The Elks Mobile Dental Unit is scheduled to be at Columbia Elks Lodge No. 594, 4747 E. Elks Park Drive, from Monday through Feb. 10.
The program brings primary care dental services to children and adults who are developmentally disabled. Elks officials said more than 100,000 residents have been served by the program since 1962. Individuals who are in extreme financial distress who have difficulty accessing dental care also may apply for assistance.
The mobile dental unit’s visit to Columbia will provide service for eligible residents from Audrain, Boone, Callaway, Cole, Cooper, Howard and Moniteau counties.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, call (816) 804-9701.
Source:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/dec/31/elks-dental-unit-coming-to-columbia/
Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Complaint leads to inspection tweaks Agency to give more notice before maintenance checks.
The Columbia Housing Authority will tweak an inspection program it credits with saving thousands of dollars and earning it a “high performer” ranking to make sure all residents receive regular notice of the monthly visits.
After an incident at Oak Towers, when resident Lillian Davis refused to allow housing authority maintenance workers to enter her apartment for a monthly smoke detector check, authority CEO Phil Steinhaus agreed lease requirements for notice are not being met by the program.
Davis said the maintenance workers attempted Thursday to gain entry to her apartment with a key and without knocking. She was in the apartment at the time and refused to remove her door chain so the maintenance workers could enter. The smoke detector checks are made on the fourth Thursday of every month.
“I refused to let them in because no notices were posted,” Davis said.
The building manager, Laura Terry, responded by delivering Davis a notice that her refusal to allow entry to the maintenance workers was a violation of her lease and that continued refusal to allow the inspections could result in eviction. Terry also delivered a notice that the inspectors would be back tomorrow.
The housing authority leases require 48-hour notice any time the authority needs access to an apartment for routine matters. To check on issues raised in complaints from other tenants, the authority is required to give 24 hours notice of an inspection.
But the smoke detector inspections are a regular event, always on the same day of the month, so individual notices to tenants had not been issued, Steinhaus said. After discussion with Terry, he said a notice would be included in the monthly distribution of information to residents and could become part of a monthly newsletter to tenants or a calendar issued regularly listing a schedule for all housing authority events. A newsletter or calendar would be a new service, he said.
“It hasn’t been an issue in the past,” Steinhaus said. The lack of notice was “mostly an issue of just cost and trying to save paper.”
Steinhaus said he had been told the maintenance workers knocked twice before attempting to enter Davis’ apartment.
The checks have helped improve maintenance throughout housing authority properties, Steinhaus said. When maintenance workers make the inspections, they also catch other issues such as damaged doors or poor housekeeping that can attract vermin.
Smoke detector checks were started as part of a public housing improvement plan put in place after a series of low inspection scores from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Steinhaus said. He credits the checks with reducing turnaround time for empty apartments because maintenance issues are found early. The program helps because renters are better able to pay small amounts to cover tenant-caused damages than a large lump sum when they move, he said.
The housing authority operates 719 units of public housing grouped in four property divisions. Oak Towers has 147 high-rise units, and Paquin Tower has 200 high-rise units for people with disabilities. The Bear Creek family site has 78 apartments, and the downtown family site has 294 units.
Davis said she does not get along well with Terry or other managers at the building. She would like to move to a Section 8 unit but is well down the waiting list. That means she stays, and she will allow the inspection Thursday, she said.
“It is a roof over my head, and I am out of the weather,” she said.
Source:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/dec/29/complaint-leads-to-inspection-tweaks/
I call B.S. here because Ms Davis has lived at Oak Tower a very very long time and as such she knows when Smoke Detector Checks are and on what day and about what time as they always have been. It is the same at Paquin Towers!! She probably does not get a long with the manager because the manager does not have time to baby coddle her every need? Is Ms Davis' son still living with her too at Oak Towers? What a bunch of total B.S. complaining that was not needed!!
This gives all of CHA a bad name needlessly!! Shame on Ms Davis!! Shame on her!!
After an incident at Oak Towers, when resident Lillian Davis refused to allow housing authority maintenance workers to enter her apartment for a monthly smoke detector check, authority CEO Phil Steinhaus agreed lease requirements for notice are not being met by the program.
Davis said the maintenance workers attempted Thursday to gain entry to her apartment with a key and without knocking. She was in the apartment at the time and refused to remove her door chain so the maintenance workers could enter. The smoke detector checks are made on the fourth Thursday of every month.
