Concern over a sudden increase in vandalism on Price City property brought Parks and Cemetery Supervisor Chad Greenhalgh before the City Council on Wednesday to petition for action.
Greenhalgh said he came to the council meeting in his role as supervisor, and as a citizen, to inform the group of the recent escalation of the damage. “I’m at my wit’s end,” he said. “I consider myself a positive person, but I’m getting pessimistic about this problem.”
He illustrated the point by passing around a collection of photographs of the vandalism that had happened in just the past seven days, chronicling the scrawled profanities, burned garbage cans and destroyed property that had brought him to the Council for help.
Greenhalgh suggested that the Council should consider adding security measures and working to increase public awareness of the problem– especially giving the community information on how they can report such crimes.
“True power [to address the problem] will come,” he said,” when we empower the citizens to take the initiative.”
Mayor Joe Piccolo agreed the issue deserved attention. “As a business owner, I do think vandalism is on the upswing,” he said. He suggested Greenhalgh get the ball rolling by writing an article for local news media to use to inform the community about the issue.
Members of the Council and Chief of Police Aleck Shilaos debated the merit of installing more security cameras. Several of the Council members supported the idea, and Shiloas agreed that the cameras could eliminate some of the problem, but he suggested that the best way to deal with the issue was to have an authoritative presence at the properties.
After much discussion, Mayor Piccolo recommended that the city use a combination of education, enforcement and the implementation of new equipment. Look for the city to increase enforcement to try to get a handle on the problem.