Jerry Pinto Staying On As Chair of Neighborhoods United

Jerry Pinto isn't going anywhere.

The chairman of Neighborhoods United had said back in May that he planned to step down from his position, which he had held since 2013, following the National Night Out Against Crime event that took place on Tuesday evening.

However, Pinto told WBSM's Brian Thomas on Tuesday morning that he had changed his mind about leaving the helm of the concerned citizens' group he has been a part since 2006.

"We, as humans, we tend to act on a word called 'emotions,'" Pinto said. "We get upset about things and we say things. But I talked about it with our other leaders, and with family and with my friends, and decided that if I walk away now, I send the wrong message."

Pinto had announced his intention to step down as chairman mainly because he felt his pleas for improved lighting across the city's high-crime areas were falling on deaf ears at City Hall. He said then that he felt his voice was no longer being heard by the mayor's office, and that a new voice might be needed to get things done.

"Yeah, I made an emotional call, but I don't have the intention to walk away," he said.

Pinto noted there were "a whole bunch of elements" that led to his change of heart, but the biggest came in his job as a school bus driver.

"That morning, I drove my school bus and I looked in my oversize mirror and looked back at my students, my kids," he said. "I said, 'By me giving up, I'm letting these 56 kids down. I'm sending them the wrong message.' We teach our kids, you have to fight for what you want, you have to be active, you can't give up. Me doing that would basically be making me a hypocrite."