When the roof of an abandoned house collapsed in his East Baltimore neighborhood, spilling debris all over the sidewalk, Mark Washington took matters into his own hands.
“We couldn?t have nails and rotten wood on the street where children were walking to school,” he said.
Washington gathered his fellow neighbors, passed out the trash bags and commenced to clean up hazardous debris. After several days of back-breaking work, the job was done and the street was once again safe for children. “We couldn?t wait for the city,” Washington said. “We had to take matters into our own hands.”
Washington sent the owner a bill for the services rendered, but doubts he?ll ever get paid. City Council Member Mary Pat Clarke, D-District 14, whose district includes Washington?s neighborhood, thought the idea was a good approach to allowing neighborhoods to clean up eyesores without having to rely on the city. Clarke has introduced a bill to the City Council to give all residents both the legal and financial backing to keep their own streets clean. “We have to empower people to act,” Clarke said. “Neighborhoods can?t always wait for the city.”
The bill allows the city health director, Joshua Sharfstein, to designate certain properties as “a nuisance or potential nuisance.” After giving proper notice to the property owner, the commissioner can authorize the nuisance to be cleaned by neighborhood associations. Once designated as such, the properties may be cleaned by the neighborhood associations with the help of volunteers. The city can use money collected through taxes to reimburse the associations for their services.
“We have to make sure the neighborhoods get the money,” Clarke said.
The bill includes eyesores like garbage, waste, vermin, spills and other hazards or “any other health or safety hazard.”
Washington thinks it?s an idea whose time has come. “We addressed the problem quickly,” he said. “That can make a big difference.”
