Creating Change

During the early stages of taking over a turn around park it is very important to create a new impression on your residents, in many cases the previous owners have not maintained the property to the best of their ability, many times by choice. Sometimes the choice revolves around putting nothing back into the park, lack of concern for the residents or both.

Upon taking over the park here in Albany, GA I chose to drive around the park every morning with several empty 5 gallon buckets and a pick up stick. I walked up and down each street picking up candy wrappers and empty soda cans, as I did I greeted residents good morning and asked them what concerns and problems they had and what their #1 issue was. This was a perfect opportunity to get to know the residents and hear their thoughts and concerns.

Through their answers and feedback I gained a great deal of insight, with this insight in hand I started working on some of the issues. The number one issue was the dumpsters, they were overflowing with trash and spilling out on the ground which left the residents in many cases with no where to put their trash. Part of the problem was due to people who lived in surrounding neighborhoods using our dumpsters as a free place to dispose of their trash.

To my surprise it took three months to get the city to give my residents individual trash cans. Upon delivery of the individual cans the response from the residents was very positive, I’m sure this had to do in some part with the fact the previous owners did nothing about the trash issue no matter how many times the residents talked about it.

In addition to putting rules in place to bring your residents into compliance with the new ownerships goals, it is equally important to create a new and positive atmosphere, one where people feel the change is a positive thing.

By asking residents for feedback I showed them I was interested in their thoughts and concerns, by taking action and resolving their number one concern I showed them I would act on their concerns.

By helping my residents believe in me, I set the stage for them coming to me with more than just everyday issues, before long they were coming to me with information about illegal activities and the people who were taking part in these activities. The help I received from residents accelerated my ability to deal with problem people and the issues.

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