Durham City Council will send President Richard Brodhead a letter next week calling for the University to take action to address the complaints of Trinity Heights residents, members said Thursday.
City Council member Howard Clement brought resident's grievances about disruptive behavior of Duke students living off East Campus at this past Thursday's work session. City Council member Diane Catotti said Brodhead should be called on to correct the problem because Duke Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta had not.
"It seems to me that the only way to get action is go up from the Vice President [of Student Affairs]," Catotti said at the meeting. "He has been in the position for several years and has not had the desire and the will to alter the policy in terms of enforcement."
Clement said he was prompted to bring those complaints forward because of his visit to the Trinity Heights and Trinity Park neighborhood last Monday. He said he saw there several trash ordinance violations on homes occupied by off-campus student residents.
"One yard in the area was filled with paper cups, and it was a Monday afternoon," Clement said. "I am sick and tired of hearing these complaints, and apparently nothing is being done.... These people are tax payers, good citizens of Durham, and they have to endure that kind of behavior."
The Trinity Heights Action Committee has been meeting with Duke administrators, city officials and students to discuss disturbances and seek possible solutions to the issue since August 2008. In November, the committee issued recommendations for curbing illegal behavior, to which Moneta responded with a memo outlining the steps the University has already taken to alleviate the problem, most of which involved educational efforts.
City Council member Mike Woodard attended these meetings, but nevertheless said Duke's response was inadequate to a problem that has been caused by a small number of offenders.
"One of the points that I still raise is Duke's tolerance for violations of local ordinances by its off-campus students," Woodard said at Thursday's meeting. "I am concerned that there seems to be a lack of a zero-tolerance policy by the part of Duke administrators."
Multiple City Council members echoed Woodard's sentiments at the meeting, noting that the problem has been an issue for several years and not been addressed appropriately. The council had requested that a Duke representative be present at the meeting, but none were in attendance.
City Council member Eugene Brown said the educational efforts that Duke has taken are "a joke."
"Larry Moneta and the Duke Student Affairs department are definitely part of the problem and not part of the solution," Brown said. "I think the city is doing what we can, even if we arrest some of these students."
Moneta wrote in an e-mail that his work with the Trinity Heights Action Committee should speak for itself in response to Brown's comments.
"[Brown] doesn't know me, nor has he had any involvement in the multiple meetings I participated in with the Trinity Heights community," he added.
Brown said in an interview with The Chronicle Friday that his remarks at the work session were not intended to be personal but that after continuous dialogue, it is apparent that the University needs to take a more proactive approach.
"I know [Moneta] for his work, I know him for his inadequate response to the problem and I'm not the only one on the council who feels that way," he said. "I mean there's been seven meetings, and what the hell has come out of it? Nothing."
Mayor Bill Bell declined to comment on the situation Sunday.
City Council members said they hope taking their concerns to Brodhead will spur the University to enact meaningful policy change.
"It is a significant use of our resources, it's repeat offenders and we have received considerable neighbor and citizen concerns," Catotti said. "We do expect some response or at least some approach that they intend for dealing with it."
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