August 13, 2013

Cockayne vows to fight graffiti, blight

Press release from Republican mayoral candidate Ken Cockayne:

Cockayne unveils Blight Initiatives.

(Bristol)  City Councilman Ken Cockayne, the Republican nominee for Mayor of the City of Bristol today unveiled his initiatives to combat blight in our city and our neighborhoods.
“As Mayor, from my first day in office I intend to push the Code Enforcement Committee to be more aggressive in the area of code enforcement in order to rein in properties that have been allowed to deteriorate due to the influx of absentee landlords we have in Bristol,” Cockayne added, “This committee will have the full backing of the Mayor’s office and I would urge all Bristol residents to report blighted properties as soon as possible so we can get a handle on it before they become an eyesore.”
Cockayne added that he intends to ask the City Council to adopt a policy to require all graffiti on city property to be removed by the various departments within 48 hours of the graffiti being noticed. “This may become time consuming for the various departments, however I believe it is necessary in order to help clean up our city,” Cockayne said
The Republican nominee also said that he intends to add to the city website a link so that residents can report graffiti as they see it in their neighborhood. “Graffiti is not only limited to the so called artwork by the artist but sneakers on the wires also send a bad message about our community,” Cockayne said.
“Under current ordinance private businesses have 10 days from notification to remove graffiti from its property and having this website as a tool will help us move the process along quicker and get this problem under wraps as soon as possible, “ Cockayne said
Cockayne has been active since first being elected to the City Council in helping to clean up the West End.  Since being elected in 2007, Cockayne has sponsored the annual West End clean up day, and he was instrumental in helping to form the West End Association which is not only having a positive impact on our community but it is also growing each year.
“My goal as Mayor is to try and clean up Bristol, in the form of blighted properties that are getting worse and graffiti which makes our community less attractive to businesses and families, “Cockayne concluded, “As we all know graffiti is also associated with drug trafficking, violence and gangs and I intend to do everything in my power as Mayor to put these entities out of business in Bristol.”

Copyright 2013 All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com

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