Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - HUD awards apartment complex $171,000

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Friday, June 15, 2001
HUD awards apartment complex $171,000
Lexington Manor will use the grant for more policing
By Mary Moreno
Caller-Times

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Corpus Christi Directed Patrol Officer Ramiro Torres talks with Adrian Ambriz, 9, at a news conference outside the community center at Lexington Manor Apartments Thursday. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development gave the apartment complex a $171,000 grant for more policing.

   Five years ago, when 18-year-old James Ramon was gunned down on the steps of his home, Lexington Manor Apartments was infested with gang members and drug dealers.
   Corpus Christi Police Chief Pete Alvarez and District Attorney Carlos Valdez said that's no longer the case.
   "It's like night and day," Valdez said.
   Valdez and Alvarez credited the residents for the improvements during a news conference Thursday held to announce that the public housing complex at 5201 Kostoryz Road had received a $171,000 grant. The money will bring additional police patrols to the area and will help fund prosecution of criminals by the district attorney's office.
   The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the grant to the complex in October, said Ron Anderson, executive director of Terra-Genesis Housing Inc. Thursday's conference was to announce the start of efforts to further reducing gang and drug crime in three census tracts near the complex.
   Anderson said Terra-Genesis, which manages Lexington Manor, applied for the grant largely to give money to the police and prosecutors who helped clean up the neighborhood.
   "We want to let folks know we're partners in the community," Anderson said.
   John Martinez lived at the complex when Ramon was shot in a drive-by shooting that authorities said was a case of an innocent bystander being killed. Martinez said gangs and drugs were rampant in the area then. Now, criminal activity has decreased considerably, he said.
   "These used to be the mean streets. We haven't had a shooting here in a while," Martinez said.
   But crime in the area persists, which is why the complex was awarded the grant, Anderson said.
   "The statistics here showed that juvenile crime is rising and drug use is rising," he said. "That's how we got the grant."
   Adult narcotics arrests have risen by 62 percent, and juvenile narcotics arrests have increased by 25 percent from 1993 to 1999 in the area surrounding the complex, according to figures provided by Terra-Genesis.
   Alvarez said the Police Department will use its part of the grant, which will be administered by Terra-Genesis, for overtime pay for Juvenile Enforcement Team and narcotics officers who will spend more time in the area. The district attorney's office plans to use its share for additional training for prosecutors, audio and video equipment, and overtime pay.
   "Working together I know we're going to make a difference," Valdez said. Pointing to a group of neighborhood children, he added, "And they're going to make a difference."


Contact Mary Moreno at 886-3774 or morenom@caller.com

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