Neighborhood Preservation Committee
Kickoff Set for Thursday in Olean
OLEAN – The most visible phase of an ongoing community cleanup effort will begin Thursday evening in the neighborhood roughly bounded by Jamestown Community College, North Barry and East State Streets.
From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. volunteers will gather in JCC’s parking lot and fan out to provide residents with information about city codes and safety, while picking up trash and litter along Laurel, Tompkins, North Clinton, North Barry and Hamilton Streets.
“Please feel free to come out and join the Neighborhood Preservation Committee Volunteers,” said Mayor Linda Witte about the kickoff in a series of neighborhood cleanups that organizers say will continue throughout the city. “We want to commit to doing this as long as there is an interest and a need.”
Residents will meet representatives of two departments that provide key services that can turn around neighborhood deterioration. The Code Enforcement Office and the Olean Police Department can help residents identify dilapidated structures that need to be brought up to code and clean up criminal activities.
“Our neighborhoods are the heart of our community. We have to do more to bring people back to having a sense of ownership, security and safety. As the effort continues we hope to see people enjoying their yards and porches on summer nights,” she said.
In case of rain, the kickoff will take place at the same time and location May 7.
The Committee will spend the next few days dropping off flyers at the homes in the kickoff neighborhood to prepare the residents for the arrival of volunteers. A flyer asks residents to come outside and talk to the volunteers. It also provides phone numbers of the city’s Code Enforcement Office and the Police Department so residents will know who to call when help is needed.
“Community safety has always been near and dear to the hearts of the Common Council and the Aldermen,” said Mayor Witte, who drafted two former colleagues when they approached her about solving blight and crime.
Joyce Melfi -- a former alderman in Ward 2 and the county Democratic Party chairman -- and Paula Snyder -- former alderman in Ward 5 and the county’s Republican Party chairman – served with Mayor Witte during her 2000-2002 term. They will spearhead the safety aspects of this and future events, reaching out to residents, along with law enforcement representatives, to determine what measures must be taken to combat crime in the area.
“They will try to create the eyes and ears of the neighborhoods and soon we will be looking out for one another,” said Mayor Witte.
Lila Ervay, who is well-known in the city as a proponent of cleanup efforts, has teamed up with Gary “Casey” Jones, an alderman from Ward 6 who has served multiple terms. The two have rallied an army of corporations and groups who began weeks ago cleaning up litter and trash along the city’s busiest streets.
Mayor Witte said clean communities also need to be safe but Olean’s neighborhoods have deteriorated. In recognizing the need to do better led us to the name, Neighborhood Preservation Committee. While organizers will continue to recruit volunteers and will announce a new neighborhood targeted for future cleanup, she said the property owners and residents really need to take the lead once they realize the possibilities.
“The Committee, corporations and the organizations are targeting the major streets and are willing to help because the job seems overwhelming at the start, but neighborhoods need to be taken care of by the people that live there,” she said. “Everybody has a part to play. If we all take a part we can have a sense of ownership and a sense of pride. It will take the people working together to achieve it.”
Groups that have committed to bring volunteers to the cleanup effort include the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Archbishop Walsh Academy, Assemblyman Joseph Giglio’s Office, BonaResponds/Liberty Partnerships, Boy Scouts, Community Bank NA, Council on Recovery, Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, Jamestown Community College, Kiwanis (in conjunction with Neighborworks), Mt. Zion Christian Assembly, Olean Business Institute, Olean General Hospital, Rehabilitation Center, St. Mary of the Angels Church, Senator Cathy Young’s Office, Social Services Work Group.
The Neighborhood Preservation Committee’s efforts will be chronicled with photos and other details that can be found on the Mayor’s Community page of the city’s website, at www.cityofolean.com
e-mail from Linda Witte's office
From 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. volunteers will gather in JCC’s parking lot and fan out to provide residents with information about city codes and safety, while picking up trash and litter along Laurel, Tompkins, North Clinton, North Barry and Hamilton Streets.
“Please feel free to come out and join the Neighborhood Preservation Committee Volunteers,” said Mayor Linda Witte about the kickoff in a series of neighborhood cleanups that organizers say will continue throughout the city. “We want to commit to doing this as long as there is an interest and a need.”
Residents will meet representatives of two departments that provide key services that can turn around neighborhood deterioration. The Code Enforcement Office and the Olean Police Department can help residents identify dilapidated structures that need to be brought up to code and clean up criminal activities.
“Our neighborhoods are the heart of our community. We have to do more to bring people back to having a sense of ownership, security and safety. As the effort continues we hope to see people enjoying their yards and porches on summer nights,” she said.
In case of rain, the kickoff will take place at the same time and location May 7.
The Committee will spend the next few days dropping off flyers at the homes in the kickoff neighborhood to prepare the residents for the arrival of volunteers. A flyer asks residents to come outside and talk to the volunteers. It also provides phone numbers of the city’s Code Enforcement Office and the Police Department so residents will know who to call when help is needed.
“Community safety has always been near and dear to the hearts of the Common Council and the Aldermen,” said Mayor Witte, who drafted two former colleagues when they approached her about solving blight and crime.
Joyce Melfi -- a former alderman in Ward 2 and the county Democratic Party chairman -- and Paula Snyder -- former alderman in Ward 5 and the county’s Republican Party chairman – served with Mayor Witte during her 2000-2002 term. They will spearhead the safety aspects of this and future events, reaching out to residents, along with law enforcement representatives, to determine what measures must be taken to combat crime in the area.
“They will try to create the eyes and ears of the neighborhoods and soon we will be looking out for one another,” said Mayor Witte.
Lila Ervay, who is well-known in the city as a proponent of cleanup efforts, has teamed up with Gary “Casey” Jones, an alderman from Ward 6 who has served multiple terms. The two have rallied an army of corporations and groups who began weeks ago cleaning up litter and trash along the city’s busiest streets.
Mayor Witte said clean communities also need to be safe but Olean’s neighborhoods have deteriorated. In recognizing the need to do better led us to the name, Neighborhood Preservation Committee. While organizers will continue to recruit volunteers and will announce a new neighborhood targeted for future cleanup, she said the property owners and residents really need to take the lead once they realize the possibilities.
“The Committee, corporations and the organizations are targeting the major streets and are willing to help because the job seems overwhelming at the start, but neighborhoods need to be taken care of by the people that live there,” she said. “Everybody has a part to play. If we all take a part we can have a sense of ownership and a sense of pride. It will take the people working together to achieve it.”
Groups that have committed to bring volunteers to the cleanup effort include the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Archbishop Walsh Academy, Assemblyman Joseph Giglio’s Office, BonaResponds/Liberty Partnerships, Boy Scouts, Community Bank NA, Council on Recovery, Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, Jamestown Community College, Kiwanis (in conjunction with Neighborworks), Mt. Zion Christian Assembly, Olean Business Institute, Olean General Hospital, Rehabilitation Center, St. Mary of the Angels Church, Senator Cathy Young’s Office, Social Services Work Group.
The Neighborhood Preservation Committee’s efforts will be chronicled with photos and other details that can be found on the Mayor’s Community page of the city’s website, at www.cityofolean.com
e-mail from Linda Witte's office
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