The City Of Yakima Doubles Down On Maintaining A Clean Community
The City of Yakima is about to double down on cleaning up. The ongoing Clean City Program is going to share the spotlight with the periodic appearance of Community Action Days, thanks to a state grant.
What Makes For A Clean City
You may recall Yakima's Clean City Program was started in 2019 with these goals:
- 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
The report card for the first quarter of 2022, shared at Tuesday's Council meeting, showed the city crews have been busy abating/cleaning 1,336 incidents of graffiti, clearing over 35 tons of garbage, and removing 563 "illegally parked" grocery carts.
Yakima Greenlights Action Days
Also on Tuesday night the City Council:
Authorized grant agreement acceptance from the Department of Commerce through the Community Law Enforcement Partnership Program to implement the “Community Action Days” program;
Commerce Department Writes The Check
Action Days will pull in a $75,000 grant from the state Department of Commerce to further help the city get rid of graffiti and build community at events in Yakima this summer and next.
While the Clean City Program is an ongoing effort, Community Action Days feature four community events where volunteers can connect with law enforcement, city officials, schools, businesses, and community organizations to cover graffiti in their neighborhoods. The atmosphere is intended to be fun as well as informational with info booths, food, and supplies provided at the events.
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