ST. LOUIS • St. Louis residents lined up on Monday night to ask officials why laws barring trash dumping and setting off fireworks in the city aren’t being adequately enforced.
In a town hall hosted by several members of the Board of Aldermen, constituents from throughout the city wanted to know how their recently increased trash fees are being spent, what they have to do to get complaints about trashed alleyways and neighborhoods addressed quickly and why police aren’t arresting more people setting off fireworks in neighborhoods.
But on both subjects, complaints tend to focus on one thing: enforcement.
“We can come up with all the ideas we want in this meeting. But if they’re not enforced, there’s no accountability ... if there’s no repercussions for doing something illegal, than what’s the point of having a law?†asked Ryan Barnes, a resident of the 11th Ward.
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When nearly every chair in the room was full, roughly two dozen trash truck drivers stood in the back, growing visibly agitated at some of the officials’ responses.
Most of them are now forced to work weekend shifts, or shifts that begin much earlier or end much later, to ensure garbage can be picked up with St. Louis’ aging trash truck fleet. Equipment is breaking down faster than it can be replaced, personnel (both mechanics and drivers) have been cut, and St. Louis is now struggling to reverse that course.
St. Louis Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson also detailed what the fire department is facing when residents or visitors illegally set off fireworks: more than 500 calls for service in a 24-hour period on July 4, and more than 80 fires.
The issue, he said, is increasing numbers of low-quality fireworks being sold on the black market. Commercial-grade fireworks, like those set off at events like Fair St. Louis, are inspected. A fallout zone is established and fire marshals are on the scene. Cheap, homemade fireworks are often shot less than 70 feet in the air, meaning flammable material is falling onto lawns, streets, garages and homes, Jenkerson said.
“You can buy anything on the internet,†he said.
But when pushed to share how many tickets or summons were issued for lighting fireworks this month, no police officers on hand could immediately provide a number.
“How come no one has been documenting these addresses and knowing that each year you’re going to have these same people, at the same address, firing off fireworks?†asked Erline Johnson, a Dutchtown resident who said she and her neighbors call 911 to report fireworks every year.
St. Louis police Capt. Michael Deeba said it’s often a matter of prioritizing calls. The department is more than 100 officers short, he noted.
“Everybody in this room wants me at their house if they think somebody is breaking in, or in a car accident when a loved one is injured, versus a fireworks call,†Deeba said.
Aldermen at the event acknowledged that existing ordinances will need to be more strictly enforced, and new, tougher ones may need to be written.
“There’s far too many meetings that happen, and it has to be more than just therapeutic ... we have to actually do something to respond,†said 16th Ward Alderman Tom Oldenburg.
Trash overflows in the alley behind Iowa Avenue and Winnebago Street on Monday, July 30, 2018, in St. Louis. Photo by J.B. Forbes, jforbes@post-dispatch.com
The city has taken some steps to crack down on illegal dumping and improve garbage pickup. Increasing the trash fee from $11 to $14 last year has allowed the city to gradually begin replacing trash trucks and deploy about 100 new surveillance cameras throughout the city to monitor dumping in lots and alleys. A bolstered “trash task force†in the police department is also responding to complaints that come either directly to them or through the Citizen Service Bureau.
Alderman Brandon Bosley, 3rd Ward, said he wants the Board of Aldermen to go further, and explore tougher penalties for dumping. Right now, someone dumping their waste in a city alley could be slammed with a $500 fine and some community service.
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“You’ll take that risk when it costs you $1,000 to dump it in the correct place,†Bosley said. “It’s not a deterrent. We have to put the laws exactly where our mouth is.â€
Alderman Sarah Martin said the city has failed to conduct even routine maintenance on its trash trucks, so spending money to do so is long overdue.
“We may need to look in the future, and look at our mistakes as far as what aldermen control in the budget. Do we not buy a truck and hire mechanics with that money? Maybe we need to look at that and see, as far as our maintenance plan goes, because we’ve spent 10 years without any maintenance,†said Martin, who represents the 11th Ward.
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