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By CINDY MALLETTE
Staff Writer

District 3 residents welcomed a new city of Tyler office to their neighborhood on Friday, an office city leaders say will bridge a divide between old Tyler and new Tyler.

“I was thinking about 12 years ago, when I was first elected, and one of the things that I said everywhere I got to speak was that I was really tired about hearing about the old Tyler and the new Tyler. About the north Tyler and the south Tyler. The fact is that we’re all one Tyler,” said Mayor Joey Seeber, at what was probably his last civic event in the role of mayor.

A ribbon-cutting was held Friday afternoon at the new Neighborhood Services headquarters, at the intersection of Gentry Parkway and Palace Avenue. This is the fourth location of the Neighborhood Services Department since 1980, according to City Manager Bob Turner.

“I’m telling you, it’s the best of the lot,” Turner said. “This was selected as a location for Neighborhood Services, and that makes a big difference. That puts us right in the middle of where Neighborhood Services ought to be for the community.”

The department offers a variety of services to Tyler residents, including demolition/code enforcement, housing rehabilitation/reconstruction, minor housing repair and ADA accessibility assistance, new residential construction, public facility improvements and nonprofit support.

“The city’s Neighborhood Services Department pledges to continue the work that we started in the other building, to continue to explain our services and our operations so that we can assist more of our low-income owners in the city of Tyler,” said Brenda Johnson, Neighborhood Services director. “Together, with you, we can continue to improve our quality of life in our community one neighborhood at a time.”

The department also conducts the Neighborhood Empowerment Works, or NEW Program, in which one neighborhood is selected every six months for a monthlong intensive community cleanup and revitalization effort. The department is wrapping up its fifth NEW Program, located in Councilman Donald Sanders’ district.

“I’m very grateful to this department, Neighborhood Services. It may seem like I’m kind of partial with the department, but it’s where I get most of the services that I need in my district,” Sanders said.

Seeber spoke about how the relocation of the department from 304 N. Border Ave., across from City Hall, to 900 W. Gentry Pkwy., fits into the vision of Tyler 21.

“One of the things that was really important in the Tyler 21 plan was the north end revitalization,” Seeber said. “We have a plan for the north end revitalization, and the plan is that we need more people living in the north end of our city. The way to do that is by making a commitment that all of our city is important. The first step is to establish this place as a post in the city of Tyler. It is the city of Tyler. It’s the Neighborhood Services Department right here, at a major intersection in north Tyler.”

The mission of the Neighborhood Services Department, according to the city of Tyler, is to help organizations and individuals, through financial support, to provide services that benefit low- and moderate-income residents, to provide affordable housing, to fund activities that improve public facilities and services and to instill a sense of community pride to initiate neighborhood revitalization.

“We’re just elated to see Neighborhood Services come to our community,” said District 3 Councilman Ralph Caraway. “We’re determined to give our community a facelift, and I thank the mayor so much for imparting with us what the Tyler 21 plan is all about. It’s really about embracing our differences, but breaking our division. I think with the Neighborhood Services being here, it’s a step in that direction.”