FLINT -- Flint will soon be hiring six officers and opening a bureau to fight blight.
The City of Flint set up the Blight Elimination Bureau in response to thousands of calls they've received from residents complaining about dirty neighborhoods.
But some say the resources should have been used to fight crime instead.
Old couch cushions, discarded wire, and bags and bags of garbage.
"Clean it up or you will be ticketed," said Flint Mayor Dayne Walling.
This will soon be the warning from Flint's new Blight Elimination Bureau.
It’ll be made up of six officers who's job will be to patrol neighborhood's like these, ticketing for trash.
“This is a wake up call for property owners who have not been responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of their properties,” said Walling.
Boarded up windows, broken glass, this is the blight that the president of the Flint Firefighters Union wants cleaned up in his neighborhood, and he's going to make sure the mayor's office knows about it.
They are going to get a weekly call from me, and I’m going to see if they are going to do what they are saying they are going to do,” said Raul Garcia, President of the Flint Firefighters Union.
The mayor admits in the past citations have been lost in the court system, but now a blight hot line will be set up so repeat offenders can be tracked.
"We have a variety of tools to use if people don't comply in addition to civil penalties, up to criminal prosecution, which we will certainly use that if people don't comply with the ordinances,” said Flint City Attorney, Peter Bade.
The Blight Elimination Bureau is paid for by a federal grant and from a legal settlement, money the firefighters union says should have been used for public safety.
“Yes, blight is a big factor, but if I was a manufacturing company, and I wanted to bring my company to the city, I would want to make sure they had police and fire,” said Garcia.
But the mayor says blight elimination officers will be used as the eyes and ears for public safety departments.
By the end of August, the Blight Elimination Bureau will be issuing citations, but before that, they'll be handing out brochures, educating the public on what will get them a ticket.
Citations will cost 25$ for the first offense and can increase up to 500$ for repeat offenders.
