City to fine residents for leaving trash cans at curb

Richmond is in a leadership crisis. The mayor is fighting with (and evicting) everyone. The school board is in shambles. So what does City Council do? They are set to pass a law to fine residents $50 per day for leaving their trash cans out. Under the terms of the bill, leaving your cans out past […]

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Richmond is in a leadership crisis. The mayor is fighting with (and evicting) everyone. The school board is in shambles. So what does City Council do? They are set to pass a law to fine residents $50 per day for leaving their trash cans out.

Under the terms of the bill, leaving your cans out past 7am the day after pickup will result in a $50 fine per day. The fines will be collected as part of the monthly utility bill. That makes me wonder whether the city will suspend utility service if the fines are not paid.

1st District rep Bruce Tyler introduced the bill, stating that part of the reason for considering this bill was that police officers have been “running around chasing trashcans.” Clearly I agree with the councilman that police should not be handling the problem, but this law is not the answer.

All I can do is throw my hands up in the air and say enough! What is wrong with this city? Why are we wasting our time with passing laws about trash cans? I can think of 50 things City Council should be tackling ahead of trash cans.

Did you know that you can complain about “supercans” being left at the curb on the city website? I bet Bruce Tyler doesn’t. Why doesn’t the Department of Public Works confiscate abandoned cans and let residents pony up $55 for a new supercan as per already established Department of Public Works regulations. There are already rules in place to handle this. More laws and more fines are not the answer.

Source: Richmond.com

Read the ordinance here 

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