East side was ‘war zone,’ say speakers

Topics ranging from medical marijuana to the beautification of McLain Rogers Park were discussed at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, but it was the “war zone” in the Lincoln Addition surrounding July the Fourth that drew the most attention.
Former councilman Mustafa Sami, who lives at 515 E. Third St. in the Lincoln Addition, kicked off the talk about uncontrolled fireworks on and around the Fourth.
He said he was at the council meeting with other concerned citizens to be “proactive and do something about fireworks next year.” He said he knew the illegal popping was taking place all over town even though it’s illegal to even possess fireworks inside the city limits.
“How do we enforce that?” he asked. “The east side was best described as a war zone this year.”
And it wasn’t just on July the Fourth, he continued, adding that fireworks – including big ones – were being exploded “weeks before and weeks after” the Fourth.
Sami referred to a fireworks stand east of town near the VFW Club.
“The moment you leave that property you’re in violation of city law,” he said. “I’d put a cop out there every day.”
And when a purchaser leaves the property, Sami said he would give him or her a ticket. He said he knows that would be “very extreme,” but in his opinion it would help control things.
Then he addressed Councilman Bobby Stewart, who now holds the Ward 4 seat Sami once held.
“Councilman, your ward was probably the worst,” he said, suggesting that Stewart must have received a lot of calls this year.
“I have not had any complaints on fireworks,” replied the incumbent. A former assistant police chief and a leader of veterans’ groups like the American Legion, Stewart said he has mixed emotions on the subject. He said he doesn’t want them used carelessly, but it’s probably two weeks out of the year that “someone is thankful for the liberty we have to pop fireworks.”
He also put in a plug for Police Chief David Crabtree, who was at the meeting, as he’s been for most council sessions the last few years after somebody decided the council needed to be protected from shooters who’ve been killing people at public gatherings around the country the last few years.
“Our Police Department is so limited,” said Stewart. Referring to those popping fireworks, he said, “They’ve got lookouts,” and when a patrol car is spotted those with the fireworks go back inside houses.
Furthermore, he said many of them are juveniles and if they’re brought to court, there probably will be little or no action taken against them.
And how many members of the public are willing to come forward and testify against their neighbors, he asked. Referring to Crabtree, who said nothing during the discussion, Stewart said, “That man’s hands are tied if we don’t have people willing to come forward.”
Sami said he could have brought half of the east side of town to the council meeting if he’d tried.
Mayor David Berrong said one of the problems is that a few weeks ago the P.D. was at its lowest point in years in terms of numbers. He said the city also has too many laws “that are not enforced or are unenforceable.”
Sami asked one of his neighbors, Donnell Baldwin, who lives at 223 E. Terrace, to come forward and tell his personal experience this year.
Walking with a cane, Baldwin said he called police at 10 p.m. and told them they needed to do something about the fireworks. He said he finally went to bed about 11:30 but at 3 in the morning he was roused out of bed by someone beating on his door and telling him, “Your house is on fire!”
He said he was able to get his wife, who is handicapped, out of the house but the fire still did about $10,000 damage. Afterwards, he told the Clinton Daily News he did have insurance which paid for most of the repairs. He also said he was confident the fire started from fireworks. And he told the crowd that even while his house was on fire, people across the street were still popping fireworks.
Baldwin said he also has observed people driving down the street in their cars who have to stop and let other people finish lighting their fireworks before they can proceed.
Councilman Jason Hulin said the last two or three years the fireworks “have increased dramatically.” And he said it’s not just on July the Fourth either.
“This war zone hasn’t always been the case,” agreed Mayor Berrong. “This is our community. We need to try to get a handle on it.”
“Somebody may lose a life,” added Baldwin.
Councilman Stewart asked if he could come visit him and have a cup of coffee. Baldwin said that would be fine and he’d even pay for the coffee.
Sally Simon, daughter of Dr. Ralph Simon who no longer lives here, said she agrees fireworks are fun but they need to be controlled. She said she wasn’t allowed to pop fireworks when she was growing up and also mentioned that her father was on call at the hospital providing help to people injured by them. “We didn’t even pick up a sparkler,” she said.
Ms. Simon said she lives in the 300 block of S. 17th Street and she’d never in her life seen things like they were this year. “It’s happening all over the community,” she said. “Mine started in June, and it’s still going on. The Fourth of July it stopped about 1 or 1:30 in the morning.”
She added, “I am totally disillusioned over the last 20 years about what’s gone on in this community.”
Stewart said one thing that hadn’t been mentioned until then was the lack of parental control. That brought murmurs from the audience and at least one inference that 50-year-olds aren’t supposed to need parental control.
Berrong said as long as he’s lived here, he feels there was less communication this year than there’s ever been with the general public about what the fireworks laws are.
Fire Chief Brett Russell was also present, and Sami called on him to close out the fireworks discussion. But before doing so, Sami himself said firemen “were targeted that night.”
Russell agreed. “It’s definitely not safe,” he said. “While we were fighting fires, we were taking incoming aimed at us. It’s absolutely an issue, and I don’t think this was celebrating the Fourth of July. It was chaotic.”
“Was it just teenagers?” asked Ms. Simon. No, it was all ages, replied Russell.
That part of the meeting ended with Berrong telling Stewart he had his cup of coffee.
“I’m going to meet with a group of them tomorrow morning,” the councilman responded.
Wednesday, Baldwin told Daily News photographer Robert S. Bryan that fireworks were even shot at the insurance adjuster who came out to evaluate the damage to his house.