CLEVELAND — Downtown Cleveland has made massive strides over the last several years, and that’s thanks in no small part to those who keep the city streets clean and welcoming.
After gloving up and grabbing his sweeping supplies, Vizell Garrett gets to work keeping downtown Cleveland beautiful.
“Well normally every day we check everything out, make sure the city is moving good and make sure the streets are nice and clean, making sure the detail work is actually done because everything is about the detail. When you look at some of the boards, you make sure that everything is alright. If there’s any damage to any boards, we make sure to make a report,” Garrett explained.
His role as a Downtown Cleveland Clean and Safe Ambassador includes spotting potential problems and recording them on a smart system. It’s a job he got into after 20 years in the military.
“I was looking for something more integrative — something more in the community because being in the military, a lot of times we work as a unit. And when I came down here and I saw the young men down here in the blue and gold, and I was like, ‘wow, that looks interesting!”
Now at it for eight years, he’s enjoyed helping people get around town and being a part of the downtown Cleveland comeback.
“We get to show how Cleveland really is, exactly how things run here in Cleveland and how nice the city really is. And telling people about Cleveland and enjoying the space and utilizing the amenities down here, it’s just really great,” said Garrett.
The Downtown Cleveland Alliance hosted the virtual 2021 Ruth Ratner Miller Awards which recognizes the contributions made to downtown Cleveland’s improvement. The Clean and Safe Ambassadors were honored this year for keeping the city clean, safe and friendly.
“I can’t tell you how often we get complimentary notes from individuals that have interacted where a stakeholder, they lock their keys in the car and our safety ambassador got it out for them. Or, you know, it was raining and ambassador happened to be walking by and they had an umbrella and they escorted someone to their apartment,” said Ed Eckart, the vice president of Operations for the Downtown Cleveland Alliance.
And as Garrett continues to work tirelessly to make Cleveland the best it can be, he’s happy he and his fellow ambassadors are appreciated.
“We work very hard every day, and we’ve been here now for over 15 years, and when we got this award, the whole department was all ecstatic about what we do. Because we got to show everyone that we really work hard, we really come out in the environment every day, and we really enjoy our job,” said Garrett. “Growing up here, it was fun, but now we get to show everyone else exactly how good Cleveland really is and how much fun and how nice the city of Cleveland really is.”
