By Julian Walker
Times Staff Writer
Like many Northeast community groups, the Wissinoming Civic Association continues to struggle with the challenge of keeping folks interested and active to preserve their evolving neighborhood.
Not all of those changes have been positive, members say, making the need for fresh blood and more volunteers all the more pressing.
Despite the constant pleas of those involved to their neighbors and fellow community residents, attendance at group monthly meetings is less than stellar.
Folks complain that the same 20 or so faces are fixtures at Wissinoming Civic sessions.
Board member Steve Bishop, a Wissinoming businessman, practically pleaded with folks to make suggestions on ways to increase attendance and participation with the civic group.
“Is there something we can do to bring in new members, to get more people involved?” he asked.
“My suggestion is to bring a friend to the next meeting.”
Some suggested increasing the number of meetings, including the addition of sessions during the summer months of June, July and August when most other civic groups recess.
Others proposed a civic meeting disguised as a social event, with refreshments and perhaps entertainment, as a way to coax folks into involvement.
By whatever means, more members must be recruited because “what happens down the streets affects my property value and yours,” said civic association president Debbie Darroyo.
Aside from civic participation, another way to protect the community is to vigilantly combat quality-of-life issues like improper trash disposal and placement, unkempt yards and derelict properties.
The best way to fight such blight is to contact representatives of the city’s Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP), said CLIP inspector Rick Sicinski at the March 31 civic session.
Sicinski, a Wissinoming native, was joined at that meeting by Assistant Managing Director John Elfrey. CLIP is a component of Mayor John Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative and is administered by the Managing Director’s Office.
That three-year old program is the brainchild of City Councilwoman Joan Krajewski (D-6th dist.) It began in Krajewski’s Council district but has been expanded to incorporate the 7th and 10th Councilmanic Districts in Northeast Philadelphia.
CLIP officers respond to citizen complaints of blight issues within 48 hours. If the complaint is founded, a violation notice is written instructing the property owner to abate the nuisance within 10 business days. City work crews will respond to the properties of those owners who fail to comply, correct the violation, assess a fine and charge the owners a fee for the work.
In some case, a lien can even be placed against the properties of non-compliant owners.
Those enforcement powers are quite persuasive, said Elfrey, noting that the compliance rate jumped from 35 percent in the first year of the program to 92 percent more recently.
“This is about improving the quality of life in the city, in our neighborhoods,” he said. “This is one way we’re trying to keep people in the city.” ••
The next meeting of the Wissinoming Civic Association is scheduled for Tuesday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m., in the Wissinoming Presbyterian Church, Torresdale Avenue and Howell Street. For more information, call the civic group’s hot line at 215-288-6468.
Reporter Julian Walker can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jwalker@phillynews.com