Get Involved with Your Government -

Here is a copy of the letter that I just mailed to my councilman. We need to all take an active stance in our local governments because too many times, the people of Greenwood (Bessemer area) and the people of McCalla (with the county) are left out in the dark or forgotten all together. No matter your party affiliation or stance on a matter, apathy is our enemy. So, speak up and do something!

The parents that drop off their children at Greenwood Elementary are destroying my yard and driveway as they seemingly treat it as public property. They are constantly turning around rather than following the flow of traffic suggested to them by the Principal of the school. You can tell from looking at the end of my driveway and the bottom of my yard that huge pieces of asphalt have broken off and caused an unsightly appearance. Each time that the school has an event, I have to stand out in the yard and personally police the bottom of my yard as the parents think they can park in my yard as well as my neighbors’. Both times, I have either called the Police or flagged one down in which they told me that they can make those move from my yard, but that I cannot speak for my neighbors to have those cars removed. I have contacted the Principal at the school and the secretary at the Board of Education and each has referred me to you to voice my complaint. Directly in front of my home is a sign that says, “No U Turn,” however, it is completely covered with brush and limbs. I called the city last year some time and asked that it be cut down so that those folks could see it at the very least. The school crossing guard even gave me a cone to put in my driveway. But the parents will still pull into the driveway. I have come home several days to a smashed cone. There have also been days in which I go to the road to put the cone up and the parents curse at me. They have thrown junk and garbage in my yard. I am not worried about my feelings, but one day there is going to be a wreck in that curve and someone will be seriously injured because they won’t follow the suggested route. With all of that being said though, there is an even better solution to this problem. There is no reason why parents cannot pull in at the ballpark, drive up the hill to the awning to drop of their children and then take a left heading back out to Morgan Road. The current plan has them turning around in everyone’s yard, interfering with traffic at the county school and adding to the backup of traffic at the intersection of Greenmor and Morgan Road by Winn Dixie. My suggestion does not cost anything and is logical and feasible. Either way, I would appreciate someone looking at my proposal with seriousness as my complaint has thus fallen on death ears.

Secondly, traffic in the area is substantially more in Greenwood than years past. Much of the traffic from as early as six o’clock in the morning to as late as midnight is driving over the speed limit. My concern is that on week nights and Saturdays and Sundays, there is a high volume of cyclist, walkers and runners. I fear that one day they will be injured or killed by one of these speeders. The cyclist club that rides in Greenwood has probably 30 members or more that go directly in front of my home. Cars and speeders fly around them almost hitting oncoming traffic or come up on them too quickly. You know as well as I do that Greenwood is slowly losing that small time community feeling but we have got to do something to protect those that are just out walking their dog or exercising. I have to walk down from my home before ever crossing the street to walk over to the track because of my fear that a speeder will hit me and my dogs. A mustang almost killed my husband the other day as he was pulling out of our driveway with one of my dogs in the car. They slammed on their brakes and came to a complete halt. It is very dangerous there and there is not even a “Hidden Driveway” sign for cars to slow down. I would love for the city to put one up, but more importantly, the Bessemer Police Department needs to start writing tickets out in Greenwood for those that are speeding. And it might help if our resident police officer was not allowing his 12 or 13 year old son to drive the police car around the community, but that is another subject for another day.

Thirdly, years ago my dad, said that there was money appropriated to fix the bridge there on Dickey Springs Road, at the creek. The bridge was never fixed. Since, numerous inquiries to the city by people in the community revealed that it was the county’s responsibility. Those same people would call the county and they would say it was the city’s responsibility. This bridge has been dilapidated for years now and it is time that some entity step in and replace it. Riding over that bridge is rough as it is horribly bumpy from patch after patch of asphalt/concrete and cannot be good for any vehicle. You can look at the structure and tell that it is crooked and slanted. I would be amazed if a state, county or city engineer would even deem it safe. Will you please advise what if anything can be done about this bridge?

And lastly, many people here in Greenwood are interested to know what issues on your agenda relate to us. I have not noticed any changes or improvements in our area and was just wondering if any of our tax dollars were actually being used for us and on us. Bessemer makes it incredibly hard on people to communicate with their elected officials. Does Bessemer even have a website? I have yet to find one by using Google. Do you have an email address? I am sure that the people of your district would really appreciate knowing how to communicate with you. It is bad enough that one cannot pay a bill online for Bessemer Utilities, but not being able to get an email address for your councilman or mayor in this day and age is in my opinion very sad.

