Wow, where to start the summer has been flying by and its been some time since I made a post to my blog. I wont try and detail the entire void time, but I will try and highlight some areas that have moved forward regarding the City of Guthrie. The council approved the movement forward on the highly needed water treatment plant with a rate increase and the added $7.50 fee per month or $90.00 per year or a.246 cent per day fee specifically for the water treatment plant. I think overall the community understands the need for the plant and the ability to continue to serve quality water and the sustainability for the future growth of our community. This has been a collectively difficult decision to make anytime dealing with citizens pocket books and one that was not taken lightly by me or the City as well. As we know sometimes progress and change can hurt a bit but in the end I know the city will be in a better position to serve its citizens and the future growth of the community. On another note the establishment of the First Capitol Neighborhood Solutions has been formed. This group will be made of citizens from each ward to help establish neighborhood groups within the City. I have been a huge proponent for this type action and look forward to the many ideas to come from this group. I know in my neighborhood, we have established an area and we are looking at holding our second block party coming in late September or Early October and should be great fun again. I would like to take a moment to thank Dr. John Wood regarding the implementation of the neighborhood group organization without his help, I am not sure it would have taken off so well. Moving forward I have a few things on my plate to help get started in the community one is the implementation of a curb side recycling program for the community. There would be a fee associated with this type service so I am curious what the local population thinks of this type service? I would welcome anyone reading this blog within the community to write me back if they would be for such a service in order for me to move forward. I would think the fee would range in the $3.00 to $4.00 per month for curb side service but I don't have an exact cost just a guess but a place to start. On a personal note I have been so busy this summer dealing with the day to day activities of work and summer. This is quite a busy time of the year for the Ayers family with the wedding business in full force. It seems blog writing gets shuffled to the bottom of the pile. I will make a conscientious effort to post more often. As usual I welcome family, friends, and my community to shoot me a response for our City. I am always pleased to get input from the local citizens the dialogue is a great way to make things happen. Thanks again for the opportunity to serve you.
Trey
5 comments:
Exactly!!! Where have you been? Well we hope you have a wonderful block party! It appears that you have selected a few blocks around your home to selectively decide who is invited. In the mean time the rest of us keep asking you what the city is doing to make our neighborhoods safe and protected. In fact, just a few blocks away from your sectioned off block party, there are houses falling down, dangerous pit bulls running loose, known drug and prostitution houses that just get ignored by the local police. Instead they send out volunteer police reserves to ride up and down division ticketing locals for going slightly over the speed limit and not wearing seat belts. Why can't the city stick with the plan and cite these code violators and press hard on those thumbing their noses at the community. Maybe at your block party you can discuss with the selected few how they would feel trying to raise their children next to these dilapidated cess pools that bring property values down and run off the desirable types. By the way your office is beautiful, we are so impressed. Still waiting for the city to get with it!
I would like to address the issues that you brought up. We indeed did utilize an area for our block party by setting a boundry area. Hence the idea of a block party and not a city party or Logan County party or The State of Oklahoma party. We had to stop somewhere and we made a judgement call. The installation of the neghborhood board will help other citizens in developing their own identity and I hope you take the time to do that very thing. You can contact Sue DuCharme
First Capitol Neighborhood Solutions
282-1185
To help in the details they are working hard on building this system.
Regarding the list of complaints I agree with the various issues we are dealing with and the City is indeed working on those items to clean up the City, however in the end I feel the citizens as well hold a level of responsiblity for self policing and the installment of the type of neighborhood groups is a start. The City has set in place that all police officers will be conducting code enforcement work in lieu of one code enforcement officer for the entire City. I am in hope that the very issues you have named start to regress. I however assure you that solving this problem will take time, but we are working on the issues.
I will take exception to your comment dealing with reserve officers these are men and women spending there own money and time away from families to do a great community service and they perform this work for free. And last I checked going over the posted speed limit and not wearing your seat belt will get you ticket in every city, town, or state not just ours. I am proud of each and every officer, fireman, and City Employee you should be to.
I encourage you to call me and I will be happy to spend time with you regarding City issues. But you will have to actually leave your name next go around.
We need every citizen's help with code enforcement. PLEASE go to www.cityofguthrie.com and click on eGovernment Services in the top right corner. From there, you may post code violations. It is a great help to the City to have more eyes and ears identify problem areas. Thanks!
A spirited community is a great thing! The past several years I have seen a lot of changes in Guthrie. Growth is one of these changes, not only in population but with vision. Trey has been a great representative for Ward 1 as I hope you will agree. His focus on community affairs and opening the books and council agendas to the citizens of Guthrie is just a sampling of his commitment. I have been tracking his blog since its inception and want to thank him personally for taking the time to keep us all updated.
I agree that every city has a neighborhood or group of citizens that seem to fall short when it comes to manicured lawns or clutter free driveways. One of the differences between a great neighborhood and one that is unfortunately labeled “not” is the actual participation of the people living in those very neighborhoods. I don’t mean one or two neighbors voicing their dissatisfaction but taking this voice and turning it into a positive. Block parties are a great venue in opening up the immediate populous to “voicing” what they feel is needed to improve their “block”. Starting out on a smaller scale enables the participants to branch their thoughts to other streets and the wave begins. In time one would hope that every street in Guthrie would feel like they are part of a larger “Neighborhood Watch” group.
Crime is an unfortunate problem in any community. Police officers are struggling to keep up in every township. Many cities do not have adequate funding to support the amount of patrol, fire protection and EMT personnel to properly cover every call. They do the best they can with what they have. Reserve Officers, Volunteer Fireman and Volunteer EMT’s, and last I heard your City Council Members all give time without receiving one tax dollar. You’re Reserve Officers and Volunteer Firefighters put their life on the line to protect and serve your community – all for the satisfaction of knowing they are helping those Cities they are in. By the way, there is not one ordinance that I have read that states citizens of a town are immune or exempt from seat belts or speeding and I can assure you that the local police department, including animal control, is not turning the other way when it comes to protecting your neighborhood from crime, prostitution, unwanted animals and code violations.
I have been fortunate to meet several employees and officials within city hall and I strongly believe this town is in good hands. Each and every one is working hard to better the community and serve your needs.
Change takes time; let the wave start and jump on when it hits your neighborhood. Help those who have trouble getting on board – be an active participant in your community and neighborhood.
I would like to thank you Mr. Ayers for your prompt action and resolution to our neighborhood code enforcement issues and also with regard to our concerns about the dangerous pit bulls in our area. This has been an ongoing issue that we had been unable to resolve until we contacted your office. We were pleased with the results. These issues can be resolved in time if we work together.
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