Friday, August 31, 2012YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A new component to the city's website devoted to code enforcement and tracking demolition projects in its neighborhoods (CLICK HERE) is up and running, officials report, noting it’s intended to help the city and residents attack blight early and swiftly.
"If you don't have good neighborhoods, you don't have a city," declared Mayor Chuck Sammarone. "When I became mayor, I said that the city didn't do enough for its neighborhoods. We had to do more."
The new option provides information on the status of demolition projects on identified properties, a portal where complaints related to a mismanaged or blighted property can be filed online, and a mechanism to track a history of code violations for a particular parcel.
"It makes it a lot smoother and more efficient," added DeMaine Kitchen, assistant to the mayor. The new site allows neighborhood groups and residents access to more information at the touch of their fingertips.
Through the new service, a resident can access information about the status of a specific property by plugging in the address and then see where it stands in the demolition process, or whether it's scheduled to be demolished.
Using the same process, residents can also check on what properties in the city have been cited for housing code violations, or register a complaint to report blighted parcels. Along with the history of the property, users can also learn the names, cell phone numbers and office numbers of an inspector of a specific property.
Empyra, a local software development company, provided the software platform for the project, said Shanthi Subramanyam, its CEO. "It can make a difference, an impact. You can really see what's going on."
The idea emerged from a series of neighborhood meetings that the mayor and members of his staff attended over the last year and a half.
Sammarone noted that the city has $2 million reserved for demolition, a sum he concedes is not going to "go very far," considering the scope of the work that needs to be done with blighted properties.
"My goal is to tear down 1,000 homes over the next year and a half," Sammarone said.
But further work also requires the advice and opinions of resident and the collective efforts from various neighborhood groups. The website provides information that can empower them to act before an abandoned house deteriorates to a point where it can't be salvaged, Sammarone said.
And, he said, homeowners across the city have a responsibility to maintain their own properties. "That's the objective of this whole process, and groups are important to the process," he remarked.
Jerry O'Hara, president of the Garden District Neighborhood Association, which covers an area of the West Side near Lake Glacier in Mill Creek Park, said that the new service is "very user-friendly" and provides information that his group can use to help the area.
Valerie Goncalves, president of the Love Your Neighborhood Block Watch in Brier Hill, said the No. 1 issue in her neighborhood is tackling blight.
"I'm happy to see this leading to better demolition projects," she said. "This project is a great asset to the city."
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.