« Cotton Patch Whisper: Rumors about future State House backroom deals | Main | 20 Answers to Chris Clem »
July 08, 2006
Vote on continuing curbside?
I just caught an article published on Chattanoogan.com (and, apparently, a Herman Wang story the day before) about a group seeking a ballot initiative so that voters can decide whether or not curbside recycling stays.
Mayor Littlefield should be commended for looking at ways to stop government waste, but I'm concerned that the proposed scuttling would result in a pile of literal waste. Our community already faces a looming solid waste disposal problem. I question Michelle Michaud's assertion that the (Orwell-named?) "convenience centers" would likely result in more materials being recycled. I will ask for something demonstrative regarding the statement about "half" of what's picked up today being hauled to the landfill. (Convenience? Center? The center of my convenience is right about where the sidewalk meets the street, and these two guys come by every Monday to pick up my recyclables.)
The group seeking ballot access for the measure has to get 15% of registered voters to sign a petition. Since only about 18% of households recycle (and that's with curbside), I'm not sure they'll make it. Oh, wait. Registered voters is less than Chattanooga population. Still, it will be tough to get almost 15,000 signatures by September 8.
I'll sign, though, and hopefully I'll get to vote to keep curbside recycling. I wish more people participated in it, because such would help the program stay more cost-effective as well as, you know, do all those good things recycling does.
It sounds like you can catch up with Mr. Frank DePinto and his group on Tuesday at the City Council building at both 4pm and 6pm, as they plan to appear before Public Works and the full Council, respectively. They had a meeting at Mudpie Thursday, but I couldn't determine via online searches where they plan to have the petitions. If I find out about additional ways to sign this petition, I'll post them here.
Community | By joe lance | 09:41 PM