Culmore residents share concerns with Mason Supervisor Jimenez
Culmore residents want more police enforcement, more streetlights, more sidewalks and crosswalks, affordable healthcare, and safer, drug-free schools.
Those are some of the issues brought up at a listening session hosted by Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez at Bailey’s Elementary School on Feb. 24.
Jimenez told residents he wants to make Mason District “the cultural hub of Fairfax County.” He plans to reach out to all communities in the district, noting, “smart government goes out to its constituents.”
“What concerns do you have, and how can we help?” he asked the 100+ people in the audience.
Several residents, speaking in Spanish, called for better lighting and more sidewalks so students have a safe walk to and from school.
Jimenez said additional streetlights were installed recently. “We are looking to see where more lights are needed. That’s something we’re addressing right now.”
Related story: Supervisor Jimenez wants to make Mason District a cultural hub
The community needs more activities for kids and a safe place to play, so they don’t get caught up with gangs and drugs, one resident said. She also called for more police in the neighborhood, as she had been jumped by youths attempting to rob her.
Lt. Erin Weeks, the acting commander of the Mason Police District, said the station is adding another traffic officer and is working with apartment managers to improve outdoor lighting.
Weeks said the station intends to carry out a crime suppression operation in the neighborhood like the one conducted recently at Fairmont Gardens in Annandale. She also suggested women concerned about safety sign up for a women’s self-defense class hosted by the station.
Another resident called for mental health services, noting that she had been abused by her partner, but the police didn’t help because she didn’t have proof. Her daughter was abused so badly that she was hospitalized and is depressed.
Deputy Police Chief Eli Cory said FCPD offers several services for victims of domestic and sexual violence, including crisis intervention.
He also noted that FCPD launched the iPAC initiative two years ago which directs patrol officers to walk around the neighborhood, rather than stay in their cruisers. “It’s a way for us to get to know you and prevent some of the issues brought up today.”
The listening session drew 15 Justice High School students from the STAR (Students Training in Advocacy and Responsibility) Club.
One ninth-grade member of the STAR Club said she’s seen kids doing drugs in bathrooms at Justice, including a senior who overdosed. “It’s scary; it’s traumatizing. They don’t enforce the rules,” she said.
Another teen in STAR said, “A lot of kids are skipping school. They get involved in gang violence, gun violence, and drugs.” She said the schools don’t do anything, there’s not enough security, and there’s no positive reinforcement. She called for more mental health services and more counselors at Justice. “They need to check up on every single student.”
Jimenez invited the STAR Club to his office for a more in-depth conversation.
A large group of Culmore residents from Dreamers’ Mothers in Action urged schools to do more to prevent bullying and drug abuse and provide more security. One mother said her son was attacked in a restroom at Glasgow Middle School, and the school was not responsive.
Other needs cited by residents include more traffic enforcement to crack down on speeders, more mental health services, affordable dental health, more sidewalks in the Glen Forest neighborhood, and a new community center, as the Culmore Resource Center is too small to handle the demand.
The Culmore listening session was co-sponsored by the Bailey’s Crossroads and Culmore Place-Based Initiative, a program run by George Mason University’s College of Public Health. The goal is to identify community needs and develop solutions.
The PBI is funded by Kaiser Permanente and has dozens of partners, including community groups, nonprofits, business groups, public agencies, churches, schools, and healthcare providers.
Related story: GMU project engages with residents of Culmore and Bailey’s Crossroads
The cultural hub thing is nonsense. We are already a cultural hub. It’s like if an interior designer walks into a room that’s painted neon green and says – it would be awesome if this room were neon green. Under my vision, this will be neon green. Tell all your friends that I oversee transformations to neon green rooms.
You’re right that we are already a cultural hub, but Andres is highlighting that and promoting that in a way not done previously. I appreciate his advocacy for our district and him going to constituents like this and having these listening sessions to make sure he understands their concerns so he can work to address them.
The listening sessions are great, and I’m glad people are speaking up. But he needs to walk the talk – not just listen, but do something about all these problems.
So he’s all sizzle and no steak? We need all steak and no sizzle.
I understand the area and it’s problematic issue and some of this potential solution.
But let’s be real, it all starts at home. Where are the adults? Parents? Supervision and positive role models? It all starts at home.
I couldn’t agree more.
Agree that it all starts at home but the sad reality is that they don’t have these positive role models at home. Also let us not forget that a lot of families have 2+ jobs and work long hours. A lot of kids and teens stay home alone a lot of the time which is where drugs and gangs come into the picture. So knowing this information, as a community we do need to establish more after-school programs to guide these kids. Culmore actually had a lot support in the 2000s and early 2010s with non-profit programs and gang activity drastically declined. I know of one program that serviced about 200+ culmore kids that disappeared in the mid 2010s because a new principal didn’t care for it. So I also wonder what school leaders are doing to help curb the rise of drugs and gangs again in this area.
Are you comfortable sharing the name of the program that serviced 200+ Culmore kids that disappeared?
These are very concerned parents. And students who want to feel safe at school. I love this Kaiser initiative and the involvement of the GMU SPH and hope it is successful.
It starts at home by having the common sense to homeschool your children, or the fortitude to move to a different area.
I am doing well because of the ability to admit a mistake, the first step toward something better.
I would bet everything I have that Culmore will not improve any time soon. Staying in that area is a mistake.
I wish all these kids and their families the best.
Home schooling is not an option when parents have to work. Nor is moving when rents elsewhere are unaffordable. Better to focus on making Culmore more desirable. Can’t be done overnight, though. Will take steady commitment.
I agree that a lot is gained by positive role models at home, but please pause with the parent shaming a second and understand that a lot of these folks are working two or three part time minimum wage jobs 6 or 7 days a week to make ends meet. They are working 12 or more hours per day. They are providing for their kids the best they can, but they can’t be home AND be at work.
You can always be part of the solution. Join a volunteer mentorship program!
I thought the solution was defund the police and snub the feds. Now it’s “more programs?”