Re: I HATE OBSERVATORY WHEN ...........

[Ursula Van Stavel Coo]

Dear James

The OBSID cleaning staff cleaned the Lower Main Road from 10 am Saturday morning.At 13.00 that day the streets were cleaned.Usually the City cleans the \\\lower main Road at night. It is obvious that they did not do that on Friday 24 May,2013.

It is clear that you took these photos during the day and it must have been before the cleaners have done their work.After the event the streets were clean and there has been so many compliments on the fact that there were no litter left behind by the 5000 people who had been up and down Lower main Road

I hate it when people are quick to jump and broadcast the negatives and demotivate those who are trying their best to make positive  things happen.

If i see anyone urinating on the streets or doing any anti social behaviour it would be my duty to confront those persons ,not take pictures and find someone else to do the dirty work that i am to scared of doing.

Why don't you mention the fact that no crime was reported to SAPS on the 25 May 2013 and why don't you mention that with the one incident that bag that was stolen was recovered by OPS ,500 metres from where it was stolen.

Maybe we should have comments running "why do i love OBS"

On Thu, May 30, 2013 at 11:24 AM, James Cowley <james...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi OBSID Management and OBSID-Chat Partakers

I have posted the email below (but  reduced the attachments from 36 to 26 now to 10 attachemtns) in the hope of ascertaining comments, support or objection regarding "I Hate Observatory When ....' .  Somehow the OBSID management and other Observatory concerned onlookers and partakers in the usually vibrant Obsid-chat-group gave no comment, support or objection.

What should I make of this - that I shut up and go away - the dirty streets are acceptable - not concerned - not your cup of tee?  I was hoping to take this matter further, but seems I am barking up a wrong tree or suburb re the dirt in the streets of our CBD.

Incidentally, Alderman JP Smith gave a reply, which I will respond to him soonest, and City Health made a fluttering of email, which I will also respond to.  The 2nd last attachment was intended for notice or info to the WCLA, SAPS Woodstock, and Metro agencies, but had no response.  

However, the guidance from 'Observatory fellow dwellers' will be appreciated.

Kind regards

James

082 926 1220 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Cowley <james...@gmail.com>
Date: 27 May 2013 15:29
Subject: Re: I HATE OBSERVATORY WHEN ...........
To: Observatory Improvement District - Chat <obsid...@googlegroups.com>

On 26 May 2013 21:31, James Cowley <james...@gmail.com> wrote:

WHEN GOING THROUGH THE SUBURB  OF OBSERVATORY

WHICH  I AND MOST OTHERS LOVE, FEEL HAPPY ABOUT, CONTENT

AND TAKE PRIDE IN, ESPECIALLY ON THE CRISP FRESH MORNING

OF 25 MAY 2013 AT APPROX 9 AM (AND LATER AT 8 PM), KNOWING

THAT OBS IS GOING TO BE THE 1ST OPEN STREETS VENUE IN THE

RSA AND AFRICA, I GET TO HATE IT WHEN - - - - -

- - - - - - - I WALK OR DRIVE ALONG OUR ROADS AND THE VIEWS, AS

ATTACHED, GREET ME.

FORTUNATELY, THE OBSERVATORY CBD WAS CLEANED UP BEFORE

THE OPEN STREETS EVENT COMMENCED.  APPRECIATION, PRIDE

AND LOVE FOR OBS, THEN, EASILY RETURNED.

THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE FANTASTIC OPEN

STREETS EVENT  BETWEEN 1 AND 5 PM AND THE EXPERIENCE OF

IT, WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED - 25 MAY 2013.  ALL WENT WELL 

ACCORDING TO PLAN, I WAS PROUD OF OBS, PROUD ONCE AGAIN.

