ORANGE STREET RESIDENTS FIGHT FOR NEIGHBORHOOD

When Frankie Brodie moved to Orange Street in Fayetteville 37 years ago, it
was a quiet neighborhood.

Carl Lennon said Orange Street was still a place where you could leave your
doors unlocked when he arrived in 1985.

But Brodie, Lennon and others say things have changed. Now, the area is
often so loud at night that Brodie said she can't sleep. Mary Dixon said
she is afraid to leave her house alone, day or night.

Orange Street residents, many of whom are retired, say things have gotten
worse as the number of rental properties has increased. They have
complained to city officials and to the police for almost a year. They have
asked for more police protection and tighter controls on landlords. The
residents say the police are doing good work, but more needs to be done.

Brodie lives next to a building that contains four small apartments. On
weekend nights, she said the crowds that gather remind her of an old-time
campground meeting. But these meetings are not religious.

Brodie said she seen people using drugs and prostitutes soliciting business.

"I didn't go to Vietnam," Brodie said. "It came to me."

Orange Street runs north from Moore Street between Ramsey and Hillsboro
streets. It forms a loop north of Cumberland Street. The east side of the
loop is called East Orange Street and the west side is called West Orange
Street.

The loop is where residents say problems are concentrated.

Lennon is the neighborhood watch chairman. Whenever there is a problem, he
calls the Fayetteville police. He calls the watch commander directly and
says, "the bees are gathering at the honey hole."

Nothing more is said.

"They know what I'm talking about," Lennon said.

Several police cars usually respond to his call. Police say the
neighborhood has a high number of calls for nuisance complaints such as
loud noises, suspicious people, and possible drug activity.

Police have stepped up patrols in the area since August, in part because of
Lennon's calls. They are working with landlords to identify problem tenants
and have them evicted.

The result is the "outright activities are not as bad," said Leola
Harrington, who lives on East Orange Street.

Harrington said she believes prostitutes were using a house near hers, with
cars coming and going all day and night. She said police have made arrests
for drugs and stolen cars there.

"I feel safer, but I still leave the porch light on," she said.

Fayetteville police Capt. Tom Bergamine said the cooperation between the
neighbors and officers who patrol the area is a good example of how
community policing works.

"It has to be a two-way street," Bergamine said. Community watch efforts
are ineffective if the police only hear of problems at monthly meetings, he
said.

Residents say the area has been ignored in the past because it is home to
mostly less affluent retirees without any political clout. Councilwoman
Mable Smith, who has represented the area for about two years, said the
residents are right.

"It's been overlooked," she said. "There wasn't anyone to speak out for
them until Mr. Lennon came along."

Lennon said officials at City Hall listen, but their follow-through is lacking.

The city's efforts so far, he said, "are like putting a Band-Aid on cancer."

During his 23 years in the Air Force, Lennon traveled the world,
maintaining electronic monitoring equipment. He retired to Fayetteville to
be close to his native Lumberton.

His West Orange Street home is filled with pictures and treasures, among
them a 1941 Crosley radio and turntable combination.

Lennon remembers the persistence he needed to earn the $100 it took to buy
the Crosley. He is now persistent about lobbying everyone from City Council
members to the governor to tackle his neighborhood problems.

Slowing Drivers Down

In March, he successfully lobbied the City Council to put a speed hump on
West Orange Street. The hump has cut down on speeders, residents said.
People on East Orange Street said they need a speed hump, too.

Lennon is a frequent speaker during the council's monthly citizen forum.
"This is my own neighborhood, and I can't protect myself," Lennon said. "I
can't protect the people in my community against scum. It's ridiculous."

Lennon and others in the neighborhood are critical of Quincy Scarborough,
who manages two apartment complexes and a rental house on Orange Street.
Lennon said Scarborough's tenants cause many of the neighborhood's problems.

Scarborough said he has had some "unsavory" tenants. But he said his
tenants are not solely responsible for the trouble.

Scarborough said the neighborhood is a cut-through for people walking
between North and Moore streets. The people walking through "have no
respect for property," he said.

Scarborough said the neighborhood's reputation makes it difficult to rent
his apartments, which cost $300 a month. He disputed complaints that he
doesn't check tenants' backgrounds, or that he won't get rid of problem
renters.

Scarborough said he checks references "but sometimes we step into it." He
said his rental contracts say tenants must leave if they are involved in
illegal activity.

He said if neighbors report suspected illegal activity to him and "they
have reasonable proof, I'll get rid of the tenants." Scarborough said he
has been cooperating with police and has evicted one tenant. Another
eviction is in the works, he said.

Fayetteville police Sgt. Jessie DeVane is in charge of the city's nuisance
abatement program, which focuses on areas where there have been repeated
complaints about disturbances. DeVane works with residents and landlords to
solve the problems.

He started work on Orange Street in September.

DeVane notified landlords that they could be charged with creating a public
nuisance and forced to forfeit their property unless they addressed the
problems. But DeVane said going to court for forfeitures and evictions is
the last thing the police want to do.

Bergamine said, "we try to get to the root of the problem and do the best
we can."

He disagreed with residents' contentions that the area is overlooked. He
said patrols were increased once police noticed the high number of calls,
but it takes time to address the problems.

Council Involvement

Lennon said he would like the council to look into the issue of tenant
screening to see if improvements can be made. Smith said the council's
Policy Committee may take up the matter.

"We need to strengthen the ordinances so landlords don't rent to people who
are nuisances," she said.

Lennon said he wants the city to put up a fence to keep people from cutting
through the neighborhood.

Lennon and Dixon said they plan to keep the council informed. "We have to
stand up, make demands," Dixon said.

Lennon said his attempts to improve the neighborhood have earned him
enemies. "They point a finger at me and go, 'pow, pow, pow, pow,' " he
said. "That doesn't stop me."

He said he has considered moving, but decided against it.

"If I leave, what kind of example would that be?" he said. "We've got to do
something, it's just that simple."