“I refused to let them in because no notices were posted,” Davis said.
The building manager, Laura Terry, responded by delivering Davis a notice that her refusal to allow entry to the maintenance workers was a violation of her lease and that continued refusal to allow the inspections could result in eviction. Terry also delivered a notice that the inspectors would be back tomorrow.
The housing authority leases require 48-hour notice any time the authority needs access to an apartment for routine matters. To check on issues raised in complaints from other tenants, the authority is required to give 24 hours notice of an inspection.
But the smoke detector inspections are a regular event, always on the same day of the month, so individual notices to tenants had not been issued, Steinhaus said. After discussion with Terry, he said a notice would be included in the monthly distribution of information to residents and could become part of a monthly newsletter to tenants or a calendar issued regularly listing a schedule for all housing authority events. A newsletter or calendar would be a new service, he said.
“It hasn’t been an issue in the past,” Steinhaus said. The lack of notice was “mostly an issue of just cost and trying to save paper.”
Steinhaus said he had been told the maintenance workers knocked twice before attempting to enter Davis’ apartment.
The checks have helped improve maintenance throughout housing authority properties, Steinhaus said. When maintenance workers make the inspections, they also catch other issues such as damaged doors or poor housekeeping that can attract vermin.
Smoke detector checks were started as part of a public housing improvement plan put in place after a series of low inspection scores from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Steinhaus said. He credits the checks with reducing turnaround time for empty apartments because maintenance issues are found early. The program helps because renters are better able to pay small amounts to cover tenant-caused damages than a large lump sum when they move, he said.
The housing authority operates 719 units of public housing grouped in four property divisions. Oak Towers has 147 high-rise units, and Paquin Tower has 200 high-rise units for people with disabilities. The Bear Creek family site has 78 apartments, and the downtown family site has 294 units.
Davis said she does not get along well with Terry or other managers at the building. She would like to move to a Section 8 unit but is well down the waiting list. That means she stays, and she will allow the inspection Thursday, she said.
“It is a roof over my head, and I am out of the weather,” she said.
Source:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/dec/29/complaint-leads-to-inspection-tweaks/
I call B.S. here because Ms Davis has lived at Oak Tower a very very long time and as such she knows when Smoke Detector Checks are and on what day and about what time as they always have been. It is the same at Paquin Towers!! She probably does not get a long with the manager because the manager does not have time to baby coddle her every need? Is Ms Davis' son still living with her too at Oak Towers? What a bunch of total B.S. complaining that was not needed!!
This gives all of CHA a bad name needlessly!! Shame on Ms Davis!! Shame on her!!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
City Council approves drafting alcohol ban in three city parks
The City Council voted Monday night to move forward with drafting an ordinance that would ban alcohol in three of the city's public parks.
The Columbia Police Department proposed the ordinance, which would prohibit alcohol in Flat Branch Park, Village Square Park and Paquin Park.
“The parks will be more attractive for our citizens,” Police Chief Ken Burton said.
Police said they have had trouble with intoxicated people in the parks, citing homeless individuals as a main source of the problem, according to a previous Missourian article. But increased patrols and trespassing warnings have not proven to be effective, Police Capt. Dianne Bernhard said in a Parks and Recreation Commission Review meeting Dec. 9.
“This ordinance will allow us to administer public drunkenness,” Burton said.
Currently, city law prohibits drinking on city streets and sidewalks and in parking garages. Burton noted at the council meeting that transporting and holding people for public drunkenness is costly.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/12/20/council-approves-next-stage-alcohol-ban-downtown-parks/
Yes we are finally going to get our Ordinance!!
All of my pushing,prodding,emailing and more from the very beginning is going to grow into something that will help benefit everybody in Columbia!! Who says faith cannot move mountains!!
The Columbia Police Department proposed the ordinance, which would prohibit alcohol in Flat Branch Park, Village Square Park and Paquin Park.
“The parks will be more attractive for our citizens,” Police Chief Ken Burton said.
Police said they have had trouble with intoxicated people in the parks, citing homeless individuals as a main source of the problem, according to a previous Missourian article. But increased patrols and trespassing warnings have not proven to be effective, Police Capt. Dianne Bernhard said in a Parks and Recreation Commission Review meeting Dec. 9.
“This ordinance will allow us to administer public drunkenness,” Burton said.
