Putnam Neighborhood Group Seeks City Help for Revitalization

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – Friends of Putnam, a new name for the former Putnam Historical Association, is asking Zanesville City leaders to direct some attention and funding to help correct problems with homelessness, crime, prostitution and boarded-up structures.

“”We’re all concerned about where’s Putnam’s headed. Demise as far as we can tell at this point in time. We need help. We need public opinion to change. Putnam isn’t a bad place to live; we just have bad issues to deal with right now. We want to turn that around from a negative to a positive,” says Joseph Nezbeth, President of the new Friends of Putnam.

Nezbeth has lived in the historic neighborhood since the mid-1980s and tells WHIZ News he’s seen a decline.

“”We need to address the homeless issue. It’s becoming a dire need to be addressed. Putnam probably the worst. It seems to be where they call congregate. We’re standing in front of an abandoned gas station. It’s been abandoned for years.”

Nezbeth and his group intend to hold community forums in the coming months and make their voices heard at Zanesville City Council meetings.