September 28, 2006

Please Help Us Clean Up the City of Reading

The citizens of the city of Reading will vote November 7th on a referendum that will decide if the city is to change to a city-wide trash collection system or retain the current system of independent haulers being contracted by each property owner.

While the great majority of property owners are in compliance and retain a hauler, some do not, and some who have an independent hauler, (but who pay by the bag), are sometime tempted to dump trash depending on the financial situation they are in at the time.

In my opinion, the system we have is not working, and no amount of tinkering with it, will make it work to the betterment of the city.

We have talked about this for 40 years, and it is not improving. It is the system that is bad, not the haulers.

I believe this is a critical juncture for the city of Reading, and one that will set the tone about how the city will look.

Besides the noticeable eye-sores, trash dumping is the fuel for trash fires that endanger firefighters and citizens alike; rodents easily tear open discarded trash bags and spread disease; and children are playing in back alleys amidst trash piles that are a disgrace, let alone dangerous.

We are working hard to get a system in place that will start us down the path of a cleaner city by putting out to bid a system that will be more efficient, cost-effective and easier to administer and enforce.

Our goal is a system where everyone participates, where there is no incentive for illegal dumping, and where there is accountability for a clean city.

As it is now, we don't have these.

We fully expect that the cost per family will be equal to less than the present cost of trash removal and disposal. There will also be discounts for senior citizens.

Many citizens like their independent hauler, and so do I. Many citizens only pay for a small amount of trash that they generate, and so do I. But that is not the point. A dirty city causes a decrease in property values; a clean home with adjacent trash strew homes is worth much less than a similar clean home on a clean street.

And according to the widely-accepted theory on crime call "Broken Windows", a neighborhood that appears out of control (trash, litter, graffiti, weeds, boarded up homes, etc) is one that attracts the criminal element.

City-wide trash collection is a new beginning for a cleaner city. We will still have to educate and enforce but there will be little incentive to dump when the trash will be removed from the curb by the hauler who has the contract for that area.

I am asking all voters in the city of Reading who want this city to be cleaner to please get the word out about the trash crisis that is impacting this city.

The city is a living organism with hundreds of moving parts, and one part that is not functioning well is the trash removal operation.

Please take advantage of every opportunity to bring up the subject of trash in the city with everyone you come in contact with.

Even if you don't live in the city, but know a voter in the city, please ask them to vote CLEAN CITY YES on Tuesday November 7.

Don't wait for the subject to come up - bring it up.

Thanks very much
Tom McMahon, Mayor
City of Reading