Currently, city law prohibits drinking on city streets and sidewalks and in parking garages. Burton noted at the council meeting that transporting and holding people for public drunkenness is costly.
Source and More:
http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/12/20/council-approves-next-stage-alcohol-ban-downtown-parks/
Yes we are finally going to get our Ordinance!!
All of my pushing,prodding,emailing and more from the very beginning is going to grow into something that will help benefit everybody in Columbia!! Who says faith cannot move mountains!!
Soon the government check won't be in the mail
Before too long, the government check will no longer be in the mail.
Officials have settled on the dates when millions of people will no longer be able to get their Social Security and other benefit checks by mail.
New recipients of benefits will have to accept paperless payments starting on May 1 of next year, three months later than first proposed.
Those already on Social Security will have until March 1, 2013 to make the switch to direct deposits or a debit card.
More than 58 million retirees, disabled people and surviving family members receive Social Security or Supplemental Security benefits. Already eight out of 10 people getting federal benefits receive those payments electronically, officials say.
The switch to electronic payments will eliminate the problem of lost or stolen checks and also the problems faced by people displaced from their homes who have to worry about getting their checks mailed to them, said Richard L. Gregg, the Treasury Department's assistant fiscal secretary.
Source and More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOVERNMENT_CHECKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-12-21-03-58-46
Officials have settled on the dates when millions of people will no longer be able to get their Social Security and other benefit checks by mail.
New recipients of benefits will have to accept paperless payments starting on May 1 of next year, three months later than first proposed.
Those already on Social Security will have until March 1, 2013 to make the switch to direct deposits or a debit card.
More than 58 million retirees, disabled people and surviving family members receive Social Security or Supplemental Security benefits. Already eight out of 10 people getting federal benefits receive those payments electronically, officials say.
The switch to electronic payments will eliminate the problem of lost or stolen checks and also the problems faced by people displaced from their homes who have to worry about getting their checks mailed to them, said Richard L. Gregg, the Treasury Department's assistant fiscal secretary.
Source and More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GOVERNMENT_CHECKS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2010-12-21-03-58-46
Friday, December 17, 2010
Mexico Tenants Speak Out
Some of the tenants at Chevy Chase apartments are furious with their landlord Donald Robinson.
They claim their apartments are in terrible condition, with mold, poor insulation, cockroaches and water leakage. And the residents believe it's because the units are for low income people who have limited options for living.
"There's no management, if something goes wrong, there's no one here to fix it," said tenant Laura Fischer.
According to resident Charles Williams, Robinson has neglected to fix the problems at the apartments correctly because the tenants are elderly, disabled, and have low income.
"The items he said he's going to fix, he's never fixed," said tenant Charles Williams.
KOMU8 tried repeatedly to call Robinson Thursday, but he didn't answer or return the calls.
Source and More:
http://www.komu.com/KOMU/d7e2017e-80ce-18b5-00fa-0004d8d229cb/f1a53a62-80ce-18b5-01ba-87509bdf3b18.html
They claim their apartments are in terrible condition, with mold, poor insulation, cockroaches and water leakage. And the residents believe it's because the units are for low income people who have limited options for living.
"There's no management, if something goes wrong, there's no one here to fix it," said tenant Laura Fischer.
According to resident Charles Williams, Robinson has neglected to fix the problems at the apartments correctly because the tenants are elderly, disabled, and have low income.
"The items he said he's going to fix, he's never fixed," said tenant Charles Williams.
KOMU8 tried repeatedly to call Robinson Thursday, but he didn't answer or return the calls.
Source and More:
http://www.komu.com/KOMU/d7e2017e-80ce-18b5-00fa-0004d8d229cb/f1a53a62-80ce-18b5-01ba-87509bdf3b18.html
Friday, December 10, 2010
Proposed Booze Ban in Downtown Parks Supported
The Columbia Parks and Recreation Commission gave unanimous support for the creation of a new ordinance to prevent drinking alcohol in downtown parks. The ordinance would affect Paquin, Flat Branch, and North Village Parks. Police say they have received a large number of citizen complaints about drunk individuals in those parks.
Columbia Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hood said the ordinance would be tailored to avoid collateral damage.
"I don't think that we're talking about people having a picnic lunch with some sandwiches, cheese, crackers, and a bottle of wine...We are talking about possible misuse of our parks," Hood said.
Currently, there are no restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in Columbia parks. Columbia police captain Dianne Bernhard said homeless individuals use the parks to avoid the downtown ban on open containers.
