When I started on City Council a year ago, I was the only newly elected member. We were millions of dollars in debt and under state receivership, and the city was wrapped in litigation. Crime rates were steadily rising, and the trash on the streets was like a metaphor for a city that had lost all hope.
I was happy to be appointed the chairperson of public works because this gave me an opportunity to focus on something that had been on my radar long before I ran for office. Several years ago, I had a neighbor tell me that, “If I wanted to live in a clean neighborhood, I should move to the suburbs.” It was that statement that drives me and makes me want to do everything I can do to improve the quality of life for our residents.
As I worked for the past year, I began to learn everything I could about trash collection, enforcement, underlying problems and how it had gotten so out of control. At every level of government, I was told that I would not be able to get the trash picked up until I changed the mindset of the residents, so I started there. I hosted a town hall meeting on trash and drove around and wrote up codes and trash violations, peeling back the layers of the onion until I came up with a solution.
I broke the problem down to three main categories: personal responsibility, slum landlords and outsiders using our city as their personal dump.
I believe that personal responsibility is the first step in resolving the larger problems. I truly believe that, if your neighborhood does not look like a dump, the slum landlords and illegal dumpers won’t dump there. I came up with four simple steps to a better neighborhood to give residents a set of tools. If everyone did their part, our neighborhoods would begin to look less like a war zone and someplace we want to live in.
1. Trash cans and recycling bins: Know when to put them out, know when to take them in.
Trash bags must be placed in trashcans for obvious reasons. It keeps rodents and other animals out of the trash, and the bags won’t tear and make a big mess when sanitation comes to collect. They should be put out the night before collection and secured back in your yard after collection. Do not leave them in the alley or on the sidewalks or outside your fence. Also, please remember—recycling reduces the amount of trash that is burned and placed in our landfills.
2. Personal property maintenance: Sweep when we sweep.
You should follow the city’s lead. When we sweep the streets twice a month, you should also sweep around your entire property—from the front curb to the rear curb at the alley and everything in between, including your porches and steps. Remember that when the city sweeps, you sweep.
3. Neighborhood cleanup: Together we can make a difference.
Neighborhood cleanups build relationships between neighbors and allow for churches and other organizations to support the community. Most importantly, it gives you and your children a vested interest in the cleanliness of your neighborhood. If the residents don’t take ownership of the trash in their neighborhoods, volunteers can clean it up, but it won’t stay clean. Remember: our goal is not just to clean up but permanently change the way our neighborhoods look.
4. Don’t illegal dump: If you see it, say it.
Not all illegal dumping is done in dark alleys in the middle of the night. You know that, when you see your neighbor put out that couch or mattress, it is illegal. It’s not tattling. You live here, and that mattress or couch is not biodegradable. We all have to do our part. In addition, don’t let landlords empty trash on the sidewalks when they evict their tenants. Reporting illegal dumping helps the police track down the offenders.
These four steps will help get us started, but I believe that, in order to get the city clean, we are going to need help from everyone. This is why I have established the “I believe we can keep Harrisburg clean fund.”
The concept is neighbors helping neighbors. There are two ways to donate. You can drop off trash bags, trashcans, rakes, brooms and gloves to help our residents get their neighborhoods clean. If residents and organizations do not want to go out and purchase these items, they can make a monetary donation to the fund. We then will purchase them for residents.
We are the capital of Pennsylvania, and we are more than the sum of the trash on our streets. I believe that we are our brother’s keeper, and we are only as strong as our weakest link. If we don’t work together, we may never solve this problem.
To contribute to the fund, equipment donations can be made at the Harrisburg City Government Center, City Council office. Monetary donations should be addressed to the Harrisburg City Treasurer, with the “I believe we can keep Harrisburg clean fund” in the memo section. The City Government Center is located at 10 N. 2nd St., Harrisburg Pa. 17101.
