Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 28th 2007, 9:41am By Elena Cala Buscarino

Oswaldo Mestre Director of Division of Citizen Services for the City of Buffalo is happy to have Buffalo named to American City & County® magazine’s list of the 2007 “America’s Crown Communities.”

"Clean sweep targets neighborhoods with quality of life issues--abandoned houses, vehicles, drug houses--things we learn about through calls and observations. We identified the 'Dirty Dozen,' which happened to be the dirty nineteen this year, and then we go in with a variety of city departments, and clean things up," Mestre said.

"We started this initiative with the previous administration, but we've gotten better at what we do," he said. "This is a grass roots, community-driven focus that started as a weed [out crime] and seed [development] initiative that...grew."

According to Mestre, the first step is to marshal all of the city departments, resident and block clubs. Then, using calls to the mayor's resolution line, Mestre's team maps out hot spots in the community. Mestre said that it's easy to implement the fixes then; sending city crews in to board houses, go door-to-door to hand out smoke detectors, create a presence...and gather intelligence.

"We tally what needs to be done and fix things on the spot. The reception is positive," Mestre said. He said that they go through every house, and sometimes find squatters. "But that's positive too...we help get them into suitable housing. We also put tenants and landlords on notice if we find illegal activity." Landlords are informed that if their tenants are participating in illegal activities, they themselves are going to be held responsible.

"When we're working in a neighborhood, residents will get out their rakes and assist us. They feel secure and will talk to us about issues they are having," Mestre said. "We try to take a creative approach in using city laws to enforce city codes. The mayor pushed us to get out into the community more, and it gives us the ability to deal with citizens first."

As for being named to the list, Mestre said, "I'm out in the community. I have a sense of what the residents are going through. We're doing something right."

From left to right: Oswaldo Mestre, Jr. Director, Division of Citizen Services; Richard Kaufman, Assistant US Attorney; Mayor Byron W. Brown; Nicole Drye, Coordinator of Save Our Streets Program; Jack Coad, United States Marshals Service; Chief Donna Berry, B District, Buffalo Police.