Enforce trash can law, Youngstown

Print Story

Email to Friend

Discuss this story

No one's been charged with violating the city's garbage-can law.

By DAVID SKOLNICK

CITY HALL REPORTER

YOUNGSTOWN — Oscar the Grouch is a big fan of trash, but some city officials aren't.

Councilwoman Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th, said she receives numerous calls about people throughout Youngstown placing their garbage receptacles by the curb too early and waiting days after the garbage is collected to take the emptied cans back to their homes.

"It's a long-standing problem," she said. "We want to revitalize neighborhoods by cleaning up blight, and we have blight in the form of garbage on our streets."

City ordinances require people to place trash cans by the curb no earlier than 12 hours before collection, and they must remove the receptacles no later than 24 hours after they are emptied, Rimedio-Righetti said. Police could charge a person who violates the ordinance with a third-degree misdemeanor and fine them $25. Subsequent offenses are first-degree misdemeanors that carry fines up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail.

"We have a lot of people who don't follow that law," said Linda DeJoe, educator aide at the city's litter control and recycling department. "It's becoming more and more frequent."

No one charged

Even though there's a trash problem and a law on the books, DeJoe said no one's been charged with violating this particular city ordinance.

The city issues written warnings to those who don't follow the law and has had a high success rate with that process, she said.

"Some people don't realize there's an ordinance for this," DeJoe said. "Once they know about it, many times, the problem is solved. We monitor houses after we send warning letters to people living there to make sure they comply."

The goal isn't to put people in jail, Rimedio-Righetti said.

"But we want this problem to stop," she said. "Following the garbage ordinances will make the city look cleaner and reduce blight. Also, leaving garbage out too long attracts rodents, and we don't want that problem."

While DeJoe and Rimedio-Righetti said the problem is widespread, other city officials don't share that opinion.

"I don't have that problem in my ward and I don't see this as a problem in the city," said Councilman Michael Rapovy, D-5th.

Mayor Jay Williams said he's received one or two complaints during his nine-plus months in office about trash cans left by the curb.

skolnick@vindy.com

Monday, October 9, 2006