BUT WHEN I WALK THE STREETS AT NIGHT WITH WIFE, FRIEND OR 

VISITOR AND EXPERIENCE THE DIRT, FILTH, DRUG TRADE, LOITERERS,

WASTE OR URINATION IN OUR VILLAGE, THEN DISCONTENT, DISAPPOINTMENT,

INTOLERANCE AND HATE WELLS UP FOR OBS, FOR THOSE WHO CARE

NOTHING, FEEL NOTHING, THEIR ONLY DESIRE TO ABUSE IT AND THINK

NOTHING OF 'MY/OUR BELOVED SUBURB' WHERE WE AS A PROUD

PEOPLE OF OBSERVATORY WANT TO LIVE, REST, EXERCISE AND ENJOY.

THEN - WHERE ARE THE MEASURES OF PATROL, CONTROL,

ENFORCEMENT, REPORTERS, COMPLIANCE, SECURITY, LAW OR

POLICING FOR OBSERVATORY?

WHEN?

JAMES

--

Kind regards

Ursula van Stavel

Chief Operating Officer

Observatory Improvement District OBSID)

Tel. 021 4487090

Fax :0866394005

Cell: 0813454285

Address: 41 Station Road,Observatory,Cape Town ,7925

[Spike]

Well said Ursula!

It would be nice if the this mail list could automatically block bored whiners who more time than life on their hands.
I'm sure Google could flag these people based on there on-line activities.

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[James Cowley]

[James Cowley]

[James Cowley]

[Justin Ashley]

Hi James

The photos you attach were clearly taken at different times.  Some were taken at night and some during the day.  We also do not know which days or nights the photos were taken on.

As we all know, Obs is a busy suburb with a massive amount of foot traffic, from the station, Salt River, Groote Schuur, the pubs and clubs, the students, the list goes on.  At all times of the day or night there are people walking around Obs.  People on foot throw litter away.

Our cleaning teams move through Obs every week, taking away rubbish.  Last year, our cleaning teams took 19,000 bags of rubbish out of Obs.  What do you think Obs would look like if we didn't?  I think one thing that pretty much EVERYONE in Obs can attest to is how much cleaner Obs is now that pre-Obsid days.

BUT, inevitably, our cleaning teams cannot clean every pavement every day. Every street in Obs is cleaned once a week.  We cannot do it more often because we do not have the resources to do it more often.  So if your street is cleaned on Thursday and you go take photos on Wednesday, you WILL find rubbish there from the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of people that have walked down that street since it was last cleaned a week ago.

Taking photos like that and accusing Obsid of not doing its job is hardly fair.

You also attached a photo of dumping.  Yet we cannot prevent people from dumping - what we can do is clean it up the moment it is reported, and we do, every day and every week.  Did you report this dumping to us when you discovered it?

We cannot stop Lower Main from becoming dirty and littered when 1000's of people are boozing it up and revelling on a Friday night.  So taking photos of streets at the time is not also not fair.

And Ursula is correct - we have a zero tolerance approach to things like public urination.  But it doesn't mean it never happens!

I could take photos like this of any area of any city in the world and make it look like a rubbish dump.

So please:  in future, don't send a compendium of photos with a generalised moan about how filthy Observatory is.  Send us photos with a time and date, immediately, so we can investigate it immediately and determine if there is a problem with our regular cleanings schedule or not.  That is kind of constructive criticism we enjoy getting because it helps us do our jobs better.

But sending out a mail like this is not constructive.  It is destructive and unpleasant and really of no value to the hard working folk that devote their (unpaid) time and effort to helping the Obsid serve as effectively as it can.  

And then forwarding your mail to both our ward councillors and mayco members and even Woodstock SAPS because you did not get an immediate response from us is insulting to the extreme.  If we made a habit of ignoring you, then maybe I'd understand.  But we don't.  I personally have been corresponding with you regularly about your concerns about our foot patrollers this week, diligently emailing you and following up with our staff, trying to improve our service delivery, as we always strive to do.

So really...wow...talk about a knife right in the back.  Thanks very much, James.  Really.

