I just witnessed two outspoken Montavilla neighbors stage an impromptu takeover of the mayor's morning press conference. "They invited us to come and stand behind them," said Montavilla in Action member Liz Sullivan, after the conference dispersed, "and we don't stand behind this plan." What Potter unveiled this morning was the basics of his plan to fight prostitution along 82nd Ave. Equally upset neighbor Brian Wong turned up to the conference with two speeches folded in his back pocket -- one in case he supported the plan the mayor unveiled and the critical one he wound up reading, unrehearsed, in front of the mic while holding up a syringe he found on the street in his neighborhood.

Just a Neighbor Needling Potter

The mayor, the police, the City Council -- everyone recognizes that rampant and flagrant prostitution occurs all day and night on 82nd Ave. Since the city allowed the Drug and Prostitution Free Zones to die last year after investigations showed the Drug Free Zone hinged on racial profiling tactics, reports of prostitution along 82nd have quadrupled. Now, a heated debate swirls around what to do about the problem. A month ago, Commissioner Randy Leonard promised a crack down on prostitution with a Service Coordination Team style approach. The last month has seen series of six major stings along 82nd -- in the last two weeks, police have made 36 arrests. Sources at City Hall say that Mayor Potter seized control of the task and today's conference was a clear sign of that. Potter released information about his plan own prostitution plan, a four-part bullet list that he has yet to christen with a catchy name:

- Increase police pressure on prostitutes, pimps and their customers
- Prosecute prostitutes in Community Court rather than Circuit Court. This means prostitutes would be placed on probation more frequently and allow the police to arrest suspected prostitutes across the city (not just on 82nd) more easily. Potter's office hopes that prostitution could disappear from neighborhoods as prostitutes on probation would be excluded from specific high-whoring areas.
- Encourage neighborhood foot patrols. Like the border's Minute Men, but along 82nd and hopefully not crazy and racist.
- Develop treatment options, including putting $500,000 toward solving the economic and social problems that drive prostitution (like addiction and unemployment) and creating a Service Coordination Team for 82nd.

The Montavilla in Action neighbors aren't digging Potter's plan. "I pray that this works, but I have a lot of doubts," says Sullivan, "It's fraught with 'ifs'." She and Wong pointed out that the plan seems to target only prostitutes, not johns and that the city is relying on the prostitute actually showing up in court.

Sullivan, Wong and the other activists have been doing enforcement of their own recently : snapping photos of johns soliciting ladies along 82nd. They want Potter to reinstate the Prostitution Free Zone (PFZ). "There was and has been no study done on the PFZ," said Wong, noting that the racial-profiling findings that killed both zones were based on data about arrests in the Drug Free Zone. Nowhere in the damning 18-page report is the word "prostitution" or info about whether the same racial disparities existed in enforcement of the prostitution free zone.

John Doussard, Potter's director of communications, is trying to dig up the research on the PFZ, replying to my info request with an email saying frankly, "The chart I've seen is incomprehensible." In the mean time, he makes what I think is an important point: "The main problem with the PFZ is that no one felt it was a solution to the problems. It simply moved the problem from one area to another. Instead, we need treatment options that really address the issues." Doussard mentions that a big difference between prostitutes downtown on on 82nd is that out on the Ave, only 30% have current drug problems. The other 70% are driven there by economic factors. Focusing on treatment seems to me to be the most effective way to actually better the lives of women on the street - I hope that $500,000 is put toward things like securing safe and affordable housing for former prostitutes and getting them training for other jobs.

Other Montavilla neighbors are planning a Prostitution Town Hall this Monday to discuss the root causes of prostitution in the area and effective solutions. Sullivan and Wong did not help plan the town hall. Right now they're not interested in discussion over prostitution's roots, they're interested in getting the PFZ back as soon as possible. "We're at critical red alert on our streets," says Sullivan, "Our focus is the safety and livability of the residents." Sullivan told some neighborhood horror stories -- before each Little League game, parents have to sweep the field for condoms. Sullivan catching prostitutes and johns "in the act" during a stroll through a park on a Sunday afternoon. Women getting harassed and solicited by male drivers while walking alone down 82nd to the grocery store. "It has changed, the whole 82nd Avenue," says Sullivan, referring to the time since the PFZ expired, "It's much more blatant and it's sad to see these women freely traded."