Albany commissioner launches ‘Keep East Albany Clean’ initiative

ALBANY – As Albany residents and visitors travel through town, they may start to notice signs popping up in business windows, schools and yards. 

“Please help keep east Albany peachy clean,” the blue and white signs read. 

The signs are part of a movement launched by Albany Ward I Commissioner Jon Howard in partnership with Keep Albany-Dougherty Beautiful, an organization focused on city beautification, and the Dougherty County School System. Howard called upon community members within KADB and the school system to emphasize the importance of keeping the streets clean, especially in east Albany. 

“We’re concerned with the east side of Albany … with all aspects of Albany,” Jwana Washington, KADB’s executive director, said. “We need to take a more vested interest in keeping our city … clean. When we do that, we can invite investors to come in, we can invite more business to come into the city.” 

Howard asked for Albany School System Superintendent Ken Dyer’s support and for signs to be placed in the windows of local schools, during the Wednesday initiative launch at Dougherty Comprehensive High School.

“We have to educate the upcoming generation that when you have areas that don’t look good, it hurts economic development,” Howard said. 

Howard said there is a real issue with littering across the city, but especially in his ward. He said this new partnership would be a motivator for students to stay informed and be a part of community clean-up projects and initiatives. Howard said he’d like to see more student groups volunteering to help keep the city clean. 

Dougherty High Principal Lakisha Bobbitt said the school is committed to the movement. 

“I take pride in the building that our students come into,” she said. “I take pride in, as they pull up to our campus, what it looks like on the outside and on the inside.”

Bobbitt said she recently secured a $3,000 branding package. 

“It was very exciting because anything that we can do to keep our facilities, to keep our area, to keep our community something that our students can be proud of,” she said. 

Dyer said schools along the eastside will be given the peachy clean signs, and schools across the district will be encouraged to “adopt” an area around their school to aid in keeping it clean.