We had a successful meeting last Thursday with approx. 10 in attendance.
Council Aide Naomi Lee joined us, as did two representatives of TPD.

The meeting started with TPD representatives updating us on crime statistics, 
which included one homicide that was not really related to our neighborhood, 
and two cases of arson which, I think, affected only the Parkside Terrace area.

We then discussed several issues with the police representatives:

* The increasing homeless presence at Mansfield Park. They said that their 
standard process is working through and will eventually result in clearing 
the encampment -- as has already happened several times before.

* Fireworks. This is definitely illegal in most cases and they will pursue it IF 
they can either arrive in time to see who is doing it, or get a video showing 
who is doing it. In practice they lack the manpower for the first, and they 
don't recommend trying to take a video, so a real solution was not apparent :-(

* Street Lights. The reason some of our lights are out is because of copper theft, 
which is a major citywide issue. Various agencies are trying to address this by 
monitoring the "recyclers", adding security to the lines, and other means. Council Aide Lee 
acknowledged that our lights have been out for an unusually long time, and said they will 
try to get us to the top of the neighborhood list (but we will still be prioritized below major roadways).

The TPD reps said that they plan to attend each meeting, so we will have more 
opportunties to follow up on these issues. I did not unfortunately get their names 
this time, however we have two CSO officers, whose contacts will be posted to our 
website elcortezheights.org .

We then conducted nominations and elections of officers, with Jacob Prietto stepping 
up to take over the president spot (thanks Jake!)
The new officer list ---
* Jacob Prietto,  President
* Martha Retallick, VP
* Will Nelson, Secretary

We moved on to discuss a couple other issues with Council Aide Lee:

* The overgrown drainage way at 3rd/Seneca. A recurring problem, which we seem to always have to ask about.

* The overgrown "pocket park" at 1st/Seneca/Calle Chico. This is a tiny city 
property stuck onto a residential lot, and a water harvesting feature was placed 
there many years ago, but there was no real plan to maintain it. We have cleaned
 it up ourselves at various times. I believe the upshot today was that a city 
organization will take over maintenance, but first the adjacent homeowner 
has to clean up their yard. We will need to follow up on this next meeting.

* It was noted that some kind of surveying is happening at the long-vacant 
lot at Grant/1st. It was also noted that most or all of our longstanding vacant 
houses are finally being worked on, albeit with varying efficiency.

* PlanTucson is soliciting feedback through the end of this month.  Have your 
say on the plans at: https://www.plantucson.org/get-involved

Happy New Year!

Will Nelson, Secretary