking signs are up on the 1500 block of Hawthorne Street.  A large volume of street parking on most evenings and late night noise from people walking to the cars after an evening of libations lead the block to apply for permit parking.  The entire neighborhood should pay attention to changes in street parking as overflow from the local restaurants, bars and shops relocate to other blocks.  Keep the civic association aware of any signficant changes via email:  mandellplace@gmail.com

Vote for Montrose: Neighborhood of the Year 2011

§ December 26th, 2011 § Filed under Uncategorized § No Comments

Vote for Montrose as Neighborhood of the Year.  Click  Here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If the link doesn’t work, try this instead:

http://swamplot.com/neighborhood-of-the-year-the-official-2011-ballot/2011-12-22/#comment-199033

 

December Neartown Meeting – Future of Fiesta Lot to be discussed 12/20/2011 7:00p Cherryhurst Center

§ December 16th, 2011 § Filed under Community, Meetings § No Comments

The December Neartown Super Neighborhood meeting will be held Tuesday Dec. 20th at 7:00p.  The meetings are held at the Cherryhurst Community Center, next to the Cherryhurst Park tennis courts.  The meetings last an hour. 

The orginal agenda called for recent TABC items, SNAP agenda issues (Super Neighborhood Action Plans - typically public improvements specific to the area but not including drainage/pavement) and 2012 officer elections.

A planning commission meeting held yesterday regarding the Fiesta lot variance request resulted in a three week deferral.  The Fiesta lot owner’s representative has agreed to attend the Neartown meeting to discuss options for the next planning commission meeting and how to best protect the interests of residents most directly impacted by future development of the site, currently for sale with multiple offers.

http://www.neartown.org/nta-index.php?menu=even&listdate=Tuesday%2C+December+20%2C+2011%2C+7%3A00+PM&meeting=Monthly+Meeting&content=2011-12-20-19-00-Monthly-Meeting.php

VOTE TODAY * Sat 12/10/11 * for City Council At-Large Position #2 and #5

§ December 10th, 2011 § Filed under Community, Elected Officials § No Comments

Former Texas Rep. Kristi Thibault and businessman Andrew C. Burks Jr. each want to represent At-Large Position 2. They were the top two vote-getters of the 10 candidates who ran the November election. In November, Burks got 17 percent of the votes compared to Thibault’s 16 percent of the votes.

The most high-profile race is for the At-Large Position 5 seat. Attorney Jolanda “Jo” Jones is battling former Board of Education member Jack Christie. In November, Jones finished with 39 percent of the vote to Christie’s 33 percent.

The 1500 block of Mandell Place votes at Bering United Methodist Church.  The 1600 block of Mandell Place votes at Lanier Middle School.  Polls are open from 7a to 7p.

Participate in Neighborhood Security

§ December 1st, 2011 § Filed under Security Comments Off

The Houston Police Department has continually encouraged all residents to play a part in neighborhood security.  If you have a true emergency requiring immediate attention, CALL 911

For non-emergency numbers (eg. suspicious activity, abandoned cars, loud noises, etc) HPD asks you to call the Central Dispatch number 24/7.  The nearest unit will be sent.  713-884-3131    HPD tracks repeat calls from an address or block.  Be specific about the address (best) or block.  Recurring calls to a specific address are most likely to prompt an HPD investigation.

For recurring neighborhood issues, contact the Montrose HPD storefront during normal business hours:  713-284-8604

Everyone in the neighborhood can play an active role in our security with the help of HPD.  Do not confront a suspicious character.  Leave this to the police.

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