Employees suggestions sought in city cleanup
By Barbara Arntsen
Published in News on July 19, 2004 2:05 PM
The Goldsboro City Council is considering implementing an employee suggestion program as part of its quest to clean up the city.
Councilman Bob Waller suggested the idea during a work session last week.
"Maybe we could give an award to the employee that came up with the most innovative way to clean the city," Waller said.
Councilman Jimmy Bryan immediately agreed, saying it was a "good idea."
But Bryan said he would also like to see more active efforts by the city to keep things clean and well kept.
Councilman Chuck Allen said that the council had to remember, when coming up with new ideas or plans, what the city could fund for cleanup.
"We only have 'x' number of people, and it can be expensive to take it all on at once," Allen said.
Bryan said he was concerned because the city didn't seem to take care of routine items.
"We're not talking about new programs," Bryan said. "We're not taking care of what we have. There are weeds on the traffic circle and the grass is high on Center Street. Those are not expensive items to take care of."
Allen said he thought the council had made some positive movement towards cleaning up the city, but that it just took awhile to shift gears.
Bryan said that allowing the grass on city lots to get high still didn't make sense.
He said that he was also concerned, not only by weeds and grass, but that trash violations were often missed by the city.
"The thing that bothers me is that the people looking for this don't seem to see the stuff I see," Bryan said.
Allen said that he thought the city had made progress towards cleaning up, but that it took time.
"We are doing things," Allen said. "Prior to this council, this hadn't really been a priority."
Allen also said that it was important for the council to work through the city manager's office for clean-up issues, especially since the code enforcement officers would be there.
He said that City Manager Richard Slozak needed to tell the council what manpower was available, instead of council members calling department heads directly.
"If we call about something and the departments have to change direction, it could create problems elsewhere," Allen said.
The council did agree that Waller's idea for an employee suggestion program was a good one. It directed Tasha Logan, assistant to the city manager, to see how the program could be implemented.