Downtown property owners voted recently to renew and expand the Downtown San Diego Partnership Clean & Safe Program for another 10 years.
The program provides maintenance and safety-related services in the Downtown public right of way, supplementing those provided by the city. This 24-hour program, considered a model for the country, will increase maintenance personnel from 17 full-time employees to 37; expand sidewalk power-washing services to all neighborhoods; and increase sidewalk sweeping and landscaping maintenance.
Clean & Safe, a Property and Business Improvement District, covers 272 blocks, including core Columbia, Cortez, East Village, the Gaslamp Quarter and Marina.
The program operates under the auspices of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, and is governed by a volunteer management committee, whose members are comprised of property owners, businesses and representatives of each Downtown neighborhood.
Clean & Safe maintenance and safety crews are sent to five neighborhoods 24 hours a day, seven days a week, where they perform maintenance activities supplementing the city’s services. This includes sidewalk sweeping, trash and debris removal, power-washing sidewalks, graffiti removal, landscaping, tree maintenance and weed whacking, while the safety members serve as an extra set of eyes on the street, according to a program spokesman.
“We are extremely grateful to Downtown’s property owners for this tremendous show of support and we are very proud of the Clean & Safe Program and the work it does Downtown,” said Barbara Warden, partnership president. “Tuesday’s vote means that Downtown workers, residents and visitors will continue to enjoy a clean Downtown and a professional, responsive and hard-working maintenance staff for at least the next 10 years to come.”
Pat Broderick
