Responding to more than 3,000 graffiti incidents, removing more than 1,800 shopping carts and clearing more than 180 tons of garbage were some of the City of Yakima Clean City Program activities in 2021.
The Yakima City Council received reports on the program in the agenda packet for its meeting yesterday, March 1st.
“Incidents of graffiti were sharply reduced in 2021 by 52.3 percent in comparison to 2020,” said Public Works Director Scott Schafer. “This is directly attributed to the efforts of community members, residents and staff placing an emphasis on the rapid removal of graffiti.”
At the same time, the Clean City Program nearly doubled the amount of garbage removed in 2021. Last year, Clean City collected and removed 183.33 tons of garbage compared to 93.6 tons cleared in 2020 for a 96.5 percent increase.
Click Coversheet (novusagenda.com) for a copy of the report. The link also includes a Clean City Program report for the 4th quarter of 2021.
The City of Yakima developed “Clean City” as a program in 2019. Its main objectives are:
- Address visual blight (trash, graffiti, dangerous building, abandoned vehicles, etc.)
- Address unscheduled collection of waste and litter from the City’s public areas/thoroughfares
- Expedite the clean-up of such illegal dumps
- Clean up homeless encampments
- Support Yakima Police Department officers in unlawful camping enforcement
- Provide coordination with neighborhoods for annual clean-up events
- Create educational components
- Engage with community partners and volunteers
Clean City, under the direction of the City’s Public Works Division, coordinates the efforts of several City departments and community partners. They include:
City of Yakima Public Works
Public Works Administration
Refuse Division
Streets & Traffic Division
Parks & Recreation Division
City of Yakima Codes Division
City of Yakima Legal Department
Yakima Police Department
Sunrise Outreach
Click https://www.yakimawa.gov/services/public-works/ for more about the City of Yakima Public Works Division.