By Kris Michell | Downtown Partnership News

With its location near the San Diego Bay, Downtown San Diego comes by its good looks naturally; but keeping our Downtown clean, safe and beautiful is no accident — it takes hard work and commitment from all of us.

On the frontlines of this effort is the Clean & Safe team, who work tirelessly to keep Downtown at its very best, emptying trash cans, sweeping up sidewalks, removing graffiti and litter, installing beautiful (and drought-tolerant) plants, as well as stringing twinkle lights in trees.

The impact Clean & Safe has on Downtown can’t be overstated. Just take a look at what Clean & Safe has accomplished since the beginning of the year:

• Pulled 46,630 bags of trash
• Poop-scooped 38,633 times and managed 176 doggy-bag stations
• Removed more than 22,900 stickers
• Cleaned nearly 6,200 pieces of graffiti from Downtown buildings and sidewalks
• Provided directional assistance to more than 5,500 residents and visitors
• Addressed more than 4,300 loitering calls on behalf of property owners and businesses

But for Downtown to continue to thrive, it’s going to take more than just the efforts of the Clean & Safe team — it will take all of us to ensure that we are delivering on the true promise of our urban center.

While it is a tall order to create a world-class Downtown, the good news is that there is no shortage of ways that you can get involved and help Clean & Safe and the Downtown San Diego Partnership in its efforts.

Community cleanups: The Downtown San Diego Partnership and the Clean & Safe team routinely hold cleanups to engage the community and provide a little extra TLC to neighborhoods throughout Downtown.

The next such cleanup, which is in conjunction with the Gaslamp Quarter Association, is scheduled for Saturday, May 30 at 8 a.m. We hope you’ll join our team of volunteers to make sure our historic Gaslamp Quarter continues to shine brightly. Register online today at gaslamp.org/cleanup.

Weekly Walkabouts: Want to get a street-level view of what Clean & Safe is working on? Join us on one of our weekly walkabouts where we survey the streets and sidewalks of Downtown to find out what needs fixing. These walkabouts, which are held every Friday and rotate throughout all the neighborhoods that Clean & Safe serves, are a great opportunity to meet your Downtown neighbors and learn about our daily operation, all while enjoying a stroll with a program supervisor. Clean & Safe reports all issues identified during the walkabouts to the City of San Diego and provides needed follow-up to get those issues addressed. Get information about the next walkabout by contacting Clean & Safe either by phone at 619-234-8900 or by email at [email protected].

Community Input: To create a great urban neighborhood, you need the community’s support and involvement. That is why the Downtown San Diego Partnership and the Clean & Safe team are vigilant in their efforts to receive feedback and input from property owners, residents and business owners throughout Downtown. Clean & Safe staff routinely gives updates on its current programs and priorities at neighborhood meetings, as well as holding annual community meetings to help develop its budget and goals for the coming year. Property owners can also ask Clean & Safe for an on-site visit to review and assess specific issues affecting their property.

If you don’t have time to attend a meeting, there are plenty of other ways to stay informed. You can provide feedback to Clean & Safe through the Downtown San Diego Partnership’s recently revamped website at downtownsandiego.org/clean-and-safe. With a click of a button, you can report on anything from graffiti removal to trash pickup to the refilling of doggie bag stations. The new website also delivers on Clean & Safe’s commitment to best-of-class accountability and oversight, and you can find all its meeting minutes, tax forms and financials online at downtownsandiego.org/clean-and-safe/pbid-meetings-reports. To keep updated on all Clean & Safe happenings, make sure to sign up to receive its electronic bulletins either by signing up on its website or by emailing [email protected].

We want to hear from you: Finally, do you have a story about your Downtown San Diego experience or how the Clean & Safe Program has improved your quality of life? We are looking for first-person accounts of what brought you Downtown, why you stayed and why you love your neighborhood.

We know you love our Downtown as much as we do. This is your chance to tell us why. Send your stories and photos to [email protected], and you may be featured in our weekly bulletin or on our social media pages.

—Kris Michell is the president and CEO of the Downtown San Diego Partnership, the organization that oversees the Clean & Safe program and also works toward creating a world-class Downtown. For questions or comments, email [email protected].