Large-item pick-up brings neighbors together
JANESVILLE — It sounded more like a block party than hard work.
Sixty volunteers in 24 trucks rolled up and down the streets of the Historic Fourth Ward and Look West neighborhoods Saturday. They smiled and waved as they passed each other, laughing and ribbing as crews picked up refrigerators, mattresses and furniture.
They hauled away old grills, broken toys and hundreds of tires.
And yes, a giant, broken bong.
Hey, as long as it gets to the dump.
This was the biggest turnout ever for the annual large-item pick-up in Janesville’s west side neighborhoods. Last year, only eight trucks were involved.
“It was backbreaking when there were just a few of us working,” said Fourth Ward resident and Rock County Board Supervisor Billy Bob Grahn.
This is the first year city crews got involved in the project, said Kelly Lee, a city development specialist who worked at “headquarters,” a parking lot at J&W Transfer near the Five Points. Each truckload of volunteers picked up specific kinds of items and sorted them into Dumpster trucks for crews to haul away.
That saved a lot of volunteer time and driving, Lee said.
So why did the city commit cash to cleaning up these neighborhoods and not others? It’s a common question, Lee said.
Volunteer Pat Venable thinks it’s because the initiative came from the residents themselves who devoted their own elbow grease to the clean-up for three years without expecting the city to take care of it.
“You can’t just throw money at a problem,” Venable said. “When we all look to the city to do it, they don’t know where to start. But when a community comes together and takes initiative, (the city is) more willing to help.”
Lee said another thing that added to this year’s clean-up was the work of Westgate Corridor, a coalition of businesses and residents that advocate for the city’s west side.
It’s not just the things getting hauled away that mark improvement in the neighborhoods, Grahn said. It’s also the things appearing on the sidewalks, like joggers and moms walking kids in strollers, he said.
“Five years ago, this neighborhood was an open drug market,” Grahn said. “It was bad.”
He credits the Janesville Police Department for cracking down on the problem.
“I wouldn’t want to be a drug dealer around here,” Grahn joked, noting how closely police watch the area.
Venable said the real estate industry has noted the change, which is a good thing in today’s economy. As a real estate agent, he sees more and more families looking to buy homes in the $40,000 to $60,000 range—the kind of historic, 100-plus-year-old homes that can be found and fixed up on Janesville’s west side.
Grahn said home ownership will be a focus for the Neighborhood Action Team, which sponsors the annual pick-up, as it looks to keep improving the quality of life for Fourth Ward and Look West residents.
He said starting a neighborhood organization is as easy as setting out a couple lawn chairs and making a pot of coffee.
“Invite two neighbors,” Grahn said. “The next time four will come, then six. And don’t just clean up a park. Get out the hot dog cart. Spend some time together.”
Sep 22, 2008 at 10:52 p.m.
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villajanesville....
read it several times... do you have a point???
Sep 22, 2008 at 11:17 a.m.
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I don't think that the objection is that they were sought out for comment, but that the original intent and purpose of the article has been lost with all of the "drug" related discussions. The true sprit of the Large Item Pick Up was not conveyed in the article or the comments here. It is a shame. This was a great event which deserves much praise for all of those involved. Thank you to all who made this happen!
Sep 22, 2008 at 10:24 a.m.
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I have called 911 in my neighborhood many times. There are druggies around and if you call 911 by the time they get there whatever was going on is over.
Sep 22, 2008 at 10:12 a.m.
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readhead-i agree. The whole city should have a day like this. Just cause the rest of the city doesnt leave it lay around doesnt mean we dont need a pick up day as well.
Sep 22, 2008 at 9:29 a.m.
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When we had a chronic noise nuisance problem in 2007, the police got as frustrated as we were that they couldn't catch them "in the act". One of the street crimes unit guys quietly checked the place out several times over a couple of weeks (when he wasn't otherwise busy, of course) until he could give a citation.
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I also don't think the presence of "drug paraphernalia" in garbage, by itself, is sufficient for a search warrant in any jurisdiction. Please note that as a landlord we had to clean out detritus from when a tenant used the basement as a drug den. The person throwing it out is not necessarily the owner. And in any case, the police focus should be on dealers, not users.
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I will agree, as well, that Grahn and Venable have made many contributions known and unknown, and I am not sure why there is an objection to interviewing a couple of participants and using them as examples. Since Grahn is now an elected official he is someone who will be sought out in such situations.
Sep 22, 2008 at 3:48 a.m.
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What good is it to call the police for drug dealing and neighborh0rs who cause problems if these peole haVE POLICE SCANNERS AND KNOW WHEN THE POLICE ARE BEING DISPATCHED. i KNOW OF AT LEAST ONE PLACE WHEN THE POLICE ARE CALLED BECAUSE OF LOUD STEROS AND PEOPLE MILLING ABOUT THE PROPERTY AND CAUSING NUSENCES WHEN THE POLICE SCANNER SAYS THE POLICE ARE ON THE WAY EVERYONE SCATTERS THE STEROS GET TURNED DOWN AND THEY MAKE IT LOOK LIKE EVERYTHING IS NORMAL
Sep 21, 2008 at 6:13 p.m.
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villajanesville......
Do you actually think someone would be dumb enough to put a giant broken bong in front of their own home??? Doubt it, and if they did, they deserve to be caught.
