The tale of two Williwaws

WASILLA—The Williwaw area has two narratives: growth and decay. On one side, there’s the notion of revitalization, a steady improvement. On the other, there’s the frustrated residents and surrounding businesses that feel overrun by crime and vagrant activity. Which is it? Is Williwaw getting better or is it going through another cycle, bound to slip back under the rug?

“It’s going to take a few years to change the direction of what the Williwaw subdivision is. It’s not going to happen overnight and I know it’s hard to be patient when you live there,” said Wasilla Mayor Bert Cottle.

Street Lights: “Don’t have to reinvent the wheel”

Cottle and Mat-Su Borough Assembly member, Ted Leonard of Assembly District 4 recently sat down with a few Williwaw residents seeking a better neighborhood, led by Michael Fernandez. They discussed a few steps to take on what many felt is still a long journey, taking at least a few years. Adding street lights may prove to be useful and somewhat affordable, according to Cottle.

“We don’t have to reinvent the wheel… People aren’t as apt to do things [criminal activity] when it’s well lit,” Cottle said.

Adding street lamps costs money and there’s a number of ways to adding lights to an area. Matanuska Electric Association maintains the various street lights across the Borough and they are funded by individual road service areas, according to the Borough website. These lights are put on Street light bills and the Borough currently pays the monthly bills of 395 maps area-wide. Neighborhoods with Homeowners Associations can also collect funds through the network and buy street lamps.

The borough considers the following factors when analyzing the location for a street light: public safety, site distance, School bus stops, and traffic density. To request a light in your area, contact your individual Road Service Area Supervisors. If do not know who your supervisor is, contact the Public Works Department (907) 861-7752 to find out.

Lighting and code enforcement seemed to be “low hanging fruit, cost-wise” according to Cottle.

5 years:

Berkley Tilton has lived in the Valley for several decades. He manages property in the Williwaw area and he said things were “totally different” there five years ago.

“It was a lot worse,” Tilton said.

He said that with recent developments like several upgrades to existing homes and the addition of several new ones were both signs of a rejuvenation, stating that the “junky” lots were about half of what they were five years ago.

“It had a bad name for so long and it was justified. Now, it’s not so justified,” Tilton said.

Dave Marsh, operations manager for the U-Haul off Bogard Road, across the street from Williwaw Way, has lived in the Valley for five years and his wife has lived here since 1998. He said his location has been hit hard by theft, vandalism, and trespassing. He’s noticed an increase of foot theft and vehicle theft. People sneaking around looking for gas cans and some showing up with pickup trucks to load several cans and whatever they can grab. He said that the criminals could be coming from anywhere, but he’s noticed patterns that lead him to suspect a bulk of it comes from the neighboring area. He referenced one vehicle that had a loud muffler that frequently pulled out of Copper Street, off Williwaw way and drives around the lot to see if anyone is there. When they close up shop, Marsh and his wife retire to their home, the same place. He’s seen the driver of the aforementioned car sneak through the woods onto his property past midnight on several occasions. He’s called the Troopers many times and was told they won’t come anymore. He said that he’s confronted one of the thieves and claimed that he said to them, “I’ve been here for years. You aren’t the first owner and you won’t be the last; I’ll walk where I want.”

Cleaning up: Violations of code vs. law enforcement

One of the main topics on the table when discussing Williwaw’s future is the junk and trash. While as many as 30, or so, neighbors have gathered to talk about the crime crawling in and out of “pockets” spread across the various sections of the neighborhood.

“Maybe the city [Wasilla] and Borough can work together,” Cottle said.

Williwaw is outside Wasilla Police Department (WPD) jurisdiction, meaning Alaska State Troopers (AST) handles the bulk of response to Williwaw. WPD will assist at times and even take calls. Cottle said that when the Borough is sending people out to junky lots like those seen in Williwaw, Meadow Lakes, and the Butte, they may be able to start sending WPD to escort code enforcers.

“If I had people available, to be there when they (Borough) delivers a violation so no one gets hurt,” Cottle said.

Alex Strawn, Development Services Manager MSB said that Williwaw has a “fairly high stack of cases [code violations] in the area, mostly junk and trash violations. Many cases were moving objects like abandoned cars out of the way. A common denominator for drug houses and lots seems to be their junky appearances, a side effect of addiction.

“To be fair, there are many other areas with similar issues. It seems that drug use is related to the accumulation of junk and trash,” Strawn said.

One Williwaw resident, who didn’t want to be named, said that he’s lived there for 20 years. He said at least 30 houses have been built in the last five years. He likened it to a “honeycomb” analogy, seeing a neighborhood segregated between nice looking homes and less savory ones. He said that each major section of the neighborhood had at least one drug dealing lot. He said these lots are often pointed out as nefarious because they have piles of junk and lots of different people in cars and on foot cycling through. As a former addict and new parent, he wants to see the streets finally get clean and stay clean. He said it felt like Williwaw would kick up attention for a while, then it would “get swept back under the rug” by the AST and greater community. He said many of these homeless didn’t have anywhere to go, and that accounts for the high traffic because they are so close to town.

“I’d like to see a homeless shelter near this place. There’d be less people walking around, stealing stuff. I’m tired of the Valley calling my home ‘ghetto.’ It’s time for a clean-up. It’s time to change and change isn’t easy for an addict, ” said the unnamed Williwaw resident.

Looking forward:

According to Patty Sullivan, Public Affairs Director for the Borough, improving the Williwaw neighborhood and Valley's crime problem is a multifaceted issue with many options still to consider and still needed to be discussed.

"The symptoms of drug addiction show up on the lot as a bunch of junk, trash—as well as behavior,” Sullivan said.

Example: "the mayor is considering an ordinance for police powers, the assembly would still need to look at it and think about it- it's far off from anything happening but that is one issue." According to Sullivan, several ideas have been discussed at Assembly meetings including:

“• residents approving specific police service areas

• adopting police powers for the borough with a vote of residents

• cities do have drug enforcement officers

• demanding more troopers

• drug rehabilitation efforts to stop the problem, working with the Mat-Su Health Foundation

• encouraging neighborhoods to be vigilant and organized, and implementing neighborhood watches

• adding code compliance officer

• adding an attorney for injunctions on junk and trash, a symptom of some lots with drug addicted residents in Williwaw”

According to a recent search off the AST dispatch, there have been 17 incidents in the area since January 1, 2018. Four cases were warrant arrests, three cases involving assault, and seven cases involved theft and burglaries.

This is part three of a four part series covering the area of Williwaw, taking an in depth look at their problems and solutions. The final story will wrap everything up with the events of the first “Clean-up Day Block Party,” and will feature supplemental data and statistics about crime and code violations, more history about the area, and statements about the next five years.

For questions or more information, contact reporter, Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com.