Deborah Auspelmyer presents donation to Supervisor Karl Baia
The Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce recently presented a donation for the Graffiti Fund to Supervisor Karl Baia after meeting with Supervisor Baia, Detective Tom Nethaway and Superintendent of the Amsterdam School District, Tom Perillo; regarding the graffiti situation within the City of Amsterdam. “The Chamber supports the efforts of the City’s officials, police department and Supervisor Baia in trying to control the tagging that is occurring on property throughout the area,” explains Chamber President, Deborah Auspelmyer. “The graffiti has a detrimental impact on the image and quality of life of our neighborhoods. Having to continually clean it up is an unfair expense to our business owners. We applaud the efforts of everyone involved in the continued clean-up and monitoring of these incidents.
“The city and county board have made great efforts to clean up our neighborhoods by following through with a successful demolition team to clean up derelict properties and neighbors have come together to do successful clean up efforts,” states Supervisor Karl Baia. “The graffiti is harming our image, our ability to move forward and is essentially harming our progress in becoming a clean business oriented area. Every avenue we can take in working together to remedy this problem is helpful to our overall goal of a clean, economically friendly and progressive city.”
The Chamber facilitated a brainstorming session with Superintendent Perillo, Supervisor Baia, and Detective Nethaway to review avenues to reach out to the community and students regarding the graffiti and the rewards that are being offered. Several ideas were brought to the table including reaching out to the students via morning announcements and putting together a potential panel discussion at the High School
“The graffiti in the city has taken a downturn in recent months and I believe the cause to be vigilance from the community as a whole,” remarks Detective Tom Nethaway. “The police, courts, city government, businesses, and residents have seen enough and each are doing their part to put an end to the problem. If we all continue to work together and keep the lines of communication open, problems like this one will have a shorter existence. “
Supervisor Baia will be holding a graffiti clean-up July 23 – 25. For information on how to participate in the clean-up or to make a donation to the graffiti fund, contact Supervisor Baia at 441-8249.