Yes it is that time of year again. Nominations for President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer will be made at our May meeting. Elections will follow at our June meeting, with the new officers taking office September 1st. This is your chance to make a difference in your neighborhood. All are welcome and encouraged to throw their hat into the ring. Our fearless leader, Jeff Ratnow, has decided that he will not hold an office in the association next year. Family and work obligations will have to take priority. He will continue to be an active member of the association. He has done a wonderful job and we hope that it has inspired some people to run for an office.

As I have mentioned, Jeff and I are on a community task force with the city to develop a vision for Key Highway with immediate focus on the Fire Repair Facility, which the city will be putting up for sale in the coming weeks. At our April meeting everyone had the opportunity to comment and/or ask questions about the Study. There were many constructive comments made, all of which I will be forwarding to Planning through our Task Force. As I have stated on many occasions, this Study is still in the “Draft” stage, and I continue to give community feedback to the city.

A six question survey questionnaire was distributed at the April meeting and also via e-mail. We received 42 responses which were compiled and submitted to the City Planning Department. The results are as follows:
90% said that the study should be extended to include the General Ship Repair Site and the 1000 Key Highway Property.
83% approved the open space requirements.
36% approved the proposed tower heights.
67% approved the boulevard concept.
38% approved the parking requirements.
95% approved the ground level retail requirements.

In other development projects, our committee met with the developer who is building at the end of Jackson Street (1800 Block). New homes will be built on the All Temp site and on the site across the street. The developer is in the beginning planning stages, but will be presenting his plans to the association in the coming months. We are still plagued with problems at the Kelly brothers’ project at 1649 Belt Street. We are working with the city to get them to finish this project in its current state as soon as possible. I will continue to give updates at each association meeting as all of these projects move along. Please refer to http://www.baltimorehousing.org for all permit/renovation questions. Please contact me with any questions. See you at the meeting.

Another year has passed very quickly. It’s amazing that it is already time for next year’s officer nominations. That being said, I regret to announce that I will not be running for office this upcoming year. It is not because I didn’t have a wonderful time being your voice this past year; but rather because the birth of my first child will coincide with the end of my presidential term. Being president requires free time in the evenings to meet with other neighborhood leaders and City officials, attend public hearings, so on and so forth. I will have a new master who will occupy all those evening times that I would normally need to serve you. It is just not physically possible to fulfill my duties as president once I become a father. So, I want to invite anyone who has ever thought of being the president to please come prepared with your speech and your reasons for wanting this wonderful position. It was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done and with the strong base of volunteers who are already in place, it was surprisingly easy too. The committee heads do all the work and I owe them all the credit for the advancements made by RAG during my tenure. Without Shannon Sullivan (Crime), Ann Fiocco (Development), Farid Salloum (Parking and Secretary), Mary Braman (FORP), David and Beth Leety (Newsletter), and Ian McDonald (Website), and all their dedicated committee members nothing happens to make RAG stronger. I am not exaggerating when I say “nothing”. I hope we can keep the momentum going that we have already gained. We have a reputation of being a tough, but fair community group; one who has a good relationship with the City agencies and our City Council. I implore that our new president do everything possible to nurture those great relationships because that is how we get things done.

As the Fahrenheit inches up so does the crime. While we are lucky to live in a neighborhood where much of the criminal activity is minor, such as car break-ins, we still need to be observant and do as much as we can to deter crimes of opportunity. For example, twice within the last month the simple act of looking out my window allowed me to see a man hiding drug money in a neighbor's yard and two teenagers smoking marijuana in an alley. I called the police, 911 not 311. So please keep your blinds up and shutters open and remember to glance outside every now and then’ you maybe surprised with what you see and what you can prevent.
It also helps to be observant in the park. Our park is the pride of this community but that does not stop people from misusing it. Unfortunately, vandalism and under-age drinking can be common in the park - day or night. So when you are out walking your dog or just enjoying the parks scenery, see who else is in the park with you.
Be observant everywhere. If you see children under the age of 16 without an adult before 2pm on a school day call the police. This is a curfew violation and these children need to be in school. If you see kids under the age of 16 and without an adult after 11pm on a school night or after 12am on a non-school evening call the police as this is also a violation of curfew. The goal is not to bully the neighborhood kids, rather it is to keep them out of harms way. If you have any questions about curfew I suggest calling the Southern District Police at 410-396-2499.
Lastly, another great way to be observant is to attend a Southern District crime walk. Our neighborhood will host a crime walk on Friday, May 20th at 7pm. We will meet at the Riverside Park gazebo. As always, the police and residents from around the Southern District will walk with us. There is also a walk scheduled for Locust Point on Wednesday, May 25th at 7pm. We will meet in front of the Blockbuster in the Southside Marketplace off of Fort Avenue. At the start of this walk the Citizen's on Patrol (COP) program will be presented with a check for the purchase of safety vests. If you would like more information on the COP walks please do not hesitate to contact me at sullivansox @ yahoo.com. Again, our neighborhood is a safe place to live and it can be even safer if we all take just a little more time to be observant.

