It’s one of those perfect St. John’s September mornings — 20 degrees, the sun’s beaming down on the hot pavement and there’s not a cloud in the sky.
On Spencer Street, Wednesday is garbage day.
As the green collection truck rumbles down the small 200-metre residential street, people stand in open doorways and nod at the garbage man who hops out to haul away this week’s trash.
Some wish he could haul away their problems, too.
“It’s quiet now — ’til later on,” says one longtime resident of the street.
The Telegram isn’t using the names of the residents to protect their identities due to the small number of people who live there.
Across the road, a woman walks home with a Sobeys bag full of groceries, and laughs with her neighbour for a few minutes. They admire the hot sun, though it casts a spotlight on a graffitied building and boarded-up windows.
Another longtime resident tells The Telegram that the shouting usually starts around midnight.
“The last year or two it’s after gettin’ worse,” she said, adding she’s concerned for her safety.
Spencer Street residents tell The Telegram of a wide range of concerns — from hearing gunshots, late-night noise and fighting, to seeing drug use and property damage.
“We’re not living in New York, but it’s certainly getting that way,” said one man.
“Noise — the racket! You know, up 3 o’clock in the morning to close the bedroom window because of the noise. My God. And then the bullets going off here 4 o’clock in the morning. It’s scary.
“I realize people have to go somewhere, but this is in the centre of the city where people are supposed to come up and visit, have Ches’s (Fish and Chips) — tourists, and things like that. They won’t come up here, up this way. You used to see tourists one time, but once they realize what’s going on, they don’t want to get shot, and it’s easily done.
“I phoned the city. The city (said), ‘Oh, it’s not our problem because there’s drugs involved, so it’s the police’s problem. Phoned the police. They say, ‘No, it’s the city’s problem.’ So, they’ve got to get together and come up with some kind of an office together to work together, and when this goes on, then they can address it.”
It’s 11:30 a.m., but The Rolling Stones can be heard blaring from the open window of one home.
“Faith has been broken
Tears must be cried,” sings Mick Jagger, as if he understands.
Regular police presence
Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) media relations officer Const. Jason Walsh told The Telegram police have responded to Spencer Street 111 times between Jan. 1 and Sept. 9 this year.
“Obviously, that seems like a high volume of calls for just a small street in our centre city, in our downtown area. So, that certainly relays to us that there is an issue that needs to be addressed in that area,” said Walsh.
“It’s very clear that there is a regular police presence there, and I can imagine that that would be upsetting to some of the residents.”
Walsh said he couldn’t comment on specific types of calls the RNC responds to on the street. However, he said 69 of the 111 calls for service required a written report — this means that the call involved something more complex than what an officer can take care of at the scene.
Deputy Mayor Sheilagh O’Leary specifically mentioned the issues she’s hearing from residents during a council meeting on Aug. 17.
“I started receiving some concerning emails from residents of Spencer Street regarding everything from property issues to vulnerable residents crime, and many other issues that have been going on in that area for some time, to my understanding,” O’Leary told The Telegram on Aug. 25.
Collaborative approach
While O’Leary said the city can address the property management concerns, that’s “only one slice of the pie.”
“We have seen some criminal activity happening — you know, gunshots and other things that have happened which only, of course, heightened the concerns of the neighbourhood.”
O’Leary said she contacted St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi MHA Alison Coffin and the RNC to begin a more collaborative process in addressing issues at the root of the problems on the street which are beyond the city’s capacity and jurisdiction.
“This is not a quick-flick kind of issue,” said O’Leary.
“There’s so many different people living in a neighbourhood, and ... as a city, we want to make sure that we have neighbourhoods that are healthy for everybody. And that includes some of our most vulnerable populations, as well as people who invest in their properties and expect to have a healthy, safe neighbourhood.”
Walsh said the RNC is willing to take a collaborative approach.
Coffin told The Telegram she’s arranging a meeting with O’Leary, city staff, the RNC, various government departments and potentially others. She expects the meeting will take place sometime this week.
Inadequate support
Coffin said she, too, has received regular emails from a number of people who are concerned about what’s happening in the neighbourhood.
“I think there’s a growing recognition that there are some underlying problems that are throughout the city that do need addressing,” said Coffin.
“And I think by bringing this specific piece to the forefront will help us maybe parse out some of the underlying themes, and get at that overarching issue of there’s people who have very complex issues that the supports that we have in place are inadequate. We don’t have a proper mechanism for addressing a pile of situations, and we really need to be able to manage the situation a whole lot differently.”
She said a wide range of issues ranging from drug use, crime, mental-health concerns, poverty and a lack of affordable housing need to be addressed in a more comprehensive way.
“And perhaps the thing that’s happening on Spencer Street... is a reflection of that larger theme that we’re seeing.
“And that tells us that we need to address the bigger pieces if we want to find a permanent solution to this because we can pull the people who are on Spencer Street who might be deemed as being ‘the problem’ — we can pull them out of there and then just scatter them to the wind all across the rest of the city, but if we don’t put the supports in place, and we don’t help them properly, the situation is just going to repeat itself again.
“And that’s not good for anybody.”
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