"We have a group of people who will go to these parks to avoid the open container ordinance and in the parks right now it's legal to drink the alcohol, so it actually draws people in to these particular parks," said Bernhard.
Bernhard added, "We are looking towards long term problem solving instead of just fixing individual instances."
Source:
http://www.komu.com/KOMU/d7e2017e-80ce-18b5-00fa-0004d8d229cb/ccde6acf-80ce-18b5-0155-3358c991ce10.html
Columbia Parks and Recreation Director Mike Hood said the ordinance would be tailored to avoid collateral damage.
"I don't think that we're talking about people having a picnic lunch with some sandwiches, cheese, crackers, and a bottle of wine...We are talking about possible misuse of our parks," Hood said.
Currently, there are no restrictions on the consumption of alcohol in Columbia parks. Columbia police captain Dianne Bernhard said homeless individuals use the parks to avoid the downtown ban on open containers.
"We have a group of people who will go to these parks to avoid the open container ordinance and in the parks right now it's legal to drink the alcohol, so it actually draws people in to these particular parks," said Bernhard.
Bernhard added, "We are looking towards long term problem solving instead of just fixing individual instances."
Source:
http://www.komu.com/KOMU/d7e2017e-80ce-18b5-00fa-0004d8d229cb/ccde6acf-80ce-18b5-0155-3358c991ce10.html
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Housing authority hires Officer Brotemarkle
A Columbia police officer has a new part-time assignment as director of safety for the Columbia Housing Authority.
Officer Mark Brotemarkle, an 18-year veteran of the police department, will replace retiring Administrative Safety Officer Dearl Logan. The Columbia Housing Authority made the announcement in a news release yesterday.
“Officer Brotemarkle brings a wealth of experience and direct knowledge of our community to this position,” said Phil Steinhaus, CHA chief executive officer. “He has built positive relationships with many of our residents and will work to continue CHA’s proactive approach to resident involvement in neighborhood safety.”
Brotemarkle has worked as a patrol officer, school resource officer and narcotics detective. He will fulfill his duties for CHA on a part-time basis and will continue his work as a Columbia police officer.
In October 2008, Brotemarkle sparked controversy working as a Hickman High School resource officer while attempting to place fighting students into custody. He tossed to the ground one girl who was trying to break up the fight and then flung another student to the ground. Someone was taping the fight on a cell phone, and it became a You Tube sensation and aired on MSNBC.
The police department eventually cleared Brotemarkle of any wrongdoing.
Source:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/dec/07/housing-authority-hires-officer-brotemarkle/
Source best viewed in Firefox or Opera in full stealth mode with all cookies and pop ups blocked.
Officer Mark Brotemarkle, an 18-year veteran of the police department, will replace retiring Administrative Safety Officer Dearl Logan. The Columbia Housing Authority made the announcement in a news release yesterday.
“Officer Brotemarkle brings a wealth of experience and direct knowledge of our community to this position,” said Phil Steinhaus, CHA chief executive officer. “He has built positive relationships with many of our residents and will work to continue CHA’s proactive approach to resident involvement in neighborhood safety.”
Brotemarkle has worked as a patrol officer, school resource officer and narcotics detective. He will fulfill his duties for CHA on a part-time basis and will continue his work as a Columbia police officer.
In October 2008, Brotemarkle sparked controversy working as a Hickman High School resource officer while attempting to place fighting students into custody. He tossed to the ground one girl who was trying to break up the fight and then flung another student to the ground. Someone was taping the fight on a cell phone, and it became a You Tube sensation and aired on MSNBC.
The police department eventually cleared Brotemarkle of any wrongdoing.
Source:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/dec/07/housing-authority-hires-officer-brotemarkle/
Source best viewed in Firefox or Opera in full stealth mode with all cookies and pop ups blocked.
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Those who forget history are ever doomed to repeat it.
Source:
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/1996/6/19/terror-paquin-towers/
Bold Text Highlights I did to bring attention to the reality of this issue. This is the original article right out of The Man Eater circa 1996.
=========================================================================
Terror in Paquin Towers
In the early morning of June 7, when the sun was beginning to burn off the chill left by the midnight rains, when I was stumbling home, listening to the wake-up babble of the birds nesting in the trees of my apartment complex, Ron Wilson put the barrel of his rifle to his face and pulled the trigger. The trigger worked the firing mechanism which worked a .22 rifle round into Wilson's head.
