VOICE OF THE MAJORITY

East Austin Home Owner's Troubled By Death Of Pit Bull; Ongoing problems in Heritage Village, Austin, Tx.

I live in the newest up- and - coming neighborhood in East Austin. We want to have a safe and diverse community here. Today, In my e- mail box I found this... and as a public service to my community I have decided to publish this communication. Even though I am troubled by problems in my "hood"- Where is the justice for this animal?
Joshua P. Angell Heritage Village Home Owner- Austin, Tx.

(Please excuse the garble- This is a copy of an e- mail. Phone numbers, e-mails and names have been *'d to protect the author.) "Thanks for taking the time to send this note concerning some of the issues around 6500 Garden View.I would also like to bring up the unfortunate, tragic event that occured to the female pit bull that 6500 had in their yard. Around two weeks ago the dog jumped the fence (by jumping on top of the portable kenel positioned next to the fence) and strangled itself to death. I believe that APD was contacted about this event. The dog was, in my opinion, neglected in that I never saw it taken for a walk, outside of the yard ever, and that it would also get very excited whenever somebody walked by, throwing itself against the fence, that by the way, was falling apart. Further, I heard that the dog had gone after some HV residents' children earlier that week. In any event, it was also the second dog at 6500 in the past six months -- I believe Arista assisted them in finding a better home for the last one. And I should also mention that P stated to C and myself a few months ago that he had had 14 (fourteen)dogs as pets over the years -- I personally found that statement extremely troubling. From what I've seen over the past several months, I suggest that it's quite possible that 90% or higher of all Austin Police Department calls to Heritage Village are to the 2 or 3 rental properties, and not to homes that homeowners occupy. As police calls are (mostly?) public record, this information would be interesting to obtain and analyze. I would also like to reiterate that we are trying to show that these are strictly behavior issues that impact the entire community. Heritage Village is a diverse community on many levels, and I think that most residents appreciate that diversity. What residents,especially we homeowners, don't appreciate are disruptive neighbors,unsupervised kids with bully tendancies, and rental property residents that do not exhibit "skin in the game" as far as making the community a safe, clean, quiet and respectful place to live. Thanks,--scm S.* 65** Garden View On Sun, 3 Apr 2005 20:34:57 -0400, C* Wrote: Good evening, neighbors and friends of the neighborhood> > My name is C* and I live at 65** Garden View Dr. I> know that several of us have expressed interest in a neighborhood get> together. When speaking to Mr. Huffman, the subdivision should be 75%> occupied before having an official Homeowner's Association meeting. > However, I thought it may be helpful to start some informal> communication.> > I am so proud of this neighborhood and everything that it is designed> to be, however I have some concerns.> > I have had continuous problems with the tenants of 6500 Garden View. > The children are unsupervised which has resulted in a host of> problems. Today (and on a few other occasions), I had to intervene> when teenage boys were hollering from their home to some of the> younger children in the subdivision. While none of the teenagers'> words were technically threatening, the approach and volume was very> intimidating to the younger ones. After several exchanges back and> forth, I am fairly certain I heard the teenager say - she's been hit> once before maybe she needs to be hit again. I do not think he meant> this physically...let me explain.....> > My home was burglarized on December 17th. Again, the tenant of 6500> Garden View was on his driveway when I left my home and no where to be> found when I returned 1 1/2 hours later to find that my house was> robbed. I am not accusing him of actually breaking in, but the APD> detective is very certain that he was involved or knows who did it. > The APD's hands are tied to a certain extent since they do not have an> eyewitness that will talk and we are dealing with minors.> > I spoke to the mother (as she literally dropped off groceries and left> the home again) this afternoon regarding today's incident. She did> not acknowledge what I was saying to me, but yelled across the street> for "Patrick" to never speak to my children again. It was very clear> to me she did not get the point.> > We have a new neighbor who moved to 6507 yesterday (after the home did> not sell for about 9 months). This is not the way I wanted to welcome> our new neighbors.> > My concerns include but are not limited to the following: > > 1) The appearance of the 6500 home is deteriorating, as within about a> 9 month period the address numbers are falling off and broken blinds> are visible from the street.> 2) The noise level (from yelling) is unacceptable. > 3) The children are unsupervised. On a Sunday afternoon, I have> counted 17 kids with no adult ranging in age from about 1 1/2 to early> teens. I have also witnessed the teen boys bullying the younger ones> within the home including swinging 2x4 pieces of wood at them.> > As a neighbor and single mother, I would appreciate a few extra sets> of eyes watching for suspicious activity. I will happily do the same.> > Together, I hope that we can rectify this unpleasant set of> circumstances. Please feel free to contact me at any time. My> information is below:> > C** > hm# 9*3-19**> wk# 344-3***> cell# 6*5-5***> > Thank you and I look forward to meeting all of you. > C*>

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Saturday, April 09, 2005