FIRST
Mood:  surprised

Wow!

 

 First.

 There are many times I wanted to be first but this wasn’t one of them. I was chosen by lottery to speak first at the LuLac City Council Forum last Sunday. I had barley sat down when I was called to speak.  Now, I have taught herbal medicine and gardening classes for years to hundreds of people with no problem. Love it.  But, I was really nervous about this talk. I have a lot to say and I am extremely passionate about it. I knew I had to do it five minutes.  

 

 

 So for those of you who couldn’t make the Forum, here is what I said: 

 

    I started out saying that my heart is broken because I have seen literally hundreds of drug deals in the last ten years of working with the Crime Watch.  Sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, fathers, mothers, rich, poor, black and white.  I’ve seen overdose after overdose, families torn apart, children neglected and neighborhoods in decline.   

 

(The Crime Watch has an anonymous tip line 208-8900. Many people are afraid to attend meetings or call the police when drugs are involved. When we receive these calls we go out and see if there is indeed a problem. We then gather some information and give it to the police.)   

 

Anyway, I went on to say that 90% of crime is drug related. (Once you start sticking that needle in your arm or smoking that crack you become a changed person. Nothing else matter except your next fix. Junkies will steal their mother’s teeth for drugs. ) 

 

 

 Most of the burglaries, thefts, break-ins, stabbings and murders are drug related.(We certainly learned that in our family when Mary Leo was murdered).

 

 

 I commended my fellow Council candidates for wanting to meet with their constituents to find out the problems in the neighborhoods. I have been doing that for ten years. (not only in my district but throughout the city) 

 

I assured them that the biggest concern is drugs and crime. People are afraid.  I went on to say that we have an extremely professional police department that do the best they can but, they need help getting these drug dealing cockroaches out of our city.

 

We must make Wilkes- Barre a HOSTILE environment for these drug dealers. 

 Our 5^th graders should not have to say “no” to drugs..  it should not be available to them.     

 

   I told the crowd that no matter what…. the drug problem should be addressed first and foremost by City Council. I said it is senseless to worry about putting up new clean curtains in a kitchen when you have a gapping hole in the roof !Getting rid of these cockroach drug dealers is my idea of “Clutter Clean Up”.

 

  I then talked about my plans if elected: 

 

• Researching what other cities have done to cut down on their drug problem.
• Sitting down with the police and CAT team to see what they need and want to make their jobs efficient. 
• SLUM LANDLORDS -  Build on our existing ordinances concerning slum landlords that are housing drug dealers. This is a major problem in all neighborhoods. We have to have zero tolerance for landlords that continually house criminals. We have to begin confiscating their homes.
• ENFORCEMENT – It is City Council’s job to make sure there is enough money in the budget so the police have the tools they need. I gave the example of our VIPER units that are so effective in curtailing crime.
• City funded recreation for our kids. It will keep them out of trouble and interested in other things than drugs.
• Making sure that our residents are aware of our ordinances that are in place.

      That was my talk.  A lot to say in five minutes. I hope I said it all .  There are a lot more things I could have talked about but the drug problem must be addressed.               

ON THE TRAIL
Mood:  flirty

 

  

W.C. Fields said “Everyone complains about the weather but no one does anything about it.” Last weekend was freezing and snowy, this weekend is too hot. But, the campaign must go on.

 

After walking and talking to voters in District E in Miners Mills I have found out a  few things:

 

1. Senior citizens really know a lot about drugs and drug houses in their neighborhood but they are really afraid to report it to anyone. It is really sad that they live in fear. I tried to give them our Crime Watch tip hotline number, 208-8900 but they are too afraid to call it. They are willing to talk to me about it though, so I have learned to carry a notebook to write all the information down so we could watch the houses and report what we find out to the police.

 

1. Most people are really nice after they find out I am not selling anything.

 

1. The majority of voters are confused about what district they are in and who they could vote for.

 

1. Family lineage really matters. Seems that many voters want to know who you are not what you are. A lot of people were more interested in my maiden name more than my accomplishments.  That is unfortunate but true.

 

1. There are way too many people who don’t vote.

 ************************************************ 

 

 

  Issues, Issues

For the past ten years, I have been working for the people as a volunteer with the police, city officials, magistrates and the District Attorney’s Office to improve the city, prevent crime and reduce illegal drugs. I have seen first hand how the city works and what problems need to be corrected. If elected, I will apply the knowledge I have gained to implement stronger ordinances that will assist the police, health department and The Community Action Team (CAT) Team to eliminate slum landlords that house drug dealers and illegal aliens. I am also committed to beautification of our neighborhoods and recreation for our youth. 

 I believe there is no reason to reinvent the wheel. There are plenty of cities that have tackled these problems. I will research city after city and contact their city officials to see what has worked for them.    

