‘It costs nothing to have a little pride’

ALBANY — The city of Albany has proved through an impressive show of manpower and equipment that it is indeed all-in in regards to Operation Clean Sweep.

The question now, though, is whether the citizens whose neighborhoods are being, well, swept clean, by city officials will do their part to keep them clean.

“The idea of Operation Clean Sweep is to raise expectations, to keep the needle moving forward,” Ward IV City Commissioner Chad Warbington said Thursday as he, personnel from several city departments and other volunteers worked to clean a park at the corner of Valencia Drive and Gordon Avenue in Warbington’s ward. “The idea is for city personnel to come in and make improvements; then it’s up to our citizens if they expect the area to stay that way.

“I think this is a great idea; I know I was excited when I got the call saying it was my ward’s month (to join the Clean Sweep agenda). Unfortunately, when we live with litter we begin to accept it as OK. Then visitors come into our neighborhoods and they’re appalled.”

Public Works Director Stacey Rowe said officials are getting plenty of positive feedback as more and more sectors of the city are spruced up by the various departments involved in the cleanup project.

“I have received — and several commissioners have received — some very good comments from the sectors where we’ve held cleanup work days,” Rowe said. “There certainly haven’t been any negative comments. We hope that citizens will take pride in their neighborhoods and work to keep them clean.”

But, Rowe admitted, that has not always been the case.

“Have the citizens responded (in a positive way) to the program to the magnitude we’d wish it to? No,” he said. “But, as Commissioner Warbington said, the idea is to keep the needle moving in a positive direction, even if it’s a little at a time.

“I was born and raised here, on Gordon and Magnolia, and I know what Albany has been like before, when people took pride in their neighborhoods. It was that way before, and before I leave my position with the city, I want to see it that way again. It costs nothing to have a little pride.”

Warbington said the city has proven its commitment to cleaning up what has become, in some sectors, a litter-strewn mess. But it will take a united effort to complete the job, he said.

“Look at what we have out here — dozers, street sweepers and dozens of city employees all working to make this neighborhood look better,” he said. “We’re committed. Hopefully the citizens will take pride and do their part.

“I know we’ve already got some citizen calls in to Code Enforcement, and that’s the way you keep that needle moving the right way. When people decide to do something — to let officials know — about these issues rather than just moving on when they see them, when they say (littering and dumping trash illegally in their neighborhoods) is unacceptable, then we’ll continue to see positive change. And this will all have been worth it.”

City of Albany and Dougherty County officials will kick off Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful’s annual Stash the Trash program by picking up debris in downtown Albany Friday. On Saturday, more than 1,000 volunteers are expected to work in their neighborhoods to continue the beautification project.

File Photo: Carlton FletcherStaff Photo; Carlton Fletcher

Staff Photos: Carlton Fletcher