By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

Five years — that’s how long Tom Conway and the rest of the city’s Community Life Improvement Program (CLIP) workers have to clean up countless decades of urban neglect in the 6th Councilmanic District.
This is not to say that the district, which has been the stomping ground of Councilwoman Joan Krajewski for 22 years, is suffering from widespread decay. Unlike other areas of the city targeted by Mayor John Street’s Neighborhood Transformation Initiative for large-scale demolition and reconstruction of homes, the 6th is merely in need of a sprucing-up in most cases.
Conway, who was plucked to head CLIP after a successful tenure leading the city’s Graffiti Abatement Team, explained his program’s plan of attack to members of the Holmesburg Civic Association last Wednesday during the civic group’s monthly meeting at the neighborhood recreation center.
“We don’t have a whole lot of decrepit buildings in Joan’s district,” Conway said. “Most of (the complaints) are about pets, high weeds, trash being put out early or people who don’t clean up their yards.”
Conway and his cohorts may have only five years of funding, but they hope the impact that they make in those five years lasts well into the future.
“We are basically re-inventing government here,” Conway said, referring to the way CLIP has managed to bring together a variety of city departments and agencies under the same banner.
“We’re throwing everything against the wall to see what sticks.”
In the past, added Krajewski aide Chris Creelman, residents seeking the city’s help on a public nuisance might have to work their way through a series of agencies before finding the right one to handle the complaint.
“Half the time, people wanted to report something and didn’t know who to call,” Creelman said. “This way, you have one number. You call (the problem) in, and that’s it.”
Conway gave residents a tally of activities of all the city departments working with CLIP since the start of the program in April.
The Graffiti Abatement Team, for instance, had cleaned 5,060 properties through Sept. 13 in the 6th district, which includes all or parts of Torresdale, Holmesburg, Mayfair, Tacony, Wissinoming, Frankford, Bridesburg and Port Richmond.
The police department towed 2,627 vehicles in the same span. The streets department wrote 2,044 sanitation violations, including 1,111 tickets for property owners not keeping their sidewalks “litter free.” In most cases, the violation was putting the trash out too early.
The streets department’s traffic engineering division replaced or repaired 1,442 signs. The Department of Licenses and Inspection issued 4,343 violations, including 2,011 for high weeds and 1,076 for trash-related offenses. And the water department cleared 2,065 sewer inlets.
Of 2,949 individual properties identified by CLIP as having violations of any kind, 1,643 owners complied with the city’s orders to rectify the situation. CLIP directly abated 726 properties, then subsequently billed the owner for the work. CLIP took an additional 137 property owners to court for failure to comply.
And it all has happened in the 6th district. Soon, the pilot program will be expanding to Councilman Brian O’Neill’s 10th district, Conway said. The program director believes CLIP is effective simply because it fixes problems as quickly as possible, cutting through the red tape of the past.
“Most people, they just want to see it cleaned up. They don’t care about any tickets (issued to the property owners),” Conway said.
“This whole program is about speeding up the process and not letting things slip through the cracks.”
For the program to continue its success, however, the public must stay involved.
“It doesn’t work without your help,” Creelman said.

Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com