Debate Mayor Inner Child McMahon

June 26, 2006 by Matt Heckman.

It has been brought to my attention that Mayor Inner Child Tom McMahon has not been posting your comments on his recent blog topic involving the trash issue with Reading. Well I’m going to post his blog entry here, and allow all comments to be made since Mayor Inner Child could care less about you the taxpayer.

The following is the Op-Ed piece that was published in the Reading Eagle on Sunday June 25, 2006. I thank the Eagle for supporting the initiative to clean up the city of Reading.

Citizens of Reading have a choice: a clean city or a dirty city.

The debate over private haulers vs. citywide trash collection has taken place for years. I often hear the comment: “I like my private hauler. Why do I have to pay for those who don’t have a hauler?”

Private haulers in general have done a good job for the individuals they serve, but that is not the problem. The problem is the system. Haulers are accountable to their customers. No single hauler is accountable for the cleanliness of an area of the city. And too many property owners choose not to retain a hauler.

The current system is just not working. It is inefficient and ineffective. This is why, in the vast majority of cities across America, trash collection is organized as a municipal service.

As a community, we need to come together and look beyond our individual self-interests for the benefit of the community. For example, would anyone suggest that he wouldn’t pay to support a fire department because it was his neighbor’s house and not his own that caught on fire? Of course not.

Without everyone paying for trash removal, trash is illegally dumped. It is dumped in streets, in alleys, in abandoned properties. In a city block of row homes, even though most of the residents may have their trash picked up, it only takes one person to dump trash in a vacant property to endanger the entire block.

Unless we have accountability for the cleanliness of an area, we will not have a clean city.

Some people ask, “Why should I pay for my trash pickup when others don’t?”

The truth is that responsible property owners and residents are paying for those who are not. That is not fair, and the proposed system will change that.

The proposed system is one where every property owner pays.

A baseline amount will be charged, and that charge will show up on the water bill. Failure to pay means the possibility of not having water. Trash at the curb will be picked up. If someone wants rear-yard pickup, a premium charge can be paid to the hauler.

Under the proposed system, senior citizens will get a discount from the baseline charge since they do not generally produce as much trash as families.

Under the proposed system, trash will be placed at the curb and picked up by the private hauler that has the contract for the zone. Period.

Will the proposed system be the perfect answer to a cleaner city? No system is perfect, but the proposed system of competitively bidding each zone and holding the winning bidder accountable for the cleanliness of the zone is a good start.

Litter is part of the problem and needs to be addressed in the new system. Realistically, we can’t use enforcement to stop littering. It is difficult to catch litterbugs in the act.

But three critical initiatives are under way to fight litter: education, providing litter baskets and ongoing cleanup. We have launched an education effort and continue to add more and more litter baskets in areas that have high pedestrian traffic. People and neighborhood groups already are organizing to help with litter cleanup.

The real answer is that each one of us must make a choice: Will we have a clean city or continue to have a dirty city?

I believe that citizens have a right to a clean city.

Yes, some people may lose a relationship with their private hauler. And some may pay a bit more for trash removal. Many more are expected to pay less than they currently pay.

But a clean city is one that is attractive to investors and to new businesses. In a clean city, our property values will increase, and the quality of neighborhood life will improve. We will have fewer trash fires and better health. And a clean city is a deterrent to crime.

To me the choice is clear. You have a right to choose a clean city for yourself and for succeeding generations.

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