The Elmwood Neighborhood News
Volume 8 Number 4 February 2006
A publication of the Elmwood Neighborhood Association
The Guardian Angels Visit Elmwood
The Guardian Angels were special guests at the
January meeting of the Elmwood Neighborhood
Association, drawing many attendees from the
Elmwood commercial district and other Oak Cliff
neighborhoods. Also present were officers from the
Dallas police department, who spoke highly of the
Guardian Angels here in Dallas, the DISD police
department and the Dallas county Sheriff’s
department.
Guardian Angel Elias Davilla spoke from the heart
as he explained the mission of the Guardian Angels.
The most important ingredient of a Guardian Angel is
the desire to make a difference. He stressed the need
for community involvement to prevent crime and
invited everyone to become involved.
The guest appearance at the meeting was followed
up by a safety patrol in Elmwood on Saturday night.
The patrol covered the Elmwood business district and
the new playground area. One neighbor wrote to the
editor, “ I was coming home from a night out last
night . I saw the guardian angels patrolling, it was
comforting to see. I really appreciate their efforts to
help our neighborhood. . .”
The Alliance of Guardian Angels was founded in
1979 by New York City resident Carlos Sliwa, who
coined the phrase “Dare to Care”. What began as a
response to rampant crime in New York City has
expanded to over 75 Chapters across the world today.
The Guardian Angels originally served communities
with safety patrols in areas with vandalism, graffiti,
violence, prostitution and drugs. The all-volunteer
safety patrols provide an area with “presence”, which
in itself is a crime deterrent. (Continued on page 2, see
Guardian Angels)
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Elmwood Neighborhood Association
Meets on 3rd Wednesdays
The next meeting of the Elmwood
Neighborhood Association is February 16 at
7:00pm.
The association meets the third
Wednesday of the month at the Elmwood United
Methodist Church., 1315 Berkley Ave. at Balboa.
At the February meeting, the association
will vote on whether or not to change the
meeting schedule to once a quarter.
Come early to the Friends and Neighbors
Dinner sponsored by Elmwood Methodist
Church at 6:00pm on Wednesday, and get
dinner & dessert for $4.
Bulk Trash Citations Dismissed
Those of you who put your bulk trash out on
schedule in December probably noticed that the City
did not come to pick it up. You may have left it out,
thinking that the schedule had changed due to the
holiday. If you did, you may have received one of the
eight citations issued in Elmwood for improper
placement of bulky trash.
ENA officers were outraged to learn that these
citations were issued when the city failed to perform
pickup in December. The Code Compliance Officer
for our area was not informed that the pick up was
missed. ENA President Randy Cress wrote a letter to
Dallas City Director of Code Compliance Kathleen
Davis, insisting that these eight citations be
dismissed. After research, she agreed and notified
Randy that these citations are dismissed. Recipients
of the tickets will receive a letter from Code
Compliance to confirm the ticket was dismissed.
Constable Dupree Targets
New Year’s Random Gunfire
On New Year’s Eve, Constable Dupree and his
deputies from the Dallas County Sheriff’s department
patrolled the Oak Cliff area. The target was random
gunfire and shooting fireworks. It was a fruitful
night, with two assault rifles and three handguns
confiscated from people shooting into the air.
Disorderly conduct charges (Class B misdemeanor
with up to one year in jail time and up to a $4000
fine) were filed against two suspects.
The Elmwood Neighborhood Association hired a
constable from the Sheriff’s department to patrol in
Elmwood New Year’s Eve. The officer was on duty
from 10:00pm – 2:00am. While patrolling, the
constable broke up what appeared to be a gang fight
brewing and investigated a shooting. In light of these
results, ENA plans to hire a law enforcement officer
to patrol Elmwood for the 4th of July.
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Guardian Angels (continued from page 1)
While there is safety in numbers, the Guardian
Angels train in self-defense to be prepared for what
they may encounter on the streets. They carry no
weapons, and keep a sharp eye on activity in the areas
they patrol.
The Guardian Angels also strive to be “Role
Models for Life”. Their services have expanded to
include training and programs to help communities
with safety, violence prevention, and professional
development. The Guardian Angels sponsor the Role
Model Academy for students. This program helps
schools prevent bullying and harassment.
For more information, you can call the Guardian
Angels at 214-734-5052.
Role Models for Life
The Guardian Angels Need You
This non-profit all-volunteer organization is
new to the Dallas area. Volunteers needed.
Training offered:



Self-defense training
Laws for making a citizen’s arrest
First Aid and CPR through the Red Cross
To join, call 214-734-5052.
Officer Elections Coming Up
Volunteers are greatly needed to help run our
neighborhood association. Officer elections are held
in the spring. Officers for the association are:
President,
VP
Code
Compliance,
VP
Communications, VP Conservation, VP Membership,
Treasurer and Secretary. If everyone does a small
part, the small parts add up to a great whole!!
The Elmwood Neighborhood News is published
quarterly by the Elmwood Neighborhood
Association. Send letter, articles or story
suggestions to the editor via e-mail to
elmwoodna@hotmail.com, or write to: P.O. Box
210966, Dallas, TX 75211. Editor: Susan Lee

