The question has been asked- (and it is a good question): "Who are the Friends of Sunnyside?"
There are two answers because there are 2 groups involved.
The Friends of Sunnyside community group was formed in 1997 by citizens who were concerned about the rising crime rate. You may recall that residents were on record as saying they were afraid to go shopping at night because of the outbreak of shootings.
At the same time, Wayne Overland and Bob McCord started and funded the Friends of Sunnyside News Letter which is entirely separate although generally with the same goals.
The newsletter concentrated on the graffiti plague. Remember how buildings were "tagged" and the mess sat there for months or even years? Not only did we publish pictures of tagged buldings, but on the same street we would picture well maintained housing. The point was obvious.
Gradually the City and citizens cleaned up. This was in keeping with the "broken windows" crime prevention theory that small crime must be halted as well as major crime.
At the same time, Friends of Sunnyside and the newsletter endorsed four new candidates for City Council whose priorities were:
1. Crime prevention
2. Low taxes and a balanced budget
3. Getting rid of Munson's feed lot which made the city a statewide joke known as "Smellyside"
This lead to the greatest Friends of Sunnyside meeting ever, because longtime city manager Leo Fancey announced he was going to attend and "set the record straight".
We should have sold tickets.
Leo was in effect the City government because he had an aging and complacent council and Leo knew his R.C.W.'s and other regulations better than anybody. If an outsider suggested a change, Leo had an R.C.W. against it.
The meeting was polite and respectful (Bob Story of the Daily Sun News would have been happy) but Leo had no good answers for two questions:
1. Leo, since you obviously run the city, why haven't you done something about the smell problem, which is a health hazard, drives business and investment away, and gives Sunnyside a bad reputation?
To which Leo replied: "It's up to the council to do something about that."
To which the Friends of Sunnyside replied: "But Leo, everyone knows you control the council, they do what you want, why haven't you suggested doing something about the smell?"
The last word from Leo was: "I'll look into that"
2. The crime question evolved into: "Why are there no officers dedicated to gathering gang intelligence and fighting gang crime?"
Leo laid this one off on the police chief: "That's Police Chief Wally Anderson's department"
To which we replied: "But Leo, you have the power to hire and fire the police chief"
Leo made some more notes on his everpresent yellow note pad and said he would look into it.
He never got the chance. In 1997, in a stunning upset, the four reform candidates swept into office and their first move was to replace the city manager.
The police chief took a little longer. Not until he blasted a federally protected blue heron with a shotgun in front of the police station was he forced out. In unrelated matters, he was also caught keeping unauthorized explosives in a City owned building.
This incredible incident shows the state into which the city government had sunk. How could a police chief think he could get away with flagrantly breaking the law?
Two terms later, the Munson feed lot was gone, crime was down, and the budget was balanced with $4 million in reserves and equipment rental funds.
A new council took over in 2006, spent the reserve funds and laid off police officers, srapped the parks and recreation program, drastically raised water and sewer rates, and seemed surprised when rising crime followed their decision to shrink the police department.
In 2010, newly elected council members started working to restore reserve funds, hire back police officers, and restore parks and recreation services.
Note--as a private organization, Friends of Sunnyside members are entitled to privacy. Therefore, we will not be publishing a complete membership list on this page.
The goal of the Friends of Sunnyside is to support efforts to make our city safe, fiscally responsible, and enhance the quality of life for all residents.
There are two answers because there are 2 groups involved.
The Friends of Sunnyside community group was formed in 1997 by citizens who were concerned about the rising crime rate. You may recall that residents were on record as saying they were afraid to go shopping at night because of the outbreak of shootings.
At the same time, Wayne Overland and Bob McCord started and funded the Friends of Sunnyside News Letter which is entirely separate although generally with the same goals.
The newsletter concentrated on the graffiti plague. Remember how buildings were "tagged" and the mess sat there for months or even years? Not only did we publish pictures of tagged buldings, but on the same street we would picture well maintained housing. The point was obvious.
Gradually the City and citizens cleaned up. This was in keeping with the "broken windows" crime prevention theory that small crime must be halted as well as major crime.
At the same time, Friends of Sunnyside and the newsletter endorsed four new candidates for City Council whose priorities were:
1. Crime prevention
2. Low taxes and a balanced budget
3. Getting rid of Munson's feed lot which made the city a statewide joke known as "Smellyside"
This lead to the greatest Friends of Sunnyside meeting ever, because longtime city manager Leo Fancey announced he was going to attend and "set the record straight".
We should have sold tickets.
Leo was in effect the City government because he had an aging and complacent council and Leo knew his R.C.W.'s and other regulations better than anybody. If an outsider suggested a change, Leo had an R.C.W. against it.
The meeting was polite and respectful (Bob Story of the Daily Sun News would have been happy) but Leo had no good answers for two questions:
1. Leo, since you obviously run the city, why haven't you done something about the smell problem, which is a health hazard, drives business and investment away, and gives Sunnyside a bad reputation?
To which Leo replied: "It's up to the council to do something about that."
To which the Friends of Sunnyside replied: "But Leo, everyone knows you control the council, they do what you want, why haven't you suggested doing something about the smell?"
The last word from Leo was: "I'll look into that"
2. The crime question evolved into: "Why are there no officers dedicated to gathering gang intelligence and fighting gang crime?"
Leo laid this one off on the police chief: "That's Police Chief Wally Anderson's department"
To which we replied: "But Leo, you have the power to hire and fire the police chief"
Leo made some more notes on his everpresent yellow note pad and said he would look into it.
He never got the chance. In 1997, in a stunning upset, the four reform candidates swept into office and their first move was to replace the city manager.
The police chief took a little longer. Not until he blasted a federally protected blue heron with a shotgun in front of the police station was he forced out. In unrelated matters, he was also caught keeping unauthorized explosives in a City owned building.
This incredible incident shows the state into which the city government had sunk. How could a police chief think he could get away with flagrantly breaking the law?
Two terms later, the Munson feed lot was gone, crime was down, and the budget was balanced with $4 million in reserves and equipment rental funds.
A new council took over in 2006, spent the reserve funds and laid off police officers, srapped the parks and recreation program, drastically raised water and sewer rates, and seemed surprised when rising crime followed their decision to shrink the police department.
In 2010, newly elected council members started working to restore reserve funds, hire back police officers, and restore parks and recreation services.
Note--as a private organization, Friends of Sunnyside members are entitled to privacy. Therefore, we will not be publishing a complete membership list on this page.
The goal of the Friends of Sunnyside is to support efforts to make our city safe, fiscally responsible, and enhance the quality of life for all residents.
