To finish the business of the 1969 Black and Puerto Rican Convention by decentralizing the decision-making process of the city of Newark by example in the West Ward and to empower West Ward stakeholders to create a holistically stable ward for all of its residents.
Mission:
The West Ward will set the example for the rest of Newark for community cooperation, resident and ward institution input and collaboration, and creating safe, nurturing, and supportive neighborhood development, growth and advancement.
Introduction:
Since the city of Newark’s reorganization of government in 1954, ward councilmen and women have governed their respective wards as mini-fiefdoms of power and prestige. Indeed, the 1969 Black and Puerto Rican Convention, that led to Newark electing its first African-American Mayor and several first time African-American councilmen, was also an attempt to bring more community control over the decision-making process of city government. While that convention’s legacy has been the election of more African-American and Latino lawmakers and executives, the second charge, to decentralize power, has actually gone in the other direction with city elected leadership becoming more removed from citizens, less democratic, and providing less opportunity for citizen input and involvement in a meaningful way.
The West Ward Collective seeks to make good on the promise of the 1969 Convention and to provide that empowerment to West Ward residents and community efforts in a manner that will be an example to the other wards in our city to follow suit.
Organization:
The West Ward Collective is organized and run by workgroups and ward based organizations and non-profits. The West Ward Collective currently maintains the following workgroups:
Crime and Public Safety Workgroup
Elder Workgroup
Youth Workgroup
Small Business Development/Job Creation Workgroup
Disability Issues Workgroup
Community Based Organization Workgroup
Housing Workgroup
Homeowners Workgroup
Recreation Workgroup
Ward Block Association Development Workgroup
Faith Based Institutions Workgroup
Education Workgroup
Quality of Life Workgroup
Ethnic Diversity Workgroup
Arts and Culture Workgroup
Each workgroup is made up of West Ward residents, community based organization leaders, ward business owners, etc. that have expertise and/or interest in working on these issues directly for the benefit of the West Ward. It is ward based.
In addition to the workgroups, the West Ward Collective includes the following organizations:
The Vailsburg Park Association;
The Brothers Club, which organizes the men of the West Ward to positively confront wayward boys, teens, and men currently engaging in negative behavior with tough love, mentorship, rites of passage programs, alternative dispute resolution skills, etc.; and
The West Ward Education Fund, which works with the Education Workgroup and raises funds for West Ward schools to pay for extras that its current budgets cannot pay for.
The West Ward Collective meets once a month as a whole during the first Saturday of every month for a morning Breakfast meeting, much like Operation PUSH used to do in Chicago in the 1970s and each workgroup must also meet at least once a month, making a membership requirement of only 2 working meetings a month.
The meeting time date is ALWAYS the first Saturday of EVERY MONTH and ALWAYS from 10:00 AM to 12:00 NOON. The only thing that changes is the venue for the meetings as the Collective moves across the ward in order to give access to all parts of the ward in terms of meeting hosting.
Description of Workgroup Charges of Action
1) Crime and Public Safety Workgroup:
Charge-
To promote, propose, vet, and develop a real, community based policing plan that is transparent to and for the citizens of the West Ward
To promote policies that will embrace and support crime prevention techniques throughout the West Ward
2) Elder Workgroup (Senior Citizens):
Charge-
To promote the issues of our elders that encompasses everything from healthcare to tax relief to home repairs; promote policies that will lead to better lives through organizational strength instead of fiefdom fights for little more than Atlantic City trips and free meals during election cycles
3) Youth Workgroup:
Charge-
To promote the ideas and goals of the West Ward population from the ages of 8-18 in terms of recreation, job opportunities, rites of passage programs, mentorship, school issues, recreation, safe haven establishment, gang membership suppression, etc.; direct liaison to the city Commission on Youth from the West Ward
To establish real opportunities for youth voices to be heard and to learn how to organize their population themselve
4) Small Business Development/Job Creation Workgroup
Charge-
To promote a complete West Ward strategy to support, strengthen, and increase the number of good small businesses in the ward and to punish the bad ones
To coordinate marketing of businesses and encourage the development of symbiotic businesses to support each other and increase the profitability of those businesses and increase their capacities
To coordinate process for gaining city contracts and for establishing business improvement districts in the West Ward
To review existing city laws and regulations and to advocate new laws to support the growth and expansion of small businesse
5) Disability Issues
Charge-
To promote the issues related to disabilities and access in the West Ward, especially regarding Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and their resolutions
To advocate for more services and recreational opportunities for the disabled in the West Ward, especially events like the Special Olympics and facilitating activities for the handicapped
To advocate for CDBG and other federal, state, and county dollars to make Newark more handicapable
6) Community Based Organizations Workgroup
Charge-
To establish a working relationship with all West Ward community based organizations to promote collaboration and coordination of community efforts and to end duplication of services where proven ineffective and underperforming
To establish a plan to maximize grant and foundation funding by coordinating joint applications and administration of programs to leverage better requests for monies
To offer a ward wide Safety Net for West Ward residents at a one stop shopping point for all cbo services
7) Housing Workgroup
Charge-
To promote a comprehensive housing plan that deals with tenant rights, procuring Section 8 housing vouchers, listing existing affordable housing options in the West Ward, and the creation of more affordable housing in the ward.