Regards

Justin

On 27 May 2013, at 3:29 PM, James Cowley wrote:

On 26 May 2013 21:31, James Cowley <james...@gmail.com> wrote:

WHEN GOING THROUGH THE SUBURB  OF OBSERVATORY

WHICH  I AND MOST OTHERS LOVE, FEEL HAPPY ABOUT, CONTENT

AND TAKE PRIDE IN, ESPECIALLY ON THE CRISP FRESH MORNING

OF 25 MAY 2013 AT APPROX 9 AM (AND LATER AT 8 PM), KNOWING

THAT OBS IS GOING TO BE THE 1ST OPEN STREETS VENUE IN THE

RSA AND AFRICA, I GET TO HATE IT WHEN - - - - -

<image.png>

- - - - - - - I WALK OR DRIVE ALONG OUR ROADS AND THE VIEWS, AS

ATTACHED, GREET ME.

FORTUNATELY, THE OBSERVATORY CBD WAS CLEANED UP BEFORE

THE OPEN STREETS EVENT COMMENCED.  APPRECIATION, PRIDE

AND LOVE FOR OBS, THEN, EASILY RETURNED.

THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE FANTASTIC OPEN

STREETS EVENT  BETWEEN 1 AND 5 PM AND THE EXPERIENCE OF

IT, WILL LONG BE REMEMBERED - 25 MAY 2013.  ALL WENT WELL 

ACCORDING TO PLAN, I WAS PROUD OF OBS, PROUD ONCE AGAIN.

BUT WHEN I WALK THE STREETS AT NIGHT WITH WIFE, FRIEND OR 

VISITOR AND EXPERIENCE THE DIRT, FILTH, DRUG TRADE, LOITERERS,

WASTE OR URINATION IN OUR VILLAGE, THEN DISCONTENT, DISAPPOINTMENT,

INTOLERANCE AND HATE WELLS UP FOR OBS, FOR THOSE WHO CARE

NOTHING, FEEL NOTHING, THEIR ONLY DESIRE TO ABUSE IT AND THINK

NOTHING OF 'MY/OUR BELOVED SUBURB' WHERE WE AS A PROUD

PEOPLE OF OBSERVATORY WANT TO LIVE, REST, EXERCISE AND ENJOY.

THEN - WHERE ARE THE MEASURES OF PATROL, CONTROL,

ENFORCEMENT, REPORTERS, COMPLIANCE, SECURITY, LAW OR

POLICING FOR OBSERVATORY?

WHEN?

JAMES

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<Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 01 Lwr Main & Wrench.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 04 Lwr Main & Wrench.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 05 Lwr Main & Norwich.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 07  Lwr Main & Norwich.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 08  Lwr Main & Norwich.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 09  Lwr Main & Norwich.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 10  Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 11  Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 12  Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 13   Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 15   Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 19  Lwr Main & Clubs.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 21  Lwr Main & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 23  Lwr Main & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 26  Lwr Main & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 27  Lwr Main & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 29 James & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 32 Milton No 26.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 34 Lwr Main & Gordon.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 35 Lwr Main & Station.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 36 Lwr Main & Armchair.jpg><Dirty Streets Observatory 25 May 2013 37 Lwr Main & Trill.jpg>

[James Cowley]

Dear Justin

Let me categorically state "I am very happy that OBSID is alive and well in Observatory - the suburb of Observatory is much cleaner and safer  - thanks to the pioneers of it, the Managers of it, the Authorities that enabled/allowed it ,and the fellow Obsevatorians that supports it".

My previous email in reply to Ursula (and Spike) just before having received your email, hopefully corrected some misunderstanding of Dirty Streets as to Open Streets, but was accidentally sent off prematurely, in which I wanted to bear out the following in my conclusion, and in having addressed them as per Cc:

Where are the authorities, who are not around in Observatory at night-time, when major foot traffic is experienced at our nigh-time facilities, the authorities which  control or exercise the licences, laws or bye laws, where are they when the effects of the lack there of, can be clearly seen on the photos I have attached - the morning of 25 May 2013 and the evening of 25 May 2013.  where are they on all the other days of the week or months of the year!  It is useless, or seemingly so, to give me a phone number, or a complaints procedure, or form to complete, if there are not a single member of the authorities present on the streets during those hours of licensed  trade, to sort out the gumph, the filth, the noise, the abuse in or against our suburb of Observatory's CBD and the residential surrounds.

