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Over the past year, the Dodge Flower Neighborhood Association has received national attention for its fight against the meth use and related crime that have plagued its streets.

The Midtown neighborhood's partnership with local law enforcement and the Meth Free Alliance to take back the neighborhood through a one-year pilot program was lauded as a possible template for addressing urban methamphetamine use — not just in Tucson but in cities across the country. The pilot program stepped up the police presence in the area while also building connections among residents, businesses and community leaders.

While the effort has brought about some tangible improvements — most notably a recent drop-off in drug-related crime in the neighborhood, just northwest of East Grant Road and North Alvernon Way — trouble is looming as visibly as a monsoon gathering above the desert.

The neighborhood association has lost its two most vocal leaders. Longtime President Barbara Lehmann has stepped down, and neighborhood activist Elizabeth Ramey Estrada, who focused on crime prevention, has moved away, and no one has stepped up to take their places. At a recent neighborhood association meeting, annual elections did not take place, putting the association's active standing with the city in jeopardy.

The leadership void has raised concerns that the community's connection to the Tucson Police Department, which was a key to the pilot program, will weaken when it should be strengthening, and that whatever progress was made during the pilot program will be washed away.

"We're biting our nails," said police Capt. David Neri, who led the pilot program as commander of the multiagency Counter-Narcotics Alliance. "We're concerned about Barbara stepping down from Dodge Flower and therefore losing that continuity or driving force."

Neri has been transferred and now heads the city's Midtown police division, which means he will oversee policing in Dodge Flower as well as in other nearby neighborhoods.

"I would hate to see anything revert from what it is," Neri said. "There's reason here to be concerned."

Lehmann had been president of the Dodge Flower association for five years before stepping down last month. She said she would have made the transition a year ago if it weren't for the pilot program and the fact that no one volunteered to replace her. When she talks about her departure, her words are bittersweet.

On one hand, she said her tenure with the neighborhood association has "been fun. It's been rewarding."

But there are times when her frustration is apparent.

"Last year when we had our elections, nobody then came forward to take on some of the leadership roles, and it was kind of pathetic," she said. "Apathy is our greatest obstacle."

For as active as the neighborhood had been in taking on its challenges, there was only a core group of people who consistently stayed involved, Lehmann said.

It's been clear that the association's inability to grow beyond that core group has taken its toll on Lehmann. She manages an office and has a family, and said she found herself attending meetings four or five nights a week, writing the newsletter and organizing projects and events. She said she found herself stretched too thin with all of her responsibilities.

Since Lehmann resigned as president, other residents have taken up smaller tasks such as writing the newsletter or following up on some community partnerships, but no one has volunteered to lead.

"It's not clear to me what's wrong, because people show up to meetings, but they are not really stepping up to do one of the four officers' jobs," said Mike Johnston, who has volunteered to be the association's treasurer. "Most people are holding back. Right now, it looks very problematic."

Meanwhile, the meth pilot project continues to move forward, even if the neighborhood association doesn't.

Neri will present a formal report to the City Council about the project in August, and he said a number of encouraging signs indicate that the project has made a difference. Recent statistics have shown that drug-related crime in the neighborhood has fallen, he said, and the drugs being found in the area have been of very low grade, which is another sign that the drug trade is moving elsewhere.

"We actually have users complaining about the quality of drugs that they can get in the Grant and Alvernon area," he said.

Streetlights have been installed in the nearby Oak Flower Neighborhood, which adjoins Dodge Flower to the east and also was part of the meth pilot program. And the program is now being replicated in the Flowing Wells area, on greater Tucson's North Side.

"I hope there will be a big change," said Ellie Towne, president of the Flowing Wells Neighborhood Association and Community Coalition, which straddles both Tucson and unincorporated Pima County. "Of course, I know they don't stop meth; they just move to another community. But I hope there will be some improvements."