Officer Ildo Goncalves raised the issue of a
"surprise" Keno game license in a dangerous section of Upham's Corner
at the June 2011
SNI meeting. An area resident, active
with the Upham's Corner Improvement Association, investigated how the
establishment El Frutero managed to get a Keno license without the
neighborhood's knowledge.
This has led to conversations with the Lottery Commission on how City
of Boston neighborhoods are notified with an emphasis on why the
process is NOT working. The issue is being turned over to our
elected officials but Upham's Corner residents, including those in the
Improvement Association, will continue to monitor progress.
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At the June 28, 2011 SNI (Safe Neighborhood Initiatives) meeting,
Officer Ildo Goncalves spoke up.
"I'd like to put an issue about El Frutero Market
onto the table. Under our eyes somehow, they put a Keno game in
there.
It is hindering our ability [BPD] to enforce trespassing
violations in that area. If I go there to ask them to move, they tell
me they ‘are playing Keno’ and they walk back into the store."
An Upham’s Corner resident and Improvement Association member reflected on what Officer Goncalves had said:
"It felt
disconcerting to learn of a decision that was harming our
community, almost as if we had been violated.
How could the Lottery Board have made a decision
without our knowledge and one that was so out of tune with our
community?."
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A couple days later the community was in conversation with the
Lottery Commission’s Mona Hoy, explaining
how the presence of the Keno game was contributing to crime in Upham’s
Corner and making the neighborhood more dangerous by hampering the
ability of the police to rout the loiterers.
How did El Frutero
get a Keno game without our neighborhood organizations being notified?
"That is why we list in the newspaper so people can come forward – a major paper such as the Globe or Herald."
- You don't communicate with our neighborhood organizations? You just post legal notices for 21 days?
- Do you know how many residents in Upham’s Corner do not read the
Globe’s legal notices?
- Do you know how many immigrants live in Upham’s
Corner – from Haiti, Cape Verde, Spanish-speaking countries, Africa and
Vietnam – who don’t speak English and who don’t read English language
newspapers but who are affected by crime in Upham’s Corner?
So what happened? The Lottery Commission followed its legally mandated
process, posting the legal notice for 21 days and there was no
response(!). As if "under the cover of darkness" [as one area
resident described it], the Lottery Commission awarded El Frutero a
license to operate the Keno monitor and consequently provide shelter to the criminal
element in our community.
All the while it is as if the Upham's Corner businesses and residents
were like Rip Van Winkle - asleep. Of course, it's not
true. We just didn't know which antenna to have on.
To the left of the Keno monitor is the "cage" where the clerk is
secured away from the customers. El Frutero cleared out space in
the middle of the store so that Keno customers could stand around
waiting for the next game.
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In Boston the standard notification process works outside the
newspapers. Relying on either the Globe or the Herald for licensing
notifications that impact our neighborhoods is not how business gets
done.
For any business or resident requesting a license or variance, the
appropriate City agency schedules a public hearing and this appears on
the City of Boston calendar.
The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood
Services notifies area residents and neighborhood associations well in
advance of the hearing. That way the neighborhood associations have an
opportunity to invite the businesses / residents to attend the
neighborhood meeting.
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Interestingly, El Frutero has been identified at SNI meetings as a
business that does not cooperate with the police. As an example, in
late May, one of the residents spoke to an owner of El Frutero.
"The police
told us that you are protecting the drug dealers in the area." "It’s
not true," he said. "Last night we threw one of them out of the
store."
But the next night, as the store was closing, this same resident just happened to notice that
Terrence Johnson, one of the primary drug dealers, was leaving the store - as if he were no longer a persona non-grata. A
couple days later, Terrence Johnson was murdered.
Given El Frutero’s reputation, do you think the neighborhood
organizations, had they known about the licensing request, would have
quietly allowed the 21 day notification period to pass without
comment? Certainly not.
On June 21, 2011 SNI sponsored a neighborhood walkthrough that
generated two pages of problem properties where there is drug activity,
gun activity, loitering, trespassing, public drinking and overgrown
weeds.
Making matters worse is the El Frutero Keno game where the criminal
element that "works the street" can hide behind the Keno ticket. In
the past, police could "move the loiterers along." The new standard is
for the loiterer to use the Keno ticket as an excuse to hide in the
safety of the El Frutero store, pretending to play the game.
"Well, you have to be 18 to play the game. The police could ask for an ID."
That’s tantamount to direct confrontation and probably not a good idea
except under appropriate circumstances. Asking for an ID every time
the police pass by El Frutero? Escalating the tension in our
community? Because the Lottery Commission has awarded El Frutero a
Keno monitor?
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On November 14, 2011 Bill Egan, general counsel for the state lottery, reviewed the situation and learned that since January
1, 2011 there have been six murders in Upham’s Corner.
But
that has nothing to do with the Lottery Commission and how it carries
out its work. Or does it? If the Lottery Commission doing
its job correctly has led to degradation in the
Upham’s Corner business district, maybe it's time to change "the
process" so as
to enable Upham’s Corner residents to protect their neighborhood.
The Lottery Commission follows a "major
newspaper" notification process while Boston neighborhoods follow a
Neighborhood Services notification process. It’s fine that the
Lottery Commission places legal notices in area newspapers.
Perhaps this list should include some of the more widely read local
papers such as the Dorchester Reporter, Upham’s Corner News, the Bay
State Banner and more.
But even that is still not adequate. What the Lottery Commission
needs to do for City of Boston licensing requests is to augment their
process to include following the standard Boston notification process
in addition to their legally mandated 21 day legal notice procedure.
Counsel Bill Egan has promised to check with the Lottery’s licensing
department to find out exactly what newspapers they are using in the
City of Boston. "Let’s see how we can tweak that to satisfy the
needs of the local communities."
As discussed with Mr. Egan, this concern is being shared with our
elected officials including Sen. Jack Hart, Rep. Carlos Henriquez and
the Boston City Councilors Tito Jackson and Frank Baker.
The goal?
Come up with a workable procedure that ensures the continuing safety of our neighborhoods.
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