Neighborhood and Community Services LETTER

A letter to my neighborhood friends and colleagues

Following the retirement of Les Washington, City Manager Wayne Cauthen appointed me as Acting Director of Neighborhood and Community Services. While many of you already know me, I want to introduce myself and advise you of what to expect from me and Neighborhood and Community Services in the future.

Armed with a B.S. in Environmental Health, I began my career with the City in 1979 as a Sanitarian in the Environmental Inspections Program. Sanitarians are now called code enforcement officers and Environmental Inspections is called Neighborhood Preservation.

My schooling taught me the reason to be concerned about overgrown weeds, accumulations of trash, and deteriorated housing is because they are unhealthy for people. I knew the diseases and health consequences that result from exposure to the conditions. Once on the job, I quickly realized the conditions also impact the economic health of neighborhoods and are strongly associated with criminal activities. And, because neighborhoods are the foundation of the city, unhealthy neighborhoods located anywhere in the city create weaknesses in the foundation that supports all neighborhoods.

The awareness of the importance of preserving neighborhoods has motivated me over the last 30 years and continues to do so.

Moving from the past to the present, there are a couple of immediate challenges facing Neighborhood and Community Services. These include mowing weeds on vacant properties and catching up on a backlog of dangerous buildings to demolish.

We assumed responsibility for mowing weeds on privately owned vacant properties this year and are trying out a new process. The goal is to remove trash that is often present when the mowing is performed and to include more contractors in the process. Instead of 2 or 3 big contractors getting all of the work, we wanted to have numerous contractors involved. This creates opportunities for neighborhood-based contractors to participate in the program and provide jobs for neighborhood residents.

The process is working. The appearance of mowed lots has improved and we have nine contractors on board. More contractors may still be added.

We have fallen behind schedule however. There are too many properties out there that need to be mowed yet. Our inspectors and contractors are all hustling and working overtime to get caught up.

Dangerous building inspectors are also hustling. There are well over 400 vacant, damaged and dilapidated houses in our neighborhoods that need to be demolished. Funding for demolition became available on May 1, 2009, and we want to demolish as many dangerous buildings as we can and as quickly as we can. You will see an increase in demolition activity this summer.

I want you to know that the Neighborhood and Community Services Department will continue to strive towards improving conditions in our neighborhoods. Les Washington set this direction during his tenure as director and I intend to chart the same course.

I look forward to continue working with you, and for you.

Sincerely,


David Park, Acting Director

Neighborhood and Community Services