Shawnda Harris takes issue with the quality of life afforded to residents of DeKalb’s northwest side.

The DeKalb resident, who lives in University Village apartments, made a plea for community leaders to step up and address the issues. She said she often has to clean the hallways herself, even though her landlord pays someone to do it.

“The hallways are terrible,” Harris said. “I don’t know who the cleaning service company is. ... It’s terrible, the glass doors, the windows, the floors, the carpet, the walls.”

Harris was among several in attendance Saturday for a community meeting called by local elected officials for residents of the city’s northwest side.

The meeting was meant to allow residents to reflect on community concerns and how city leaders can help address them.

Elected and appointed officials on hand included DeKalb Mayor Cohen Barnes, DeKalb City Council‘s 2nd Ward Alderwoman Barb Larson, DeKalb Community Services Coordinator Jennifer Yochem, DeKalb Police Chief David Byrd, DeKalb School District 428 Board member Nick Atwood and DeKalb County Board members Meryl Domina and Rukisha Crawford.

During the meeting, residents raised concerns about a number of issues, including safety and security, food insecurity and a lack of healthy activities.

Byrd said he, too, is concerned about residents’ quality of life.

“I mean, landlords, they are responsible for this building,” Byrd said. “They should do a better job. They clean. That’s 100% their responsibility is to send somebody through here and clean these buildings. Who wants to live in squalor? I mean, truly. No one should have to.”

Harris said she’d like to see more events and programming for young people.

“They need more activities for the youth when they get out of school,” Harris said. “Not to babysit them but to make them feel comfortable and keep them out of trouble.”

A common sentiment shared during the meeting is that communication to University Village residents needs improvement.

Some residents said they only heard about Saturday’s meeting after seeing a flyer.

Harris suggested that the community room at University Village needs to be used more.

“Like we have this space,” Harris said. “Do we use this for something?”

Byrd acknowledged that residents need to be heard.

“We need you to come to City Council and express your thoughts on this,” Byrd said. “Because no one, and I understand this, too, but as a parent, no one wants to be told how to parent their children. However, when it starts becoming a problem and a menace to society, then we have to speak up on that.”

Some steps have been taken in recent years by community leaders to extend outreach to residents on the city’s northwest side.

In 2023, the DeKalb Police Department launched a series of community events called “Fun Jam in the Park” to help foster more positive relations between residents, especially youth, and area law enforcement. The summer program provides free family fun with games, activities, arts and crafts, and more.

“What it’s going to take for this community to be better is for each resident to get involved. This room actually needs to be packed. ... It’s not. It’s going to take a village to save a village. And each resident is here right now. That’s a start.”

—  Demetrius Page

Byrd acknowledged there is a need to do more in the community.

“All these things are security issues,” Byrd said. “It’s a public safety issue. And we’re all responsible for public safety, not just the police.”

One idea raised during the meeting was to establish a tenants’ association.

Yochem said plans are in the works.

“The city of DeKalb has an arrangement with University Village,” Yochem said. “Every month, we meet as University Village Collaborative. And we’re trying to restart a tenants’ association.”

Some residents said there’s trash littered around the community that needs to be picked up.

Barnes said it’s important not to duplicate efforts that are already being done.

For example, Trash Squirrels is a local group dedicated to carrying out cleanups in town, he said.

“There’s so much happening right now,” Barnes said. “We don’t need to recreate the wheel on a lot of this because the process and the organizations are already doing it.”

Veronica Ward, who lives in University Village, suggested a curfew is necessary to keep some in line.

“I know everything is not the city’s fault,” Ward said. “They can’t control this. ... At the end of the day, they need to start cracking down on these parents with these kids out here.”

Byrd acknowledged that parenting in today’s world can be challenging.

“It’s a different time, different place,” Byrd said. “I guess we have to come to an understanding that parents now don’t parent like in the past.”

One resident who attended the meeting questioned why tenants of University Village don’t have stainless steel appliances in their units, yet the complex’s community room does.

University Village has more than 500 apartments and is a privately-owned, federally subsidized residential complex on the city’s northwest side.

In response, after the meeting, Barnes said he appreciated what everyone had to say.

“At the meeting today, what I heard were questions that were focused on quality of life,” Byrd said. “... But what I didn’t hear the entire time was about shots fired, about ‘I don’t feel safe.’ So, for me, there’s an evolution that has happened in the city of DeKalb. I’m so proud of the City Council, school district, police department, everyone that’s been involved, where originally, when I’d have meetings in that neighborhood, it was about survival. And now it’s about quality of life because [of] the changes that we’ve made.”

Barnes said he has made efforts to be present in the community during his time as mayor.

DeKalb 7th Ward Alderman John Walker and 1st Ward Alderwoman Carolyn Zasada also represent portions of the Annie Glidden North neighborhood.

Walker, whose ward includes University Village, said Monday he didn’t attend Saturday’s meeting because he had other things to do, and also believes such gatherings don’t lead to meaningful progress.

“It was thrown together by two people, and they invited everybody,” Walker said. “Nothing’s been done. Everyone has a lot to say at all these meetings. ... Nothing’s getting done. I’m moving solid these days because I get more things done and more things accomplished when I move in silence. ... That’s why I won’t go to things like that.”

When reached Monday, Zasada said she had planned to attend the meeting but was unable due to an unplanned schedule conflict.

A staffer with University Village property management’s office said Monday they weren’t privy to speak on behalf of the office, but that their manager wished to learn more about residents’ concerns before commenting.

University Village resident Demetrius Page said the onus doesn’t fall to any one person.

“What it’s going to take for this community to be better is for each resident to get involved,” Page said. “This room actually needs to be packed. ... It’s not. It’s going to take a village to save a village. And each resident is here right now. That’s a start.”

There are a number of public meetings that residents can attend to ensure that their voices are heard on community issues. City meetings are open to anyone, for example.

Barnes said he believes that it can be difficult to follow all that’s going on in town.

“It’s just hard to get everyone to find out,” Barnes said.

Page said he was glad that community leaders decided to host the meeting.

“Actually, this meeting was very helpful,” Page said. “I was wondering when DeKalb was going to have a meeting.”

Crawford said hosting the community meeting meant something to her. The meeting was called by Crawford and Domina, both of whom represent residents of DeKalb’s northwest side on the County Board.

“This kind of meeting needs to be a more regular thing,” Crawford said.

After the meeting, Barnes said he believes the city’s efforts are making a difference.

“All the changes that we have made [have] truly started affecting the lives of people in [Annie] Glidden North in a positive way,” he said. “Hearing the questions and comments from everyone today, I think made a case in point on that one that the trajectory that we’re on is the right one. We have more work to do absolutely, but the work that we have done has made a positive impact on people’s lives.”