BROWN HELPS CLEAN UP VALLEJO
First 'Clean with Hakeem' event of 2020 takes on Marina Vista Apartments
People often want to start a new calendar year with a clean slate. Vallejo city councilmember Hakeem Brown is no different, especially with emphasis on the word, “clean.”
Brown held his first cleanup event, “Clean with Hakeem” on Saturday morning at the Marina Vista Apartment complex, located at 201 Maine St. Erin Hannigan, the Solano County supervisor of District 1 was also on hand to help out, as was about 15 volunteers aging as young as just 6 years old.
Brown has been helping out with city cleanups since 2010 and said he always feels better after helping out.
“I like doing this for the community and I like getting out and trying to improve it,” Brown said. “It’s also good for your own peace of mind. You always want to attack areas that really need it and it feels good when you are helping get rid of the trash … ever since 2010 when I started doing this I realized it made me feel better to do this.”
Hannigan agreed with
Brown.
“I love to do cleanups around the community,” Hannigan said. “I wish people thought about what they are doing to the environment when they liter, but that can be difficult. Something
like this with the cleanup is also a great opportunity for little kids to be taught how to take care of our environment.”
One of those kids was 6-year-old Rakwon Winston, who used a Trash Gator Grabber to pick up random pieces of garbage while walking down Maine Street with his mom, Angeleka Smith.
“This is the first time I’ve done this,” Smith said. “I’ve always been interested in doing something like this and a friend called me up this week and asked if I wanted to help out. I brought my kids out and I’m just trying to do my best.”
Also volunteering was Hector Rodriguez, a 14-year-old who lives in Vallejo and is interning for Brown. Rodriguez said the strangest item of trash he found was a bottle cap saying “Welcome to Sunnyvale.” Sunnyvale is located nearly 70 miles south of Vallejo.
“I love Vallejo and one day I want to be the mayor of Vallejo,” Rodriguez said. “I want to be governor of California or maybe even President. But more than anything I want to be a role model for little kids here, so I’m glad to help out. I love Vallejo and I want the city to be a place you want to live in, not a place you settle for.”
Brown said he often visits schools to find out their concerns and a topic that often comes up is pollution.
“I went to a Vallejo charter school yesterday and they gave me feedback on the pollution, trash and blight in the area,” Brown said. “From elementary schools to junior high schools to high schools, this is often a concern. But all the kids seem to be pretty educated on it and they are aware of it. Now the thing is finding out what areas need to be cleaner and where is places that need the most help.”
Brown said the strangest thing he saw was a vintage boom box from around the year 1983, although it didn’t have batteries. Hannigan joked the weirdest thing she saw was a bunch of empty O’Doul’s beer bottles.
Brown said he had a few tenants in the Marina Vista Apartments thank him during the day for his work. Brown gave credit to other people as well, including the city of Vallejo.
“I have to thank the city manager for helping with all the supplies, including the van,” Brown said. “It really makes it easier to get things done. I also have to thank Supervisor Hannigan and all the volunteers that came out today.”
The next “Clean with Hakeem” event is scheduled for April 18 in South Vallejo.