With spring comes the clean-up. Civic groups, neighborhood associations and residents usually gather to clean our streets, our parks and/or our neighbor’s empty lots.
An example of this is the celebration of Earth Day when Comcast attracts hundreds of volunteers joining the efforts of local volunteers and spreads them throughout the city making a great effort to leave us a clean city.
After a long day of work we proudly show the product of the effort, a stack of objects that obviously were not brought by the wind but downloaded by individuals who have no regard for anyone, only to see the same streets, the same lots filled with trash a few days later.
Obviously, to have clean streets we cannot wait for the effort of a group once a year. We need to keep them clean year around!
We recall that several years ago then Councilman at-Large Roger Twomey came to the same conclusion and determined that Broadway, due to pedestrian traffic was in a way worse state of cleanliness throughout the city. He did not come to sweep it; instead, he spoke with each of the business owners and obtained from them the promise that they would be responsible for maintaining their storefronts clean.
They listened and the difference was obvious, momentarily. It is a pity that Twomey’s example is not imitated by other councilors. Again we must talk to neighbors and business owners and inculcate the spirit of Broadway changing its appearance by regularly sweeping the front of their shops and homes and most importantly, be vigilant about what is happening in that empty lot next to ours.
Call the authorities if you see someone throwing waste. Do yourself a favor and you won’t have to pick-up somebody else’s trash anymore!
