Well, I guess there were some hic-cups, posted today. image on the right.
When I first read that Houston was going to go with four heavy pickup trash days a year, and that individual homeowners/renters would have to call the city to schedule a pickup. My first thought was what the heck are they thinking. Since I have lived in Houston, we have had monthly heavy trash pick-up. In our area, heavy trash pickup is on the second Monday of the Month. The trash is not supposed to be placed out until the Friday before the pickup. Probably half the people put it out weeks in advance, and they can’t ever remember whether it is tree debris or junk.
How is the city going to communicate to all the residents that there is a new method? How will they enforce it? Will they issue citations? They are not doing that now. Are we going to use HPD to issue the citations? I believe there may be one inspector per council district; they are already tied up. Calling 311 for the most part is a waste of time. They will come for water main breaks.
My Council Member also thinks it won’t work, but he didn’t go into the why.
The Why
1) The 2024 election should be proof that we have very stupid people, and those are the ones who vote. Do you think that the non-voters are smarter?
2) The city does not have a plan as to what to do if people place the heavy trash and don’t call, so it sits out by the street for months.
3) People will do with it like they did when Kathy Whitmire failed to pick up the heavy trash after a hurricane.
HOUSTON — City garbage crews tried Thursday to catch up on pickups thrown out of kilter by debris from Hurricane Alicia and Lt. Gov. William Hobby refused Mayor Kathy Whitmire’s request for cleanup help from the national guard.
‘There was discussion about the possiblity of using the National Guard for debris removal. After consultation with officials of the National Guard, they have determined that debris removal this far from the actual emergency is not an approprate function for the guard,’ Hobby said late Thursday following a meeting with Mrs. Whitmire and National Guard officials in Houston.
3) People either paid people to pick it up and go dump it without knowing where it was going, or they themselves did, knowing that they were going to go dump it in the closest place they could find and not get caught. Some people were dumping it into the bayous.
4) People are resourceful; they will find a way to get rid of it, legally or illegally. Those who can afford it will do it legally.
Think we have problems with illegal dumping. Wait until the new heavy trash pickup goes into effect.
What changing heavy trash pickup does is make it look like the city is saving money for next year’s budget. That is what I believe the purpose of the change is. I assume the people in charge of heavy trash pickup are intelligent. But again, never underestimate how stupid people are.
Council Member Pollard, District J