Quiet summer hoped for in meeting

Tuesday, April 15, 2008
By MIKE PLAISANCE
mplaisance@repub.com  

SPRINGFIELD - A room at a community center was filled last night with the sounds of people hoping to find ways to keep the summer from being noisy.
Nearly 100 people divided into groups and listed ideas to confront youth violence such as making an effort to listen to young people and explaining to them the roles of the different kinds of law enforcement personnel.
"Our original goal was to hit it hard, hit it hard and fast, try to mobilize the community," said Dora D. Robinson, executive director of the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.
The meeting was held at the center's 3 Rutland St. facility.
It drew nonprofit group members, activists, clergy, law enforcement people, officials, parents, young people and others.
The gathering was a follow-up to a press conference that nonprofit groups, activists and officials held Wednesday. That came after a fight between street gangs Tuesday at the C-Town Plaza lot on State Street spilled over to the outside of the nearby Rebecca M. Johnson School on Catharine Street, officials said.
Another meeting is set for May 14, organizers said.
Before the crowd dispersed to topic tables, Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said ideas and action are needed as the warmer weather draws more people outdoors.
"This is what is on my mind right now: The long hot summer, and youth violence," Sarno said.
From the community organizations table, Paula Polite, who said she is a single parent from Springfield, said adults must give young people the chance to reveal if they are experiencing festering problems.
"Take the time to listen," Polite said.
Many young people simply are unaware of what a police officer does as opposed to the work of an officer with the sheriff's department or a state trooper, said William E. Blatch, a retired state police lieutenant.
"We need to bring people from our fields here. They need to be here," said Blatch, who also is president of Black Men of Greater Springfield, a mentoring and service group.
Chelan D. Brown, executive director of violence-battling group AWAKE, told the gathering that the front table had stacks of job applications to employers like Clarion Hotel and Conference Center, Cumberland Farms, Sunoco and Subway sandwich shop.
Helping organize the event were the nonprofit groups Mason Square Weed and Seed Community Coalition and Mason Square Drug-free Task Force.

Working groups at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center in Springfield. taking part in a community meeting to address issues of drugs, violence and gangs in the neighborhood.