Did you get any response from your letter? I would report the police officer to the police chief as it is our tax money paying for the car and gas that he is letting his son enjoy.

I sure didn't yet. I am still waiting on a response. I believe our local resident police officer purchased the other police car himself for like funerals and stuff, not sure exactly. But it does not have Bessemer markings on it. But at least once a week, he lets his underage son drive it to who knows where. I am not the only person to have noticed. My aunt did too.

Date: Saturday, November 1, 2008, 7:12 PM

I am so sorry that you have had a difficult time contacting me through the city. The do have a website it is www.bessemeral.org. I also have a website--it is www.jimmiestephens.com. Both have e-mail. There are also contact numbers for other city officials. I have mailed to each household a refrigerator magnet with all of these numbers. I will send you one for your refrigerator.

(I was given home number and cell number for Jimmie as well as the mayor. I have removed this from the email.)

I will submit your request at our council meeting next Wednesday. I am so sorry for the trouble that you are having with the school traffic. I will also copy the police chief with your letter to see if he can have an officer lend a hand.

Concerning the traffic: The area has really grown just outside of the city limits. Morgan Run is a prime example. They use our area to commute to work and unfortunately sometimes drive too fast. We have addressed the problem with stop signs to slow the traffic and increased police patrols to monitor the speeders. The speed limit for the area is 35 MPH and if you feel that this is too high I could request an ordinance lowering the limit to 30 MPH. The school zone is already lower and if they are speeding there, i will contact the police chief.

Concerning the bridge: Unfortunately it is in the county and I have no control over its repair. I do know that it is monitored relating to its safety. Commissioner Bobby Humphreys is your contact on that issue. He is our commissioner and is in charge of roads.

I represent the people of our district and make sure that your city services are equal or superior to those of other districts. I have gone so far as to sue the city for giving $2 mil of your tax dollars to Jordan Frazier Chrysler Dodge Jeep. This money would have gone a long way toward paving our streets. I oppose any expenditure that I feel is not a function of local government such as donating public funds to business or individuals. I do have money available to tear down dilapidated houses in the area but thankfully Greenwood is spared from that unsightly burden. Your tax dollars are spent primarily on police and fire protection, street and sanitation ( trash and garbage collection) and public improvements. This is where I spend most of my time trying to get the ditches cleaned, grass cut, and hopefully streets paved.

I feel that we live in the best District of Bessemer and I will continue to work on your behalf to make it better.
Jimmie

Thank you Jimmie for getting back to me. I apologize for missing your call and just getting to the email. I have been overwhelmed the last couple of days. Thank you for providing me with contact information and the web address. I have never seen it published anywhere before, so I will certainly post it on the McCalla / Greenwood Board for everyone else to see if you don't mind. As for the traffic issue at Greenwood Elementary; I would like for the City to come and cut the brush from around the "No U Turn" sign. Also, I just noticed that there is a tree limb close to the same spot that is sitting directly on a power line. It would need to be cut back but I am sure that is something that Bessemer Utilities would need to do. But if you could mention it, that would be great. My main issue is safety. If the parents of Greenwood students continue to turn around in my yard and driveway, one of them will be seriously injured if not killed. Even with the speed limit, people fly around that curve. If the Board of Education would simply make them turn in at the ball park and come up the hill and then back left to Morgan Road, the risks would be much less of a possibility. Additionally, it would be great to get a "Hidden Driveway" sign placed before the curve so that people will hopefully be more alert. The brush is so high on that hill / ditch that it is almost impossible to determine if there is a car coming before we pull out of our driveway. The police do ride through Greenwood, but I seldom see them sit at some of the key spots. Maybe if they did this for a while, people would begin to slow down. I personally do not think lowering the speed limit would be effective because they are already violating the current limit, even in the school zone. I will check out your website today as well as the city's. Thank you,

I would like to say a Big Thank You to my councilman Jimmie Stephens. Not only did he call me when he got my letter, but he emailed me. We conversed by emails several times and he copied me when he forwarded my email to the Mayor's secretary. As of this week, the police have been out in Greenwood in a very visible way. THANK YOU JIMMIE STEPHENS, THANK YOU MAYOR AND THANK YOU BESSEMER POLICE DEPARTMENT!!!!!!!!!!