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“Building demolition is a legal quagmire. There are gigantic legal hoops to jump through before the city can start leveling property,” Pennington said. “The main reason for the delays were we didn’t have the enlightened elected officials to provide the leadership that we do now.”

The unstable apartment complex was less than 100 yards from a Spring Branch school driveway.

“It was a great day for us when those buildings started coming down,” said Sharee Cantrell, director of the Lion Lane School for Early Learning. “Those dilapidated buildings were the first things our little kids saw when they came to school each morning.

“We had parents who decided not to enroll their children because of the way that complex looked.”

After meeting with NPC and super neighborhood representatives, Cantrell contacted District A Councilwoman Toni Lawrence.

“Councilwoman Lawrence was very responsive. She suggested we bring our concerns to the mayor,” Cantrell said. “Our kids wrote letters asking Mayor White to tear down those buildings, and Toni helped us deliver them to him at a City Council meeting.

“We are so pleased with the response,” Cantrell said.

Lawrence toured the demolition site with White.

“I am extremely proud that my office, constituents and the NPC remained vigilant, navigating the complex legal issues to see this job completed,” Lawrence said.

Passion into action
Lumpkin, a 23-year police veteran, became top cop for the NPC when the unit moved from Planning and Development to HPD in September 2004.

“That’s when we finally had all the right people in the right places at the right time to impact changes,” Pennington said.

“Assistant Chief Lumpkin is proactive and determined,” said Jodi Silva, NPC senior communications specialist. “His passion gave neighborhood protection the teeth it didn’t have before.”

Lumpkin’s dynamic multi-faceted plan includes removing the criminals from neighborhoods and demolishing their houses to break the problem once and for all.

“We’ve made great strides in meeting the needs of the community,” said Lumpkin. “We’re having a phenomenal year (as of June 15) with a record-breaking 792 abandoned houses demolished.

“Communities are getting cleaned-up as a result of NPC activities,” Lumpkin said.

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