Let’s Not Waver on Needed Pickups by Patty Kim

I was very disappointed when I read Mayor Stephen R. Reed’s response to the Dec. 31 article, “Trash Stash,” about the trash problem in the South Allison Hill neighborhood and residents’ decade-old plea for bulk trash pickup.

The mayor’s response: it can’t be done.

I chair the Public Works Committee for Harrisburg City Council. I have studied bulk trash pickup for over a year now. I have met with all the stakeholders. I have looked at the numbers. Citywide bulk trash pickup is difficult and expensive, and it isn’t a magic wand to solve the trash problem in the city. But I can tell you this with confidence: It should be done and it can be done.

Let’s start with why it should be done:

• There are sections of the city that are effectively dumps. Daisy Street (in South Allison Hill) is by far the worst, but uptown has areas off of Maclay Street that are bad as well. Tires, mattresses, appliances — this is what we mean by “bulk trash.” These items sit there breeding disease and vermin, leeching pollution and generating more trash as people see that it is tolerated. Simply as a public health issue, it must be dealt with.
• The citizens want it. The people aren’t stupid. They know that City Hall can’t and shouldn’t be “the mommy” that follows its citizens around picking up after them. Yet they have correctly seized upon citywide bulk trash pickup as something that the city should be able to do for them. They want the city’s help in disposing properly of large, heavy, difficult-to-manage items. Some would say that is why we have government.

Now let’s talk about how it can be done:

• Get the cooperation of the Harrisburg Authority. We’ll need a discount on tipping fees at the incinerator for our bulk trash pickup. Though the Mayor’s strained relationship with the authority likely makes him feel this is impossible, I believe we can enlist their help.
• Partner with current neighborhood groups working on city beautification. These groups, like Weed and Seed (a state program run locally by Pastor Jason Rissler) and Keep Harrisburg Beautiful (a city program run by Kari Reagan-Bushey), are effectively, leveraging resources from non-city sources, so if we all rallied around bulk trash pickup as the priority, I’m sure they could help with resources, volunteers and “can-do” attitude.
• Harness the entrepreneurial zeal of our citizens. We have a home-grown bulk trash pickup expert in Leland Nelson, founder and CEO of Dirty Dog Hauling (you see his purple trucks everywhere). Leland embodies “can-do.” He is creative, enthusiastic and a real leader. We could use some of our budgeted resources to contract with him and other local small businesses to solve pieces of this problem.
• Get the cooperation of the city Public Works Department. As I and many citizen groups can attest, leadership of the department is the obstacle here. There are plenty of “can-do” leaders in this department. I know because I speak to them all the time. Maybe we need to make room for them at the top.
• Prioritize this in the budget. The City Council took the lead on this and put in $100,000. As the mayor said in the article, we will probably need more to tackle this issue. I have seen four budgets now, and I can attest that things get done that are a priority. Make no mistake, resources are scarce, but the mayor has found the money for projects that had no demonstrateable public support. So lets’ find the money for something that literally thousands of our taxpaying citizens want. That is how government is meant to work.
• Make it difficult to dump in the first place. Clearing the worst lots near residential areas of bulk trash needs to be part of this effort, and we should not pretend we’re helpless in seeing them fill right back up. When a lot is cleared, fence it off. Much of the land where this is a problem is city-owned. If it’s not, declare it a public health hazard and fence it off anyway. Let’s enlist neighborhood groups to monitor the worst properties with cameras (there are widely available video security systems for just over $900) and but up big signs that warn of monitoring and fines.

These are not wildly expensive solutions, and they could probably be paid for through a federal Community Development Block Grant. Of course, we can’t seal off the city from determined dumpers, but we can make it a lot harder for them.

I wont’ claim this proposal is perfect. Yet I strongly believe inaction is not an option. It is demoralizing to those who live in the neighborhoods and fight the irresponsible actions of a few. Doing nothing also emboldens those tempted to dump.

So I’d like to enlist the mayor’s help to make it better. When Mayor Reed has wanted something done, few can match his oratory and “get it done” demands. Few are as creative or energetic. I am afraid the mayor has lost interest in bringing energy, creativity and resources to the basic services of top priority to those he reports to: the citizens. This year is an election year and I bet a lot of us would like to be convinced otherwise.

I am committed to getting citywide bulk trash pickup done. I know my City Council colleagues are just as committed. I have been inspired by the efforts of citizens to address this problem themselves, but they need the city’s help. I will reach out to the mayor, and I urge him to work with all of us on putting the plans in place for a bulk trash pickup this year.

The city doesn’t need another fight. It’s a new year, so let’s together resolve to get a citywide bulk trash pickup done.