Blog 23

Post a news story or current event that is connected to your MSB work.

Residents Protest End to 2nd Trash Pickup
Febuary 7th, 2009

For years, Mission Beach residents have enjoyed a bonus – an extra round of trash pickup each week during the summer.
City trucks came by twice a week, rather than the standard once a week, to haul away the garbage at no charge.
That additional service will no longer be provided as a result of cuts made by San Diego last year to close a $43 million midyear budget gap.
Some Mission Beach residents are just beginning to learn about the loss of the service, which costs the city $58,000 a year, and are lobbying City Hall to restore it.
They say the extra round of pickup from Memorial Day to Labor Day is necessary because the coastal community has a high concentration of vacationers and other visitors who tend to generate a fair amount of trash. Many waterfront properties in Mission Beach are vacation rentals in the summer.
Residents fear the budget cut will result in alleys overflowing with trash. Garbage piles, they worry, will draw birds and bugs and create health hazards.
“I think it's being penny-wise and pound-foolish,” said Bill Bradshaw, a longtime Mission Beach resident and community activist.
He said if cans are full, people will simply leave their waste in the alley or at the beach next to trash cans.
City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, who represents Mission Beach, said he's working to find money to restore the service. “It's a quality-of-life issue,” he said.
“In those summer months, we have so many visitors and vacation rentals. That extra trash pickup is essential for the residents to have a clean neighborhood and for the visitors to have a good positive beach experience.”
Rachel Laing, the mayor's spokeswoman, said one solution is for residents to buy an extra container to hold their trash. The city's Environmental Services Department sells the cans for $70 apiece, plus $25 for delivery.
Laing said the city can't afford to undo another budget cut. San Diego faces at least a $54 million deficit next fiscal year, which starts July 1.
“There are going to be a lot of cuts that aren't going to be pretty next year. We have to stand firm on what we are doing,” she said.
Last year, Mayor Jerry Sanders proposed shutting down some libraries and recreation centers to balance the budget. The City Council held off on the closures and will likely revisit the issue.
Owners of vacation rentals say that the second round of trash pickup should be covered by the hotel taxes paid to the city. San Diego charges a 10.5 percent tax on hotel and vacation rental rooms.
“The city is making a lot of money out of those renters in the summer,” said Ikuko Holland, a customer representative with San Diego Sunset Vacation Rentals & Real Estate, which manages vacation property in Mission Beach.
Holland said it's not just the guests of vacation rentals who fill up the garbage cans. Visitors also pop their trash into residents' containers.
“If it's once a week, it's probably going to be overflowing everywhere. People coming to the beach, they just use residential trash cans,” she said.


1. Summarize the event.
In Mission Beach, city trucks would come by to pick up trash twice a week. The second time in the week they would do this, it was free. However, due to budget cuts, these extra and free trash pickups can’t continue. Residents argue that the extra pickups are necessary since Mission Bay gets so many visitors, resulting in excess trash all over.

2. What is the most important info presented in the story?
The information about the budget cuts, because it shows what we all have to change in order to be able to afford our town.

3. What info is missing?
I guess the information that is missing is what we could do to help, or if anything is being done to manage the excess garbage that will be piling up, or if there’s really that much extra.

4. How does this info play into your MSB work?
The perspectives in this piece will also come in handy for my writing since I will be going to Mission Beach to figure out how the trashcans are managed, and how much excess trash there really is in the area. The government information also gives me a glimpse into how our beaches are handled in the ways of garbage currently, and in the past.