to fight crime, blight

By

NITA MCCANN

The Natchez Democrat

NATCHEZ &8212; Getting Natchezians to work together to beautify the city and keep crime at bay has to start one neighborhood at a time.

That&8217;s the idea behind a program Ward 2 Alderman James &8220;Rickey&8221; Gray has started to help pull neighbors together to beautify their streets and help keep crime at bay.

Gray has identified 16 distinct neighborhoods in his north Natchez ward as well as active citizens he would like to see take the lead to form neighborhood associations in each of those areas.

An initial meeting held recently at Robert Lewis Middle School had a healthy turnout, Gray said.

Among those who attended the meeting and have high hopes for the program is Nancy Green, a resident of Martin&8217;s Lane for 29 years.

Her first priority for that neighborhood&8217;s association is to encourage neighbors to clean up that and adjacent streets. She&8217;d also like to see the group plant flowerbeds in the spring and perhaps help buy some trash cans to place at locations where people congregate.

&8220;I hope this will instill some beautification values into people, &8230; and bring neighbors closer,&8221; Green said.

Gray said he got the idea, in part, from a Mississippi Municipal League course he took to become a Certified Government Official. In fact, current City Planner Andrew Smith &8212; a big advocate of neighborhood-based revitalization &8212; was one of the presenters, Gray said.

Gray remembers, as a child growing up in Ward 2, that neighbors once knew everyone on their street well and looked out for each other&8217;s property. He&8217;d like to see that again &8212; and believes neighborhood associations are the key to bringing that back not only in Ward 2, but throughout the city.

&8220;I believe it&8217;ll catch on,&8221; Gray said, adding that he&8217;ll announce the date, time and place of the next meeting in the coming weeks.