For all the compliments I have never or too little conveyed to the OBSID, I humbly ask for your forgiveness.  But when I or others cannot see or find an OPS member in sight, or are there but are powerless to control the effects of the night re littering, urinating and all the rest,  then there is matter for concern.

OPS can only do so much as your reply stated.

That is why I am not trying to stab you or OBSID in the back.

I am calling for help to you as well, and also 'for you/OBSID as well',  but am asking  "When"  When will the Authorities be present during the nights of Observatory, not just during nights of special operations, or Open Streets, but such that no one will dare to litter, urinate, trade late, trade noisily, trade in drugs in Observatory etc, so that in the end, your or our task to hold the best forward for Observatory and its residents or businesses, can be achieved, sooner, better, smarter for OBSID.

If my plight is to fall on deaf ears, I rest my case, and apologise to all and every individual, Authorities included, for having raised the email "I hate Obs When ...." re Dirty Streets 25 May 2013.

Kind regards

James

082 926 1220

 

[James Cowley]

Hi Ursula

Thanks for your response, it is appreciated, and Spike's remark as well.

Kindly peruse the emailed extracts initiated by you and supported by me as below, then find the differentiation between the "Open Streets event , and "Dirty Streets" complaint I have raised.

Ursula - Obsid COO via googlegroups.com	26 May (4 days ago)
to obsid-chat

Thank you Obs for allowing people from all commuinities and background to experience a safe and memorable moment.
Thank you for opening up the street so that thousands can go away and revell in the joy of a few hours of safety and hAppiness.

James Cowley <james...@gmail.com>	26 May (4 days ago)
to Observatory

The Open Streets in Observatory on Saturday 25 May 2013 from 1  to 5 pm was a huge success, and looking forward to the next one.

Well done to the organisers or part organisers of this event and the smooth running of it.

A few small glitches will probably be discussed at the event wash-up.

Thanks to the City Services of funds and support and having been there for control.

(Incidentally, not on this chat site, I have sent at least 5 other emails to various individuals of appreciation re Open Streets of Observatory.) 

Hopefully, you will see in the text of my "I Hate Obs When ...', my observation of dirty streets indicating it as 9 am the morning (and prior), also on the 25 May 2013, and as 8 pm or so the evening.  There is nothing in it re dirty streets during "Open Streets" which ran from 1 pm to 5 pm.

So, lets look at the Dirty Streets of Observatory as per the photographs of proof.  Apparently another concerned member confirmed that at 11 am the noted roads were still dirty, probably it was busy being cleaned up by OBSID then, well thanks OBSID, now I understand who cleaned it, thanks again.

Now lets look at pedestrians and motorist, not only of Observatory, but outsiders - all those coming to collect their '100 in 1 day" interventions packs from coco chi chi, or just driving through this wonderful neat superb suburb they have heard of, which is going to host a 1st in Africa.  Imagine for a moment, them or local Obs persons, seeing our roads as filthy like that, from the early morning of 2 am until approx midday on the 25 may 2013.  Is it right that they must be subjected to a sight like that!

Spike or Ursula, If you are happy, I am not!

Spike you may be living in Obs for as long as I have, I love Obs!  That's why I have spanned 62 years in Observatory!   Oiits unique.   long as i \Have be a har 

I asked "When" i.e.  When will we see our streets not dirty like that, when will we see the same authorities that enforced or were out there to keep it clean from 1 pm to 5pm, but are not there at 8 pm the evening or where were earlier from 2 am until midday.  I am also asking, where are the authorities every other night or early morning when our streets looks even worse than that.