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FD residents seek help for vandalism, rowdiness

Some Fort Dodge residents fed up with vandalism and other problems in their neighborhood pleaded for help from the City Council Monday night.

“A few bad apples can ruin a whole neighborhood,” Phil Allen told the council.

Another resident, who did not give her name, alternately yelled and cried during her remarks to the council.

“I live in fear,” she said. “My neighbors live in fear. You’re supposed to protect us.”

She and Allen were joined by several other residents of their neighborhood, who sat with them in the council meeting room but did not speak.

The problem area is in the 1600 and 1700 blocks of 8 1/2 Avenue North, according to Councilman Kim Alstott. He invited the residents to address the council.

Following the meeting, Police Chief Roger Porter said his department has received complaints about vandalism and rowdy people in the neighborhood.

“We’re aware of the situation and we’re working on different avenues to address it,” he said.

During the meeting, Allen told the council that an outdoor light at his house was broken, a flag was torn up and two windows were broken in the early morning hours of July 30. He said one window was broken when a tequila bottle was thrown through it. The other window was broken when a can of green beans was thrown through it.

“This is not criminal mischief,” he said. “This is terrorism.”

The elected officials urged the residents to work with the Police Department to, among other things, set up a Neighborhood Watch group.

“Your strength is your unity as a neighborhood,” Mayor Matt Bemrich said.

“I agree this whole situation sucks,” Councilman Jeffrey Halter.

But Halter said the city’s elected officials can’t really solve the problem.

“There’s really not a lot the eight of us up here can do,” he said.

After the meeting, Alstott suggested that “HUD vouchers that aren’t regulated” are part of the problem.

He said the Foft Dodge Housing Agency investigates people to make sure they have a job and aren’t drug addicts before giving them vouchers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. But he said landlords can get these “HUD vouchers that aren’t regulated.”

“I think we can make some ordinances to stem this,” he said.

“This is happening all across Iowa right now,” he said. “This isn’t unusual.”

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