I heard this on the radio after I walked through the front door. Wilson had been in a standoff with police for several hours, taking shots at the landscape from his tenth story apartment at Paquin Towers. Columbia police responded with their cars and their lights and their Special Weapons And Tactics personnel, men in matte black body armor. Officers made it to the hallway outside Wilson's apartment to negotiate with him through his apartment door. He threatened to hurt himself and others, the officers reported, but offered no explanation for his actions.
After Wilson shot himself, officers loaded him onto a stretcher and took him to University Hospital. At the time of this writing, he is still listed in critical condition there. He is 33 years old.
For his deeds, Wilson earned about five inches of copy on page 2A of the June 8 Tribune.
As I sit here on the tan carpet of my room, sipping Dekuyper schnapps from a refrigerated bottle, staring into the blue glow of the monitor, a thought keeps playing itself over and over again in my head. The thought is this: somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
Maybe it was the staff of Paquin Towers, whose job it is to provide a safe public housing facility for its residents, dissuading the use of firearms. Maybe it was the Columbia police, whose job it is to protect the public from people taking shots at the landscape. Maybe it was the city government, whose job it is to provide a community free of people firing rifles out of their homes. Maybe it was the federal government, into whose hands .22-caliber rifles fall into. Maybe it was Wilson, whose job it is not to initiate actions which endanger the general populace, or maybe it was the fault of the voices in his head, whose job is subject to the mores of the society in which the host body lives.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
You sit on your bed in Paquin. You live in a very small room. Rain pelts the window as you look down on Paquin Street, the college housing that surrounds it, the institutional expanse of University Place Apartments, the slow progression of headlights on University Avenue, the lit dome of Jesse in the distance.
You look in the mirror and you barely recognize yourself. You have reached such a point of depression and rage that you no longer consider your attitude depressed or enraged, but simply the way things are. Nobody cares, and nobody visits, and the thought of bearing all this shit until sunup again, as you have done so many nights before, seems inconceivable.
You reach under the boxspring and slide the strapped rifle tote into the lamplight. You work the zipper, revealing the glossy blue-black finish of your hunting rifle. You reach into one of the velcro side-compartments of the tote and retrieve a cardboard box of ammunition. You spill the thin, brassy .22 shells onto the floor. You pick one up and, working the bolt, chamber it. You call 911 at about 1:10 a.m., announcing your intentions. Then you slide the window open to the sound of pouring rain.
We will forget Mr. Wilson in two weeks.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
===================================================
Will we forget history or are we doomed to repeat it. You decide in your own mind what is right and what is wrong. All I can do is present the case and allow the public court of opinion to find it's own opinions,humanity and sense of morality in this and other issues concerning this highly at risk population of the Disabled Citizen.
http://www.themaneater.com/stories/1996/6/19/terror-paquin-towers/
Bold Text Highlights I did to bring attention to the reality of this issue. This is the original article right out of The Man Eater circa 1996.
=========================================================================
Terror in Paquin Towers
In the early morning of June 7, when the sun was beginning to burn off the chill left by the midnight rains, when I was stumbling home, listening to the wake-up babble of the birds nesting in the trees of my apartment complex, Ron Wilson put the barrel of his rifle to his face and pulled the trigger. The trigger worked the firing mechanism which worked a .22 rifle round into Wilson's head.
I heard this on the radio after I walked through the front door. Wilson had been in a standoff with police for several hours, taking shots at the landscape from his tenth story apartment at Paquin Towers. Columbia police responded with their cars and their lights and their Special Weapons And Tactics personnel, men in matte black body armor. Officers made it to the hallway outside Wilson's apartment to negotiate with him through his apartment door. He threatened to hurt himself and others, the officers reported, but offered no explanation for his actions.
After Wilson shot himself, officers loaded him onto a stretcher and took him to University Hospital. At the time of this writing, he is still listed in critical condition there. He is 33 years old.
For his deeds, Wilson earned about five inches of copy on page 2A of the June 8 Tribune.
