As Shawnee looks for methods of improving the quality of life its citizens have, several experienced leaders offer city staff and government a bit of advice based on what has worked for them.
Georgie Rasco, executive director of Oklahoma City Neighborhood Alliance, said that of the 380 neighborhood associations in Oklahoma City, all have at their core the goal to “create good neighbors.” Rasco said neighborhood associations, whether voluntary or mandatory, often arise in response to issues those neighborhoods face, although a proactive approach is better than a reactive one.
“Neighborhood associations are the pulse of what’s going on,” she said. “Typically crime leads to neighborhoods wanting programs and associations. And living in a well-connected neighborhood with good neighbors is great security.”
But local city leaders, such as Justin Erickson, Shawnee community development director, believe in addition to building unity in neighborhoods, other issues are important to strengthening Shawnee. Some of these include current and long-range planning for the city and code enforcement.
“There are several reasons why code compliance is important to Shawnee,” Erickson said.
Those reasons, he said, are social indicators, health and safety aspects, aesthetics and business implications.
Last year, there were 85 cases of those who were found non-compliant and as of October this year, there were 132 active cases, Erickson said. But the increase in numbers of cases could be seen as a good thing and could be a result of having an additional, temporary part-time employee, he said.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “We can be more aggressive in our compliance capabilities.”
Erickson said in addition to listing code compliance information on the city’s Web site, a new brochure has been formed to help educate residents, businesses and other property owners about the ordinances in Shawnee and what enforcement of those ordinances can include, as well as benefits of code compliance.
Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce members suggested that resurrecting the Adopt-a-Street program, calling property owners prior to sending non-compliance letters, increasing demolition funding, offering a disposal site for larger items and securing a force of dedicated volunteers would also be beneficial to creating a higher quality of life in Shawnee.
Erickson agreed with the suggestions and offered an additional benefit.
“When cleaning up structures, oftentimes you are cleaning up crime as well,” Erickson said.
Some of the methods of improving the aesthetics of the city that have been implemented by Erickson and the handful of employees in the planning department, building division, Action Center, and community development and urban renewal departments, include programs such as Operation Paintbrush. That program incorporated the willingness of businesses and the efforts of volunteers into beautifying several storefronts in downtown Shawnee.
But, Erickson said, no matter the efforts made thus far, there is much more work to do in Shawnee. This work, he said, can be broken into a few goals for the current fiscal year.
“Those goals are improving on the enhancements so far, having adequate personnel to address issues of compliance, measuring performance and focusing on dilapidated structures,” he said.
In addition, customer service has become a focus of improvement for city staff and has been addressed by working to be more business friendly, creating the ability to apply for permits online and aiming for better education for the community.
“Business friendly isn’t always doing what someone wants, in the cheapest way,” Erickson said. “It’s doing what is best for the community as a whole ... It’s an issue everyone realizes needs to be addressed.”
When one area of a neighborhood begins to improve its appearance through code compliance, that momentum “reverberates throughout the community,” he said.
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As Shawnee looks for methods of improving the quality of life its citizens have, several experienced leaders offer city staff and government a bit of advice based on what has worked for them.
Georgie Rasco, executive director of Oklahoma City Neighborhood Alliance, said that of the 380 neighborhood associations in Oklahoma City, all have at their core the goal to “create good neighbors.” Rasco said neighborhood associations, whether voluntary or mandatory, often arise in response to issues those neighborhoods face, although a proactive approach is better than a reactive one.
“Neighborhood associations are the pulse of what’s going on,” she said. “Typically crime leads to neighborhoods wanting programs and associations. And living in a well-connected neighborhood with good neighbors is great security.”
But local city leaders, such as Justin Erickson, Shawnee community development director, believe in addition to building unity in neighborhoods, other issues are important to strengthening Shawnee. Some of these include current and long-range planning for the city and code enforcement.
“There are several reasons why code compliance is important to Shawnee,” Erickson said.
Those reasons, he said, are social indicators, health and safety aspects, aesthetics and business implications.
Last year, there were 85 cases of those who were found non-compliant and as of October this year, there were 132 active cases, Erickson said. But the increase in numbers of cases could be seen as a good thing and could be a result of having an additional, temporary part-time employee, he said.
“It’s getting better,” he said. “We can be more aggressive in our compliance capabilities.”
Erickson said in addition to listing code compliance information on the city’s Web site, a new brochure has been formed to help educate residents, businesses and other property owners about the ordinances in Shawnee and what enforcement of those ordinances can include, as well as benefits of code compliance.
Greater Shawnee Area Chamber of Commerce members suggested that resurrecting the Adopt-a-Street program, calling property owners prior to sending non-compliance letters, increasing demolition funding, offering a disposal site for larger items and securing a force of dedicated volunteers would also be beneficial to creating a higher quality of life in Shawnee.
Erickson agreed with the suggestions and offered an additional benefit.
“When cleaning up structures, oftentimes you are cleaning up crime as well,” Erickson said.
Some of the methods of improving the aesthetics of the city that have been implemented by Erickson and the handful of employees in the planning department, building division, Action Center, and community development and urban renewal departments, include programs such as Operation Paintbrush. That program incorporated the willingness of businesses and the efforts of volunteers into beautifying several storefronts in downtown Shawnee.
But, Erickson said, no matter the efforts made thus far, there is much more work to do in Shawnee. This work, he said, can be broken into a few goals for the current fiscal year.
“Those goals are improving on the enhancements so far, having adequate personnel to address issues of compliance, measuring performance and focusing on dilapidated structures,” he said.
In addition, customer service has become a focus of improvement for city staff and has been addressed by working to be more business friendly, creating the ability to apply for permits online and aiming for better education for the community.
“Business friendly isn’t always doing what someone wants, in the cheapest way,” Erickson said. “It’s doing what is best for the community as a whole ... It’s an issue everyone realizes needs to be addressed.”
When one area of a neighborhood begins to improve its appearance through code compliance, that momentum “reverberates throughout the community,” he said.