Sep 21, 2008 at 2:13 p.m.
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I am very disappointed with the lackluster coverage of this very positive event. There were many people and entities who donated time, money and services to make this a successful event. The article appears to be about the thoughts of Grahn and Venable and not what the event was all about. To my knowledge these two were not involved in any of the months of planning, scheduling and organizing this event. Glad to see that Lee was at least able to get some comments in there.
Sep 21, 2008 at 1:10 p.m.
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Thank you to everyone involved. This was the first year we took advantage of the opportunity. It was actually alot of fun. We had so many people stopping to ask if they could take the stuff, that by the time the city came, there were very few things left.
I was amazed when I drove by their "headquarters" how many TVs and tires were picked up.
This was such a great thing!! Thanks again!!
Sep 21, 2008 at 12:15 p.m.
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janesvillean...
Thank you for the advice, and I would love nothing more then to see these scum be put out of business, but I can't call 911 every time I see a deal take place, the 911 center would be flooded with phone calls!
I think the problem with some of these landlords is that some of them get a piece of the pie for keeping quiet. on the other hand, I know of a landlord that bought up a few houses with drug dealers, gave them 28 day notice, and fixed up the houses. I am thankful for those landlords.
Sep 21, 2008 at 11:15 a.m.
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luluberry, as a fellow resident of these neighborhoods, I call 911 whenever I see drug dealing. I hope you are calling 911 to pass this knowledge of drug dealing on to the police.
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There are obviously still places where this takes place. There are obviously still landlords who don't care if they rent to criminals or what problems their neighbors experience. But this is not something that magically solves itself. It needs community involvement. The cops don't have "crime radar" that flashes a spot on a map when something happens. And even when something happens, eliminating the problem such as a drug house usually cannot happen overnight. Police investigations take weeks at the very least, months or years in other cases. Drug busts may not put everyone in the house in jail, or for long (bail). Meanwhile there are usually other problem behaviors that can be addressed from excessive noise to fighting. If there are sufficient arrests at an address, under the nuisance ordinance, the landlord MUST meet with the chief of police and discuss a plan for mitigation. The police can issue a declaration which gives the landlord the right under the law to a three-day eviction notice without a right to cure. THIS WORKS. I have seen it work.
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But it has to start with that phone call. luluberry, please contact the police with what you know, and I suggest you attend a Neighborhood Action Team meeting so that you can meet other residents who are working with the city to make changes. Nobody on the NAT expects the city or the police to just come along and fix things for them.
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redbedhead, this comes up every year. The Large Item Pick-up is almost certainly funded by a federal community development block grant. The city has only a certain amount of this money every year and has to allocate it where it will do the most good. If you want the city to expand the area, you should talk to a member of the city council.
Sep 21, 2008 at 11:07 a.m.
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luluberry~ I totally agree with you. That place constantly has drug dealing going on. Does not matter what time of day or night. I lived down there when I was about 18/19 and I remember coming home from work one night and a man came running up to me (freaked me out) and asked me if I wanted to buy some crack! I think the area would be a beautiful area and most of those houses could be restored and updated but not many want to take the time because right now it doesn't look like they will ever get the drug problem out of there.
Sep 21, 2008 at 10:46 a.m.
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biffklg,I'm sorry I guess what I was trying to say is I think the city could try to fund a large item city wide pick-up day. I commend the neighbors of the Look West and Old Forth Ward for getting this together. And in the mean time I will get togher with my neighbors.
Sep 21, 2008 at 10:31 a.m.
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(“Five years ago, this neighborhood was an open drug market,” Grahn said. “It was bad.”
He credits the Janesville Police Department for cracking down on the problem.
“I wouldn’t want to be a drug dealer around here,” Grahn joked, noting how closely police watch the area. )
WTF??? This neighborhood is still an open drug market.
Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for what they did yesterday, really I am.
But the only thing the Janesville Police have done is make the dealers learn their driving schedules and "work" around them. My "neighbors" always set up shop when they know that there won't be allot of police around, and from what I see from my living room window, they get allot of business.
Tell the police to drive in this area around 4 or 5, they will be surprised.
Sep 21, 2008 at 10:10 a.m.
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Wow. I didn't know Janesville did this. It's great. I was wondering why some man was putting huge random things on the curb. I was thinking to myself...the garbage co. isn't going to take that. HA. Well I'm glad they are trying to clean up the Fourth Ward. It is greatly needed.
Sep 21, 2008 at 9:53 a.m.
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redbedhead, like the story says, get you're neighbors together and start a large item pick up in you're neighborhood, that's all there is to it.
Sep 21, 2008 at 7:49 a.m.
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Why was this special pick-up only for the Look West and old Forth Ward areas??? This entire city could use a "clean sweep" type of pick-up.
Sep 21, 2008 at 1:10 a.m.
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It was great to see the ads on the electronic billboards -- I assume those were donated. Still I was concerned that there wasn't as much promotion as in past years and I just didn't see as much stuff out on the curb the night before. Was the overall "haul" comparable?
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There has been an enormous visible change in the neighborhood, and I credit the city as well as the police because the nuisance ordinance really made certain landlords realize they couldn't rent to just anybody and shrug their shoulders when someone was dealing drugs. Without the cooperation of the landlords the cops would still be running around "putting out fires".
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Oh, and don't forget to thank the "pickers" who were out the night before ....
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