 

 

 

Parsons Crime Watch celebrates 10 years

RON LIEBACK rlieback@timesleader.com

Saturday, April 21, 2007  

Wilkes-Barre Council President Bill Barrett presents Charlotte Raup of the Parsons Crime Watch with a proclamation from the city, honoring the organization’s 10th anniversary on Thursday.

TIMES LEADER STAFF PHOTO/PETE G. WILCOX  

WILKES-BARRE – Ten years ago, a group of Parsons residents became aggravated by a rash of burglaries in their part of the city.

They heard about the local Crime Watch coalition from television ads, knowing the community alliance was successful in lowering crime.

“We had enough,” Charlotte Raup said. “We needed to come together to keep the crime out of our town.”

Since Raup was home in the daytime, the herbalist was the one to make the call to the Pat Rushton, the coordinator of the Crime Watch at the time.

“He told me, ‘Since you’re the first to call, you’re the Parsons ” coordinator.’

And so the Parsons Crime Watch was born, a group of community crime fighters who conduct patrols in their neighborhood after midnight when most people are sound asleep.

The crime alliance celebrated its 10th anniversary Thursday at Parsons Primitive Methodist Church on Austin Avenue.

Raup, president of the watch and council candidate for District E, said the 30-person coalition has remained active and effective, successfully reporting suspicious and criminal activities to authorities.

“I think one of the reasons it works so well is because their consistency, calmness and the bonding they built with police over the last 10 years,” Police Chief Gerry Dessoye said. “This is why Parsons still has the lowest crime rate of the city.”

Some of the group’s projects include patrolling the streets of Parsons, which are sometimes conducted until 5 a.m.; holding an annual Halloween parade; conducting annual cleanups; and volunteering at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

They also have worked with the Parsons Lions Club over the years by distributing 1,600 yellow ribbons to residents during the Gulf War and constructing a memorial sign to honor deceased veterans.

“People of the Parsons Crime Watch don’t ask for help,” said Rushton, a retired city police officer. “They do what they can to help like painting over the graffiti on buildings, going out on mischief night to patrol or putting a Halloween parties.”

Bill Barrett, Wilkes-Barre council president and former police chief, presented the coalition with a proclamation from city council, commending the group for keeping the city safe and educating the public in crime prevention.

“Parsons never came to us (law enforcement) with problems,” he said. “But with solutions to the problems. That’s the key to successful low crime rates.”

 

 

  

 

         

Strange Bedfellows
Mood:  happy
Strange Bedfellows 

My first week on the campaign trail has proven to me that crime watching and politics are “strange bedfellows”. My first day of campaigning was very interesting. I was talking to the residents of George Ave. and putting up some signs on their lawns when a VERY drunk 21 years old  kid started harassing me because I am the crime watch lady... he demanded to know what I was doing!  

 

       I told him to go into his house or I would call 911.. He went in and then came out one more time to bother me.. I warned him again. He went into the house again and when he thought I was gone he stole my two signs with me watching him from down the street!   Then I called the cops... 3 cops came in no time... two in a car and one on a motorcycle down the sidewalk. He tried to kick and hit the cops and they hauled him off to jail.  It turns out that our crime watch group has had a lot of dealings with him in the past.

 

       The next night we were doing our regular patrols in North End about 1 in the morning and we saw three girls stuffing political signs in the trunk of their car in front of the Turkey Hill on North Main. They also had Joe Daniel signs along with two orange street cones and a pair of wooden horses with flashing lights. Once again we had to call the police. They confessed that some kids from Coughlin were involved with some type of scavenger hunt.

 

    Then just today, while putting out some more signs we saw two drug deals in North End and found out about a drug house in Miners Mills. We will be watching this house for a few nights, then our information will be forwarded to our Fearless Leader, Captain Lori Riemensnyder.  This is a great way to get information… we just like goofy politicians. 

 

  Anyone who knows me, knows I how much I hate illegal drugs.. I hate the crime they cause and the lives they ruin. 90% of crime is caused from illegal drugs. I have spent a decade of my life helping the police to get these drug dealers in jail. They are killing our kids and ruining our city. If elected to council, I will research what other communities have done to clean up their drug problems in their towns and work with the police to make ordinances that will make their job easier to get rid of these thugs. Promise.

Welcome
Mood:  happy

Follow me, Charlotte Raup, as I pound the pavement in District E hoping to meet as many residents as possible while explaining to them why I want to serve them as a member of Wilkes-Barre's city council.

In addition to getting my message out, I want to hear what concerns the residents in my neighborhood have, what they would like to see addressed immediately and what their vision of a future Wilkes-Barre might include.

I'm sure the campaign ahead will be prove to be as challenging as it will be rewarding, so stop on by my campaign blog and follow me as I knock on doors and meet the people here in North Wilkes-Barre.

Thanks,

Charlotte