East End Stories

The Greater East End Management District's (GEEMD) Graffiti Abatement Program has a new state- of-the-art machine for removal of graffiti and tagging on commercial properties. The new equipment saves time and operating costs leading to greater efficiency and more sites treated. According to Martin Chavez, Director of Constituent Services and Public Safety at GEEMD, "The new technology allows us to remove graffiti in a fraction of the time compared to the old way. To illustrate, at one location that would have taken 14 man hours, we removed the vandalism in one hour."

The City of Houston is gearing up to add another thirty-eight artworks to street-side traffic signal control cabinets throughout Houston and is encouraging artists to submit qualifications for the opportunity to create a mural. Known as "Mini Murals", Houston now has over 170 new original artworks in neighborhoods throughout the city that have been funded by Mayor Sylvester Turner and City Council, as well as private sponsors.

The East End District recently partnered with the students and teachers of YES Prep East End to canvass the Magnolia Park community with door hangers. The door hangers educated residents of garbage, recycling, and tree/junk waste guidelines and specified their heavy trash pick-up day. The students and teachers were also joined by Council Member Robert Gallegos and his staff, representatives from the Department of Neighborhoods, Harris County Precinct 6, Houston Police Department, BARC, City of Houston Solid Waste. The event was additionally sponsored by Space City Credit Union and Frost Bank.

On Thursday, June 15, Diane Schenke will officially retire as President of the Greater East End Management District, passing the torch to incoming President, Veronica Chapa Gorczynski.