The Council voted decidedly against a nearly $300,000 expenditure that would have funded an extensive Beautification Program concentrated in the downtown areas, noting that there were more critical needs for the money at this time.
The Council voted 2-7 in the defeat, which had been championed for some time by Councillor Naomi Zabot.
Councillor Naomi Zabot advocated
just under $300,0000 – but the matter was defeated 2-7.
“This is something I’m very, very passionate about,” said Zabot. “In terms of the pandemic and the financial situation we’re I, we are getting federal funding to fill in those gaps. According to our City Manager we are in a good place financially and the addition of even one more job in the community is helpful to the community…This money would go back to the community and we’re cleaning up the streets which has become increasingly harder for the DPW to clean up. It’s increasingly hard to keep streets clean and some neighborhoods are spotless and other neighborhoods are full of litter.”