As I sit here on the tan carpet of my room, sipping Dekuyper schnapps from a refrigerated bottle, staring into the blue glow of the monitor, a thought keeps playing itself over and over again in my head. The thought is this: somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
Maybe it was the staff of Paquin Towers, whose job it is to provide a safe public housing facility for its residents, dissuading the use of firearms. Maybe it was the Columbia police, whose job it is to protect the public from people taking shots at the landscape. Maybe it was the city government, whose job it is to provide a community free of people firing rifles out of their homes. Maybe it was the federal government, into whose hands .22-caliber rifles fall into. Maybe it was Wilson, whose job it is not to initiate actions which endanger the general populace, or maybe it was the fault of the voices in his head, whose job is subject to the mores of the society in which the host body lives.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
You sit on your bed in Paquin. You live in a very small room. Rain pelts the window as you look down on Paquin Street, the college housing that surrounds it, the institutional expanse of University Place Apartments, the slow progression of headlights on University Avenue, the lit dome of Jesse in the distance.
You look in the mirror and you barely recognize yourself. You have reached such a point of depression and rage that you no longer consider your attitude depressed or enraged, but simply the way things are. Nobody cares, and nobody visits, and the thought of bearing all this shit until sunup again, as you have done so many nights before, seems inconceivable.
You reach under the boxspring and slide the strapped rifle tote into the lamplight. You work the zipper, revealing the glossy blue-black finish of your hunting rifle. You reach into one of the velcro side-compartments of the tote and retrieve a cardboard box of ammunition. You spill the thin, brassy .22 shells onto the floor. You pick one up and, working the bolt, chamber it. You call 911 at about 1:10 a.m., announcing your intentions. Then you slide the window open to the sound of pouring rain.
We will forget Mr. Wilson in two weeks.
Somewhere, somehow, somebody f@cked up.
===================================================
Will we forget history or are we doomed to repeat it. You decide in your own mind what is right and what is wrong. All I can do is present the case and allow the public court of opinion to find it's own opinions,humanity and sense of morality in this and other issues concerning this highly at risk population of the Disabled Citizen.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Should Weapons Be Allowed On HUD Properties?
This subject came to being in the light of I was informed by another resident of Paquin Towers which is a HUD funded Living Facility for the Disabled and Low Income located in Columbia Missouri and operated by the Columbia Housing Authority.
I was informed on the night of 11 29 2010 at a meeting of the Paquin Tower Resident Association by another resident that there was a resident(with no affiliation to any law enforcement agency) who was seen carrying a Side Arm openly on his belt with in the confines of Paquin Tower in the main lobby. To say the least in my 6 years of living at Paquin Tower I was quite surprised as I was always told from the day I moved in that No Weapons were allowed on CHA property. I was informed also this resident has a Concealed Carry Weapons Permit and is carrying this Side Arm due to past incidents of somebody else pointing a gun into his face.
Paquin Towers is a very diverse living community for the Disabled and Low Income but the biggest part of the diversity is the varying degrees of Mental Illness with in the population of over 200 residents plus or minus depending upon occupancy. These varying degrees of Mental Illness include but are not limited to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD),Anxiety, Depression,Paranoid Issues and more. Paquin Tower is considered as a Safe Sanctuary Facility of sorts by it's residents due to it is under HUD Guidelines and has On Site Management Team,On Site Maintenance Staff,a Security Staff plus the Columbia Police Department handling calls in the facility too.
Paquin Tower is also serviced by many Behavioral Health Agencies with in the Boone Country Missouri area and many In Home Health Care agencies as well who come and go daily with in the confines of Paquin Tower. Paquin Tower also has those on Probation or Parole with in it's confines as well although no other residents outside of the CHA Staff know whom they might be. Paquin Tower also has those in varying stages of rehabilitation at one level or another for various reasons.
I am all for people's rights until it infringes upon the rights of the Disabled and especially the Mentally Ill to live in a safe and trouble free environment which now this Side Arm Carrying Issue or any Gun Issue brings to light. The worry by the Mentally Ill Residents and Disability Advocates with in Paquin Tower. I do not feel this view point is out of line in any way of discrimination or prejudice of any kind as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act but in this issue we must look at the greater good of all and not just the rights of one individual and especially when it relates to potential of a resident with a Mental Illness to relapse back into their Mental Illness due to the knowledge of an unsafe living environment which a resident carrying a Side Arm openly can present.
HUD does not allow a lot of things and activities on it's properties such as Convicted Sexual Offenders,All Illegal Drugs and many more things and CHA according to their own Guidelines does not allow these things as well plus more but the carrying of a Side Arm is allowed and openly and a resident can have a Side Arm or Guns with in their possession in their units?
