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Residents tell council repeated 911 calls and alleged surveillance have made neighborhood "a nightmare"
Summary
Multiple residents told the Roosevelt City Council that a single neighbor repeatedly calls police, records children in private yards, and has driven families from the neighborhood; residents asked the council to use the city’s public nuisance ordinance and for the city attorney to act.
Multiple Roosevelt residents used the meeting’s public-comment period to tell the council that repeated law-enforcement responses and alleged recording by a neighbor have disrupted everyday life on a block of the city.
Derek Stringham opened the series of comments, saying, "For the last 2 years, my neighborhood has been a nightmare," and alleging that a neighbor named in the transcript as Jenny or Janet Thompson had called law enforcement hundreds or thousands of times. Stringham said the repeated calls, which he described as coming at least five to six times most days, have limited children’s outdoor activity and cost him in legal fees.
Rachel Gibbons, who said she is a neighbor, told the council the same resident regularly records children in yards and that her security camera pointed directly into Gibbons’s yard; she said she had attempted a civil stalking injunction that was not completed. Val Labram invoked the city's public nuisance ordinance, saying "the city does have a public nuisance ordinance... I think she should have had a lot of citations for being a public nuisance." Those speakers urged the council to ensure the city attorney and police enforce applicable laws so neighbors can safely use their yards.
Council members acknowledged the complaints and said staff and police are aware and have been working the issue; one council member apologized for not having visited the block in person. No formal enforcement action was taken during the meeting; residents were told the city and police would continue to review options.
Claims raised in public comment included an unverified numeric claim that the neighbor had made 1,500 calls to police (reported by a resident), residents’ allegations of constant recording of private yards, and statements that prior misdemeanor charges had been dismissed. The council did not adjudicate those claims in the meeting; they remain unresolved pending staff and legal review.
