61st and Peoria task force meets, starts work
BY ZACK STOYCOFF World Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
3/06/13 at 3:53 AM
Get complete coverage: Read about the Fairmont Terrace quadruple homicide and the Tulsa World’s investigation of the area.
The City Council's 61st and Peoria Quality of Life Task Force has begun developing recommendations for improving six facets of life in the area.
The group of several dozen residents, officials and community stakeholders broke into six subcommittees Tuesday - education, safety, housing, health, social services and social service center funding - that will each draft four sets of recommendations for Mayor Dewey Bartlett and the City Council.
The committees will recommend steps that could be taken immediately with little or no cost; goals that would take at least a year to accomplish; those that would take five years and others that would have longer timeframes.
Each committee will also identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for its area of focus near 61st Street and Peoria Avenue, said City Councilor Arianna Moore, who chairs the task force with its founder, councilor Jeannie Cue.
"We're not trying to solve the problem just for a little while," Moore said. "We want this to be done forever."
The task force was created in response to the Jan. 7 quadruple homicide at Fairmont Terrace apartments and seeks to address the underlying causes of the area's high crime rate.
Although no ultimate deadline has been set for establishing recommendations, Cue has said that each of the subcommittees will meet at least monthly and report to the larger group periodically.
The subcommittees had their first meeting Tuesday, and Moore said they ideally would meet one other time this month. The larger group will meet again in April, she said.
Those subcommittees will have substantial autonomy in setting their meeting dates and coming up with their recommendations, Moore indicated.
The social services committee is chaired by Cheryl and Dale Davidson and Victoria Bartlett, wife of Mayor Dewey Bartlett. Its goals will be to examine current social services in the area and those that are needed, including government and religious services, Moore said.
The education group, chaired by Rob Sellers and Amy Putman, will "focus on every aspect of the education process, from early childhood to adult GED and even college," Moore said.
The safety subcommittee, chaired by Ken Meinheit and Tulsa police Major Julie Harris, will "concentrate on all forms of safety," including police, fire, ambulance service and natural disaster preparedness, Moore said.
The housing group, chaired by Carlos Moreno and Jennifer Griffin, will look into "rentals and rental insurance, home ownership and resources to help with home maintenance" and utility assistance, Moore said.
The health subcommittee is chaired by Rick Green and Kayla Robinson and will look into "pretty much every facet of health," Moore said.
The final subcommittee will explore methods for funding a social services center in the area and identifying the services the facility should offer. It will be chaired by Kathy Fisher and former Mayor Kathy Taylor.
Original Print Headline: 61st & Peoria task force meets, gets work started
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
