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A
Case Study of an Effort to Report
Litter on the Athens City's Website Complaint Form
NOTE:
Many people have told
me that they've stopped bothering to submit complaints to the Code
Office through the City's litter-complaint web-form because they say
"nothing ever happens" as a result of their complaint.
After submitting the following complaint I can now understand why they may feel that way. The code officers don't always send a follow-up email to tell you what they've done (after all, that takes time and we'd prefer they spend that time out on the streets issuing more citations.) However, if I had not received an email reply from the code officer letting me know what he had done, I might wonder if he had even received my complaint. The problem (as illustrated below) is: a) a lack of a consistent standard for how much is "enough" litter for issuing a citation (The West Side Community Association is asking for a "zero tolerance" policy meaning that ANY litter on a property is a citable offence.) b) a lack of consistent day-after-day follow-up until the problem is actually resolved. Right now, (especially until the new Litter Control Officer starts work in April and is trained) the code officers are already overworked with their daily inspections and may not be able to go back day-after-day to issue more citations and higher fines until the problem is resolved. We hope things will change for the better after Travis Craig starts work and gets up to speed. c) the Litter Control Officer need to get out of their vehicle and walk the streets so that they can see the litter which may not be obvious from a moving vehicle. So here's the story... The Original Complaint: Recorded on Complaint Form TRACKING NUMBER: xxxxxx SUBMITTED: MONDAY afternoon (in February, 2011) Please describe the problem: "Please check on all the properties on X STREET between locations XX and YY. "Especially at the corner of X STREET and Y STREET. And also [PROPERTY A] and [PROPERTY B]. But many other houses along this stretch have amazing amounts of litter (I just don't remember their addresses.) "ALSO.... please check on [PROPERTY C] and [PROPERTY D] for excessive litter. "[PROPERTY C] is ALWAYS a mess and eye-sore. Lots of litter throughout the yard. "[PROPERTY D] has a mattress that's been in the yard for 2 weeks, graffiti covered garbage cans are never placed out of sight. Excessive litter throughout the yard. broken glass on the walkway leading to their cluttered front porch. Thanks." Tuesday Morning: Rapid Response... (Thanks!) The status of your request has been updated, or new information has been added. TICKET STATUS: 'RESOLVED' LATEST ACTIVITY: 13 warnings and tickets given to 13 addresses between X and Y including [PROPERTY A] and [PROPERTY B] and [PROPERTY E]. [PROPERTY C] is cluttered but does not have enough trash in yard to warrant citation. [PROPERTY D] has no mattress in yard, but did have a torn pillow that has been disposed, and trash cans have been moved back adjacent to back porch steps. |
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PROPERTY C: THE 2 PHOTOS BELOW were taken THURSDAY at 12:40 pm. While all the litter in the yard shown in the photos above is still there, it doesn't look quite so bad when photographed from across the street. Notice that the recycling bin is still out, 3 days after garbage day.   |
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PROPERTY
D: The garbage cans were placed at the back of the house
and the shredded pillow stuffing had been cleaned up, but this property
still has over 70 pieces of litter in the yard and at the curb.
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 The
blurry white things are
huge snow flakes.
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THE PHOTO BELOW of PROPERTY D was TAKEN THURSDAY. Notice that while all the litter above is still on the property (you can see the broken tiles on the walkway halfway up the steps), it doesn't look so bad when seen by someone driving a car.  Over Two Weeks Later... ____  PROPERTY D: This photo taken 19 days after the initial complaint was resolved by Code (stating that the garbage cans had been placed at the back porch, which they were, until the next garbage day.) The yard is still littered with over 70 pieces of litter and the broken tiles are still on the front walk leading up the steps. The front porch contains not just indoor furniture, but mattresses which have been there for over 2 weeks. (possibly not any sort of violation except for unsightliness.) |
