Dear Editor:
Last evening Council Meeting, Tuesday, February 2, brought to light a new “supervisor” on board for the Sanitation Department. It was mentioned part of his job will be to speak to students on the importance of waste management and its impacts on the world.
One would think the Board of Education would already have such a program or agenda somewhere in the curriculum, even at a most basic level; poster or enforcement on school property; “a litter free school area”; similar to the drug free zones now in place. In Japan for example; students are responsible for keeping their class rooms and school property clean, through a program of a collective cooperative. Perhaps something along these lines can be considered by the BOE.
Any student seen littering or areas effected by student aberrant behavior such as littering such be addressed by administering their time and labor in any clean-ups. Custodial staff, teachers or any person involved with BOE duties should be encouraged to report any such behavior. Do not feel a municipal sanitation supervisor should spend time in this aspect of our behavior, but rather the BOE itself. The sanitation employee should devote his duties and responsibilities to law enforcement and reporting offensives that are on-going and too obvious to overlook.
Many such violations of the local ordinances, State and Federal laws go unabated. How long has recycling been in effect? There can no longer be any latitude given in not enforcing our local and State laws concerning littering, residents, property owners and businesses must be held responsible.
Our street and public places are a disgrace. A consumer convenience and free society must reign in its lack of being responsible and civic minded. Fines and Penalties are in order, only these long overdue measures will give any chance to bring a remedy to our abused places of common. We need conscience discipline from our, Police, sanitation crews, housing department, health department, road department, even parks and forestry. It is this lack of concern that has allowed the corporate mess of plastic that now infects our world everywhere we go. Only enforcement of the ordinances have any chance of bring this disease of convenient consumption under control. Too many things divide us rather than bring us together excepting this behavior and using public spaces for a garbage dump must no longer we excepted as the norm.
Nick Homyak