Also the Housing Manager Penny Harrington said openly at this Resident Association Meeting that yes anybody in the building could own a fire arm if they so choose to even though it would bring discomfort to those who are against this for varying reasons of concern for the Mentally Ill population with in Paquin Tower.
I am sorry this just does not sound right to me nor to other concerned residents with in Paquin Tower.
As it stands as of this post this is the policy of the Columbia Housing Authority and obviously HUD itself or CHA could not operate in this manner allowing this issue of a resident being allowed to own and carry a Side Arm openly with in one of it's facilities.
I and others do not like this policy as it stands and are now looking at avenues to change this policy so that No Weapons ie: Side Arms, shouldered fire arms etc are allowed on any HUD Funded Properties anywhere starting with the Columbia Housing Authority in Columbia Missouri and working for the safety of all risk populations who reside on HUD Properties and for all of those Behavioral Health Agency Workers and In Home Health Care Workers who frequent HUD Properties servicing their respective clients.
What I ask of all of you reading this are sme simple things to help this cause:
1: Contact your nearest Housing and Urban Development Office and let your concern be known in this issue. http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/contact
2: Contact the Housing Authority in your area and let them know your concern in this issue in Columbia Missouri and ask them what their policy says and allows or does not allow. Be informed that is your right so you can help inform others and advocate for change if it is needed.
3: Contact Fair Housing and let them know of your concern.
4: Contact your local Disability Advocates and Agencies in your area and let them know of this issue that could effect others with Mental Disabilities living in HUD facilities. The more they know the more they can research and all of us can work together for change that helps everybody to feel more secure in their living environment.
5: Contact the Columbia Housing Authority in Columbia Missouri and let them know of your concern in this issue.
201 Switzler Street Columbia, MO.65203
Phone:(573) 443-2556
Fax:(573) 443-0051
TTY:(573) 875-5161
6: Contact your local State Representatives and Senators and ask them how they feel about this issue. Often times your State Representatives do not know and we need to help them to know so they can help us.
7: Contact your local and national Human Rights Commissions to let them know of your concerns. You can do a simple Google search and come up with the one in your area. Ask them questions and ask how they feel on this issue. Ask them to ask questions themselves of HUD and their local Housing Authorities. Here is the contact info of the Human Rights Commission of Columbia Missouri where this issue is about at this time: OCS@GoColumbiaMo.com Please contact them and let them know your concern.
8: The biggest thing is spreading the word on this issue and making others aware of this issue as it pertains to the rights of the Disabled to be able to live in a secure environment with out the fear of Weapons in their living facilities that are not in the hands or possession of properly trained professional Law Enforcement Personnel.
Thank you very much for your time and your understanding in reading all of this article. If we the Disabled Community do not stand up together for our rights nobody else will.
Charles E Dudley Jr Columbia Missouri
poundpuppy2k1@gmail.com
Disability Advocate
My Blogs:
Columbia Citizens For Disability Advocacy
http://ccfda.blogspot.com/
Concerned Citizens For Disability Advocacy
http://ccfda.wordpress.com/
Citizens For Change In Columbia
http://cfcic.18.forumer.com/index.php?act=idx
We are all in this together to help each other so we can all live in peace and safety with in our respective living communities.
I was informed on the night of 11 29 2010 at a meeting of the Paquin Tower Resident Association by another resident that there was a resident(with no affiliation to any law enforcement agency) who was seen carrying a Side Arm openly on his belt with in the confines of Paquin Tower in the main lobby. To say the least in my 6 years of living at Paquin Tower I was quite surprised as I was always told from the day I moved in that No Weapons were allowed on CHA property. I was informed also this resident has a Concealed Carry Weapons Permit and is carrying this Side Arm due to past incidents of somebody else pointing a gun into his face.
Paquin Towers is a very diverse living community for the Disabled and Low Income but the biggest part of the diversity is the varying degrees of Mental Illness with in the population of over 200 residents plus or minus depending upon occupancy. These varying degrees of Mental Illness include but are not limited to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD),Anxiety, Depression,Paranoid Issues and more. Paquin Tower is considered as a Safe Sanctuary Facility of sorts by it's residents due to it is under HUD Guidelines and has On Site Management Team,On Site Maintenance Staff,a Security Staff plus the Columbia Police Department handling calls in the facility too.
