Blight Busters asks AT&T to 'be more of a neighbor' and maintain their property
DETROIT, Mich. (FOX 2) - John George, the founder of the Detroit Blight Busters, has been on a mission to fight blight in the city for more than three decades, but he says a corporate neighbor needs to do their part.
"All I'm asking for you to do is maintain your property," said George.
A property on Lahser south of Grand River is littered with garbage. The sidewalk is a mess, the trees need to be trimmed, and there's even some graffiti and a citation from the city telling AT&T to clean this up.
"If they don't have this cleaned up by Angel's Night, Blight Busters is going to clean it up and we're going to bill them," said George. "I don't know what else to say or what else to do."
The Blight Busters work very hard to keep this area clean, hence their frustration. Lahser on the north side of Grand River is spotless.
"AT&T has over 200,000 employees. They have over $500 billion in assets. If a little nickel-and-dime mom-and-pop nonprofit like Blight Busters can keep our streets clean, I think they can do a little bit of a better job," said George.
Goerge says he's had multiple meetings and conversations with A&T… but they make promises they don't keep.
"We just would love to see AT&T be more of a neighbor… be more of a corporate partner. We've hosted a number of cleanups in and around their facility, asked them to participate, and nothing," said George. "All I'm asking them repeatedly is to maintain their property. I'm sure their suburban locations don't look like this, and we just want to be treated fairly."
Angel's Night is celebrated by Blight Busters at the Artist's Village. They'll be hosting hundreds of people in just a couple of weeks, and they want the surrounding neighborhood in tip-top shape.
"We're expecting over 300 people on the 29th of October. Doors open at 5, dinner is at 6, and the patrol's at dusk," said George.
But it's not just about Angel's Night; it's about every night and every day working to keep this neighborhood clean and safe for everyone.
"This is serious to us. We not only work here, we live here."
AT&T tells FOX 2 they are looking into it. More to come.
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