Dear Greensboro Beautiful Supporters:

Click here if you cannot read this email to read the message on the Greensboro Beautiful Web site.

As supporters of Greensboro Beautiful’s beautification and landscape initiative projects, we want to make you aware of a proposed budget cut being considered by the Greensboro City Council. Eliminating contracted landscape services, a budget item of $400,000, would negatively impact existing city-wide landscaped projects funded by Greensboro Beautiful donors.  In light of Greensboro’s current economic development efforts, we should maximize our strengths, one of which is Greensboro’s manicured public landscapes.  We need your help now! There is a public hearing on June 3 and Council Work Sessions will review the recommended budget from May 26 - June 13.

Greensboro Beautiful, as a partner with the city has designed, funded and implemented public landscaped areas for 40 years. Vast amounts of private funding and energy have been expended for landscape installations which the City has committed to maintain. In past budget years Council has supported this maintenance agreement with adequate funding. It is imperative that this support continue.

Impacts of proposed cuts:

1. A total of 65 contracted maintenance sites such as city entrances, neighborhood entrances and parks, libraries, recreation centers, streetscapes and medians will be negatively affected.  Click here to see the list.These areas are highly visible on a day-to-day basis across all city districts.
2. Maintenance services at contracted sites such as litter pickup, mulching, fertilizing, pruning, edging, weeding, planting and removal of annuals will be reduced to minimal levels presenting an unkempt, dull appearance. The flower gardens in these areas will be reduced to a weedy, brown mulch residue.  Inadequate maintenance services will certainly present an unkempt and shabby image of our city. See comparison of current service level to projected 08/09 service level if contract is cut.
3. The rollover of contracted maintenance sites to an over-extended city staff of 5 will impact frequency of maintenance on non-contracted areas i.e. mowing of medians and landscape maintenance around public buildings and spaces.  In effect, all landscaped maintenance across the city will be negatively impacted and will be a poor reflection of our city.  We cannot let this happen!

ACTION ALERT 1:
Call or email all City Council members and let them know how important it is to maintain landscape maintenance contract services.  Ask your friends and neighbors to do the same.  Do it now!  Calls are preferred or you can email all members.

ACTION ALERT 2:
Attend the City Council session on June 3 at 5:30 to show your support of keeping the landscape maintenance contracts in the city budget and maintaining our beautiful city image.  We need your presence and your voices. Please attend and bring others.

Thank you for your support of Greensboro Beautiful.

Peg Moore, Chair
The GBI Executive Committee
Past Chairs – Pam Allen, Randal Romie, Lee Britt, and Elaine Stover