Paquin Tower is also serviced by many Behavioral Health Agencies with in the Boone Country Missouri area and many In Home Health Care agencies as well who come and go daily with in the confines of Paquin Tower. Paquin Tower also has those on Probation or Parole with in it's confines as well although no other residents outside of the CHA Staff know whom they might be. Paquin Tower also has those in varying stages of rehabilitation at one level or another for various reasons.
I am all for people's rights until it infringes upon the rights of the Disabled and especially the Mentally Ill to live in a safe and trouble free environment which now this Side Arm Carrying Issue or any Gun Issue brings to light. The worry by the Mentally Ill Residents and Disability Advocates with in Paquin Tower. I do not feel this view point is out of line in any way of discrimination or prejudice of any kind as outlined by the Americans with Disabilities Act but in this issue we must look at the greater good of all and not just the rights of one individual and especially when it relates to potential of a resident with a Mental Illness to relapse back into their Mental Illness due to the knowledge of an unsafe living environment which a resident carrying a Side Arm openly can present.
HUD does not allow a lot of things and activities on it's properties such as Convicted Sexual Offenders,All Illegal Drugs and many more things and CHA according to their own Guidelines does not allow these things as well plus more but the carrying of a Side Arm is allowed and openly and a resident can have a Side Arm or Guns with in their possession in their units?
Also the Housing Manager Penny Harrington said openly at this Resident Association Meeting that yes anybody in the building could own a fire arm if they so choose to even though it would bring discomfort to those who are against this for varying reasons of concern for the Mentally Ill population with in Paquin Tower.
I am sorry this just does not sound right to me nor to other concerned residents with in Paquin Tower.
As it stands as of this post this is the policy of the Columbia Housing Authority and obviously HUD itself or CHA could not operate in this manner allowing this issue of a resident being allowed to own and carry a Side Arm openly with in one of it's facilities.
I and others do not like this policy as it stands and are now looking at avenues to change this policy so that No Weapons ie: Side Arms, shouldered fire arms etc are allowed on any HUD Funded Properties anywhere starting with the Columbia Housing Authority in Columbia Missouri and working for the safety of all risk populations who reside on HUD Properties and for all of those Behavioral Health Agency Workers and In Home Health Care Workers who frequent HUD Properties servicing their respective clients.
What I ask of all of you reading this are sme simple things to help this cause:
1: Contact your nearest Housing and Urban Development Office and let your concern be known in this issue. http://portal.hud.gov/portal/page/portal/HUD/contact
2: Contact the Housing Authority in your area and let them know your concern in this issue in Columbia Missouri and ask them what their policy says and allows or does not allow. Be informed that is your right so you can help inform others and advocate for change if it is needed.
3: Contact Fair Housing and let them know of your concern.
4: Contact your local Disability Advocates and Agencies in your area and let them know of this issue that could effect others with Mental Disabilities living in HUD facilities. The more they know the more they can research and all of us can work together for change that helps everybody to feel more secure in their living environment.
5: Contact the Columbia Housing Authority in Columbia Missouri and let them know of your concern in this issue.
201 Switzler Street Columbia, MO.65203
Phone:(573) 443-2556
Fax:(573) 443-0051
TTY:(573) 875-5161
6: Contact your local State Representatives and Senators and ask them how they feel about this issue. Often times your State Representatives do not know and we need to help them to know so they can help us.
7: Contact your local and national Human Rights Commissions to let them know of your concerns. You can do a simple Google search and come up with the one in your area. Ask them questions and ask how they feel on this issue. Ask them to ask questions themselves of HUD and their local Housing Authorities. Here is the contact info of the Human Rights Commission of Columbia Missouri where this issue is about at this time: OCS@GoColumbiaMo.com Please contact them and let them know your concern.
8: The biggest thing is spreading the word on this issue and making others aware of this issue as it pertains to the rights of the Disabled to be able to live in a secure environment with out the fear of Weapons in their living facilities that are not in the hands or possession of properly trained professional Law Enforcement Personnel.
Thank you very much for your time and your understanding in reading all of this article. If we the Disabled Community do not stand up together for our rights nobody else will.
Charles E Dudley Jr Columbia Missouri
poundpuppy2k1@gmail.com
Disability Advocate
My Blogs:
Columbia Citizens For Disability Advocacy
http://ccfda.blogspot.com/
Concerned Citizens For Disability Advocacy
http://ccfda.wordpress.com/
Citizens For Change In Columbia
http://cfcic.18.forumer.com/index.php?act=idx
We are all in this together to help each other so we can all live in peace and safety with in our respective living communities.
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