A local business organization is launching a new “Adopt-a-Block” cleanup program to encourage local companies to clean up Dallas.
Louis Darrouzet, CEO of the Metroplex Civic & Business Association (MCBA), told The Dallas Express the idea was inspired by Texas’ familiar “Adopt-a-Highway” program and first discussed in August during one of the association’s luncheons.
“As we looked around this last year, it seemed clear that in the city of Dallas … there [are] parts of the city where people are coming in from out of town, and frankly, they’ve just been really dirty,” he said, adding that trash gets strewn about in public places and not picked up.
He explained that the Adopt-a-Block program involves a company “adopting” a block of the city and taking responsibility for cleaning it up.
“If the City is not taking charge of this [and] keeping our roads and streets and sidewalks clean … it’s our community, it’s our responsibility at the end of the day,” Darrouzet told The Dallas Express. “If you think back to the olden days when there wasn’t this huge bureaucratic government that did all these services, they had small communities and little towns, and if you wanted stuff to get done, everybody had to do it.”
Darrouzet said the first company to join the program was Ashford Inc., which hosted its first cleanup event on Friday.
“It was pretty successful. They adopted a large section [and] had quite a few volunteers. They picked up a bunch of trash,” he said. “Over time, areas will start to be cleaner.”
Darrouzet said it is important to keep Dallas clean because investments are being made in the city by both businesses and the municipality, and for those investments to pay off, Dallas needs to be attractive to visitors and consumers.
“[The City] is about to spend $1.5 billion on a brand new fancy convention center,” he noted.
Darrouzet said that any businesses interested in participating can join the MCBA and become involved with its other initiatives as well.
“The goal with MCBA is not just to get our executives plugged in and paying attention, but also to get employees paying attention and getting involved so that the advocacy is not just coming from the top — it’s coming from the whole organization.
“It’s coming from all of the employees, and they understand that it’s all of our responsibility to build the city that we want — a city that’s clean, … that’s safe and has low homelessness [and is] not overregulated or overtaxed,” he continued. “We want a city where people can be successful and thrive.”
“The Adopt-a-Block program is just one of the many things that we’re doing to make Dallas better,” Darrouzet concluded.
A recent satisfaction survey conducted by the City of Dallas found that the majority of residents believe city government does a “poor” job of keeping Dallas streets clean.
Polling by The Dallas Express found that most Dallasites are unhappy with the amount of trash and litter they see in their neighborhoods and throughout the city.
Disclaimer: Ashford Inc.’s chairman is Monty J. Bennett, the publisher of The Dallas Express.