BULK TRASH DAYS
The Elmwood Bulk Trash pickup
week is the 4th
Monday Week each
month. Bulk trash
may be set out
beginning
the
previous Thursday,
and must be placed
on the curb by 7:00am Monday morning.
Upcoming pickup days are:

Monday, February 27

Monday, March 27

Monday, April 24
Please patronize our advertisers! Their ads
help pay for the Elmwood Neighborhood News.

ELMWOOD SPRING FEST 2006
We’ve Set the Date!
Mark your calendar for the Elmwood Spring
Fest, set for April 15. Volunteers are needed
to help organize the event, which will celebrate
the opening of our new playground! You can
volunteer to help with any of these events:
children’s games, prize raffles, cake walk, Pet
Parade. If there is something else you would
like to see at Spring Fest, volunteer to organize
it!
Call or email Susan Lee: 214-943-2962
susielee@flash.net.
 Discover Elmwood Online!
http://www.elmwoodweb.tripod.com
The 2006 Capital Bond Program
Dallas City Council members have been holding
community meetings to review the 2006 Capital Bond
Program. The Capital Bond Program reviews capital
budgets items identified as needs for the community,
either by our council representatives and city
departments, or by residents. These are funded by
selling city bonds, which are guaranteed by the Dallas
taxing power.
This process is vitally important to obtaining
improvements throughout the city. Elmwood now has
a new playground because the Elmwood
Neighborhood Association asked for funding, and
pursued the request until it was passed . Connie
Briggs initiated the request, and our Councilman at
the time, Mark Housewright, pushed the request
through the approval process.
February 7, our current Council representative,
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Elba Garcia, and
Councilman Ed Oakley held a joint Town Hall
meeting. District 1 (Dr. Elba Garcia) and District 3
(Ed Oakley). Residents gathered at the Kidd Springs
Recreation Center. The room was overflowing with
residents attending to hear needs identified by the
city, and to talk about items they want included with
this bond initiative. Unfortunately because of the
sizable turn out, not everyone was able to give their
input.
Elmwood was represented by ENA President
Randy Cress and VP Code Compliance Connie
Briggs. A list of needs for Elmwood was submitted
to Dr. Garcia. At the top of the list are the Polk street
improvements that were a hot topic in the
neighborhood last year. If approved, sidewalks and
curbs will be added where today there are none.
Other items on the Elmwood needs list included new
lighting for our playground area, as well as
completing the hiking trail around that portion of our
parkway. For a complete list, see the ENA website.
It is not too late to give the city feedback! The city
will take feedback through the end of February..
Please add your voice to the requests submitted, or
add your own! To provide feedback on what should
be included in the 2006 Capital Bond Program, visit
the Dallas City website at www.dallascityhall.org. Or
you can call Susan Lee at 214-943-2962 to get forms
that can be faxed or mailed to Dr. Garcia’s office. Be
a part of the process!
214-967-5121
CRIME ALERT! LINE
The Elmwood Area Crime Watch sponsors a
voicemail phone number in cooperation
with the Dallas Police Department. Call the
CRIME ALERT! Line 214-967-5121 once
each week. A recording will inform you of
criminal activity in our area during the past
week. Watch for the neighborhood CRIME
ALERT! Signs in your neighbor’s yards.
When posted they indicate more serious
crime activity in our area. Be sure to call
the CRIME ALERT! Line regularly!
Death of a Stop Sign
In spite of initiatives by the city to address
random gunfire, it is still a frequent occurrence
all over the city. Here in Elmwood gunshots are
called in almost every night. This type of gunfire
is not only disturbing to residents, it is dangerous.
It is important to understand that bullets ricochet
and fall at high velocity. People can be killed or
injured.
Just last week, shots that sounded like
automatic weapons were called in by several
Elmwood residents. Driving through the area
where the shots were heard, six stop signs were
found riddled with bullet holes. Calls to the city
for replacements got excellent response. In less
than one week, all six have been replaced.
Unfortunately, replacing the stop signs does
nothing to address the safety or quality of life
issues. But you can help. When you hear gunfire
day or night, report it to 911. It only takes a few
minutes, and the call can be anonymous.
The 911 operator will ask if you would like a
call back (it’s optional) from an officer. If at all
possible, be prepared to describe the direction of
the shots. “I am calling from this address, and the
shots sound like they are south and east from here
by about two blocks.” Multiple people calling in
with an approximate location, helps the police
pin point the area it’s coming from.