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Local resident moves into new city position |
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Monday, 06 July 2009 |
By MATT NICHOLS
Staff Writer
For quite a while, Wapakoneta resident John Zwez was getting frustrated with the some of the city’s less-than-steller looking tree lawns.
Now, he finally gets a chance to do something about it.
A little more than a month in to it , Zwez is beginning to settle into his job as the city’s code enforcement officer. The newly created part-time position allows Zwez to tour Wapakoneta and find violations to the city’s building codes.
Zwez told the Wapakoneta Daily News that his primary responsibilities are making sure garage sale signs are removed from the city’s tree lawns, informing police about tall grass and weed locations, and reporting abandoned or broken down vehicles with expired tags.
Zwez said the unkept tree lawns never bothered him until two years ago, when he was driving across the city and he noticed the unappealing signs.
“I was driving through town and I was appalled by all the garage sale signs tacked up everywhere,” Zwez said. “They were even attached to the bottom of stop signs and it just looked absolutely terrible. Especially around Benton and Blackhoof streets.”
After seeing the over-abundence of signs taped and bolted to trees, Zwez photographed a few and submitted them to a couple city councilors. When he learned the Streets and Alleys Committee was discussing the possibility of a code enforcement officer, Zwez threw his hat into the ring and officially nabbed the position in late May.
Zwez lives in Wapakoneta with his wife Deb, who is the publisher of the Evening Leader newspaper, St. Marys. The father of three children, Michael, 11, Amy, 21 and Josh, 27, said his new job won’t interfere with his duties as a bus driver for Wapakoneta City Schools or his sports photography for the Evening Leader, Community Post and the Wapakoneta Daily News.
Prior to his new job title, Zwez worked at the Neil Armstrong Air & Space Museum for 32 years, hiring in as an audio visual technician in July of 1972, before becoming the museum manager five years later. Zwez said his family was close to Armstrong’s, and he was always intrigued about Armstrong’s adventures.
“I grew up learning about him and hearing Mrs. Armstrong talk about him flying the X-15 and his days as an astronaut, so I had a learning introduction to what he was doing,” Zwez said. “It was a dream come true to get that job.”
His days at the museum came to an end when he learned that several expansion ideas he had planned for the museum were nixed by the Ohio Historical Society (OHS). When he learned his ideas weren’t in the future, and after the OHS offered him early retirement, Zwez took the option.
Zwez said his years at the museum were filled with meeting new people who were amazed at the life of Armstrong, and who were eager to hear more about Wapakoneta’s hero. Zwez admitted his reception with his new job hasn’t been quite as smooth, but he hopes things will turn around soon.
“There’s been some people who haven’t been very happy with me, especially with garage sale signs, but it’s gone well,” Zwez said. “Once people realize that what I’m doing is not a negative, and that I’m trying to make this a nice place to look at and live in, things will go better.”
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 07 July 2009 )
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