It has been a busy spring. Here are some highlights of recent park activities:
1. April 15 Clean-Up-Day with Digital Harbor High: 30 teens helped FORP trim shrubs, mulch gardens, and paint benches.
2. Lighting Update: Recreation & Parks repaired all the lights in the park and replaced the covers on each electrical box.
3. Playground Donation Total: $8,916. Our first purchases will be picnic benches and signs for the playground.
4. Playground Equipment: A new piece of equipment is on order and should be delivered in about 4 weeks.
5. May 12 Pool Meeting: Members of FORP met with Recreation and Parks to discuss good process for the pool, including: garbage containment, restricted access to cars, bike racks, and dog/child safety.
6. Dog Exercise Areas: To help the lawn recover and keep the pool entrance safe, FORP will design a map and signs indicating where the rotating Doggie-Play-Areas will be. We will select a site on the south side of the pool for the summer and post signs in June.
7. May 7 Tree Planting: With the help of Parks & People (a $1,000 grant and lots of equipment), about 15 FORP members planted 9 beautiful trees on Randal between Covington and Henry.
8. Park History: Neighbor Paul Stysley is working on a history of Riverside Park and preparing text for a new sign to honor and inform the area about Mr. Leone. Paul can use help digging through some public records; contact me if you’re interested in helping him.
Don’t forget, if you have extra plastic grocery or newspaper bags, stuff them in the dog-bag boxes in the park (or bring them to the RAG meeting)!

This is a topic that is very close to my heart as I cycle to work every day. Baltimore City is in the process of developing a Bicycle Master plan They have also just released the results from a public survey on were bike routes should be created and released the Preliminary Route Network Map. Friday is also Bike to work day

Friends of Riverside Park (FORP) gets another improvement grant. The non-profit organization Parks & People awarded FORP $1,000 for neighborhood improvement. FORP used the money to purchase 9 beautiful shade trees. We will plant the trees on Saturday, May 8, starting at 9:00am. The trees, which will line Randal Street from Covington to Henry, are the first phase of a larger project to beautify the borders of Riverside Park. Parks & People will be there to supply tools (even a jackhammer!) and show us good tree-planting techniques.

Join us for this exciting event; we need strong arms and pickup trucks (to haul away broken concrete).

Contact Mary (braman at ncqa.org) for details.

The Secret is out, the Baltimore Sun published an story about our community on sunday. Some of the quotes are

"We can walk to so many places, including the grocery store," said Cindy Paré, 54, a freelance photographer.

"The houses have gotten very expensive. I couldn't afford to buy my house anymore," said Jeff Ratnow, 33, president of the Riverside Action Group neighborhood association.

"It has gotten better because residents have gotten more active and have been working very well with the police department," said Shannon Sullivan, 29, a public relations consultant.

The agenda for mondays meeting is available at http://www.RiversideActionGroup.org/filemgmt/visit.php?lid=6. Highlights are a talk from Dr Kill Schook from Whetstone vet, Bonnie Crockett will talk about the Federal Hill Main Street Festival, plus discussion of the Key Highway Planning Study. The Key highway discussion will be limited to 40 minutes so please print out a copy of the planning questionairre http://www.RiversideActionGroup.org/filemgmt/visit.php?lid=7 and bring it with you.