To develop and coordinate a policy and plan to deal with slumlords and absentee landlords throughout the West Ward and to procure legal assistance to do so
8) Homeowners Workgroup
Charge-
To develop and promote programs that assist and support homeowners in the West Ward such as low interest loan information, home improvement and beautification programs and monies, etc.
To encourage dialogue among homeowners throughout the ward on how to increase the value of their homes and to draft legislation to assist homeowners in this regard, e.g. review of tree root policy and sidewalk repairs, etc.
9) Recreation Workgroup
Charge-
To bring all West Ward recreational opportunities under one umbrella and to plan and coordinate activities and development accordingly, i.e. Little League, Pop Warner, etc.
To fundraise together and promote collaboration and mutual marketing of programs
To create a more diverse universe of recreational offerings such as boxing, martial arts, chess, track and field, etc.
To find, maintain and improve facilities for recreational offerings within the West Ward
To include an educational support program with ward recreational opportunities as well as extra amenities
10) Block Association Development Workgroup
Charge-
To promote the development, maintenance, and growth of neighborhood block associations throughout the West Ward
To coordinate joint block associations and joint events and ventures
To coordinate with Newark Now and create strong alliances throughout the rest of the city
11) Faith Based Institutions Workgroup
Charge-
To promote cooperation and coordination of community efforts of the West Ward churches, temples, and mosques
To coordinate the development of a network of West Ward Safe Havens for youth
To coordinate, with the Brothers Club, mentoring and rites of passage guidance for West Ward young people
To coordinate faith based direct action on West Ward streets and to recruit non active ward churches to get involved
12) Education Workgroup
Charge-
To promote and meet the needs of all West Ward schools in terms of facilities and the delivery of education within the classroom
To create more viable PTAs, PTSOs, and SLTs
To encourage and foster more parental involvement through direct door to door interaction and marketing
To foster and develop more afterschool program coordination and mentorship programming
To work with the West Ward Education Fund to determine the best use of additional funding for school programs and needs
13) Quality of Life Workgroup
Charge-
To promote the overall quality of life among all West ward neighborhoods so that all neighborhoods feel equally empowered and recognized and enjoy the same protections and amenities as the Vailsburg section of the ward
To encourage neighborhood building and strengthening initiatives as well as beautification efforts (graffiti removal, green spaces creation, additional garbage receptacle placements)
To encourage and make recommendations for the forthcoming Administration’s 311 quality of life hotline
14) Ethnic Diversity Workgroup
Charge-
To promote cross cultural cooperation and collaboration with the various ethnic groups in the West Ward
To promote greater acceptance and appreciation for the richness of the various cultures within the ward
To facilitate discussions and cultural activities throughout the ward that celebrates our diversity and history throughout the year
15) Arts and Culture Workgroup
Charge-
To coordinate arts and cultural offerings of the West Ward year round and to promote a cultural program for public consumption
To facilitate the investigation into the feasibility of creating a nightlife/cultural district along the Central Avenue corridor
To join a workgroup or affiliated organization of the Collective, please contact the Office of West Ward Councilman Ronald C. Rice at (973) 733-6427 or (973) 733-6428 or e-mail us at ricero@ci.newark.nj.us
Office Hours:
First Monday of Every Month
5:00PM - 8:00PM
Little City Hall
900B 18th Ave
