Thursday’s meeting of the Vance County Coalition Against Violence included the first public signs of opposition to bringing the federal Operation Weed and Seed to Henderson.
Weed and Seed was not a major topic of discussion and thus not a big source of disagreement. But any dissent over the popular national program was surprising, given that the coalition has pushed for the city to pursue the designation.
Margaret Ellis noted that VOICE is moving ahead with Weed and Seed after the coalition repeatedly mentioned the program as a potential tool for fighting violence.
“I personally would like to know more about the program,” businesswoman Deryl von Williams said. “I’d like to know if it’s going to be beneficial to the neighborhood.”
She said she’s hearing complaints of police brutality in Flint Hill, and she’s concerned that police will provoke trouble to increase the crime statistics and improve the chance of winning the Weed and Seed designation.
Henderson would likely have no need to gin up worse crime numbers. The Weed and Seed evaluators will look at crime over three years, VOICE was told Wednesday, and Henderson’s violent crime rate in 2003 topped the state.
“I guess they do need some one to give them some kind of direction, other than grant writing,” von Williams said. “You can easily become a grant whore, and you don’t solve the problem. You just collect money.”
Department of Justice designation as a Weed and Seed site carries an improved opportunity for some federal funds, as well as the hope of enhancing community efforts to drive out crime and deliver necessary public services. Weed and Seed is not strictly a grant program, however, and Weed and Seed sites receive no promise of funding.
“Each piece that comes out of the coalition that’s moving ahead, we ought to view it as a positive,” Ellis said.