The mayor of Syracuse begins her annual series of community meetings Thursday evening. This year the meetings will be held in city parks, and come with a twist.
It's not every day the mayor of your community visits your neighborhood to meet face-to-face with residents. But for the past three years, Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has visited local neighborhoods to discuss community issues.
Luke Dougherty, Syracuse's director of community engagement, says there is a new aspect of the meetings this year.
"We are asking ..... either residents or city staff, to come out and do a light cleanup of the parks and the surrounding areas."
The clean-up will take place for an hour before each meeting. Dougherty says the clean-up will bring the community together and encourage more ownership of the park.
"People are interested in doing things like that. It's a great way to show your support, both symbolically and realistically."
The meetings kick off tonight at 6:30 pm at Burnet Park. The other meetings are being held on August 7 in Thornden Park, August 9 in McKinley Park and August 16 in McChesney Park. There are rain locations for all meetings. For more information, call the mayor's office at 448-8005.
