For more information on this project, contact John O'Malley, Environmental Health Director, Selva Selvendran or Roy (Mike) McGinnis, PACE-EH Coordinators, at the Palm Beach County Health Department.
PALM BEACH COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Watergate Estates
November 2006 PACE EH Report
To: Daniel Parker, MSP
Assistant Division Director, Division of Environmental Health
From: Selva Selvendran, PACE EH Coordinator
Subject: November 2006 PACE EH Project Update
In the month of November, PACE EH and the residents of Watergate Estates have focused on three main issues; street lights, community park and community immunization services .The low hanging fruit we are having some success in is, with the immunization services. In partnership with the Palm Beach County Health Department community immunization services and the Palm Beach County Sheriffs community policing, we will have two events just for the residents of Watergate Estates. The first event will be an influenza drive in January 2007 and the second will be an immunization drive in early July 2007. There was an action team meeting held on November 16, 2006 and commitments to the team were made.
2. Work Plan and Process Update |
| PACE-EH Tasks |
Action |
Outcome |
Target Date |
| Task 6: Analyzing the Issues with a System Framework |
The community is to select no more than three issues of concern. Those issues will then be analyzed within a systematic frame work. |
In progress |
Jan. 2007 |
| Task 10: Rank the Issues |
Preconceived perception is being analyzed with the data collected from the surveys and a list of environmental health issues is being developed and ranked according to locally defined criteria. |
In progress |
Jan. 2007 |
3. Outstanding Issues/Concerns |
Crime, more specifically drug dealing and drug abuse criminal activities have been identified in the community as a high ranking issue. It was evident at our last community meeting, that some residents declined to write their name or address on the meeting sign in sheet. There were over 30 people at that meeting but only 17 signed in. The meeting was held at the Sheriffs community policing sub station in Watergate Estates and some felt endangered for just showing up. Fear of retaliation if their names or addresses could be linked to police raids and the rumors of violence to individuals who have called the police on drug activities plagued the meeting. Residents were willing to talk to the Deputy Sheriffs at the meeting but were reluctant to form a Neighborhood watch program. Residents were informed of an anonymous hotline they could use to call the police at that meeting.
To address this problem a neighborhood watch initiative was at the center of our community action team meeting held on November 16, 2006. Those in attendance discussed their fear and their frustrations with dealing with law enforcement and the thugs who intimidate them. A discussion of having an informal neighborhood watch was left for the residents to be thought about and will again be addressed at the next meeting. The meeting ended with a commitment to continue to be involved.
A special thanks to Julianne Price and Detective Teddy Floyd for such an inspirational training and discussion on November 21, 2006.
Past Palm Beach County Updates |
October, 2006
August/September, 2006
July, 2006
May, 2006
March, 2006
December, 2005
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