Talking trash with ordinance official Neil West and others

So, the subject of littering came up recently and Hamilton Ordinance Official Neil West had stopped by our office on a different matter, but while he was here, I asked him to share a few thoughts.
“I see litter. I see garbage. And it breaks my heart,” he said. “There are ordinances against littering from vehicles, including items that are blown out of the cars by the wind. There are ordinances against illegal dumping.”
When asked if he thought fines would help, Neil said he believed fines could help, but you’d have to catch the person in the act.
Another way he suggested to combat illegal dumping is to take a trash bag and empty it on the ground and go through it.
“If there is any mail, especially consistent mail with the same name and address, there’s a good chance it came from them,” he said. “You’d have to catch them in the act or probably take a photo by today’s standards, or it’d be one word against another. Trash is sad.”
I asked Neil what he thought we could do about the problem. But I also mentioned I don’t really believe the people who are littering are the same people who read this newspaper. But if you are littering--stop it! Put a garbage bag in your car, please. I learned to do this in elementary school. Anyway, back to Neil.
He said he sometimes spends half his lunch time picking up trash, and has occasionally spent his entire lunch time doing so. He said he’s noticed several areas in town, including National Avenue which runs parallel with the Buttahatchee River near Bevill State, accumulate trash over time.
“I thought maybe someone from the college would pick it up, but they never did,” he said. “So, I personally picked it up. There’s a back road by Walmart going to the airport, and again, I couldn’t take it anymore. Nobody was cleaning it up, so I took all my lunch one day to do it.
“At first, I didn’t think it was that much. An hour later and four garbage bags later, I had picked up on just one side of the road.”
He’s also asked property owners if he could have permission to go on their land to clean the trash and garbage that’s been blown there.
“Everybody sees the garbage. The trash,” he said. “But, sadly, some become numb to the vision. They become blinded to the problem. They see it everyday, but it just doesn’t register. You may see it, but your feelings have been shut down about it.
“Some people may say, ‘Oh my, that looks so bad. Look at all that trash. Someone needs to clean that up.’ But out of 10 people, nine will never have it go through their mind, ‘It should be me.’”
Asked if he thought some kind of social media challenge might help, where people post photos of the garbage bags they’d collected from roadside litter, or posted a photo of their “car garbage bag” and pledged not to litter--he wasn’t sure. But we are printing Neil’s photo and the garbage bags he collected, and if anyone wants to start that challenge, we’d be grateful.
“In the past, we’ve had a beautification day,” he noted. “Personally, I think it’s great. And personally, I think it’s sad. It’s great you have it, but sad you need it. If people did a better job throughout the year, we  wouldn’t have to have a day to get bags and grabbers and have the whole town clean up. Why don’t we already do that?
“If people picked up their garbage on their property, it would clean a whole lot of the city up. If each individual would do their part, it’s amazing how far the group can go.”

Toss and Tell
Hamilton resident Bev Jessen is actually the person who initiated the conversation about the trash problem. As a concerned citizen, and doing what a great neighbor does, she reached out to us with words put on her heart. She said she and her husband pick up litter dropped on their property and in their area as people travel on roads near the Hamilton Elementary School.
“Hamilton has a problem. It's litter,” she said. “Most agree that litter sends a ‘we don't care’ message and reflects negatively on all of us.
“A few years ago, the city organized clean up Saturdays with volunteers. Raising awareness of the problem helped for a time, but now it appears our litter problem is worse than ever.
“I am sure you have noticed it, too. For some of us, it's become a daily endeavor to retrieve and dispose of other people's trash. Sometimes we risk our safety in doing so.
“You and I may ask why people toss litter from their vehicles. It is puzzling. The only answer I can come up with is this: It’s become a habit.
“I think we are within our rights to photograph the tosser's vehicle and the trash, make note of the place, time and date, and let our police know. They care about Hamilton too!”

 Police remarks
I asked Hamilton Police Chief Jordan Carter to comment for this column, and he shared the following: “In Alabama, before a criminal charge for littering can be pursued, we must first establish probable cause. This means officers must have sufficient facts or evidence to reasonably believe a person

has unlawfully disposed of litter on public or private property without permission.
“To meet this requirement, we may rely on witness statements, photos, video or other credible evidence. If the case is being presented for a warrant, the facts and circumstances must be submitted to a judge or magistrate. That judge then determines whether probable cause exists to issue a criminal littering warrant.
“If we directly observe someone unlawfully disposing of trash or debris, a criminal charge can be pursued without the need for a warrant.  In these cases, probable cause is established through our own observation.
“If we witness someone throwing litter from a vehicle, dumping garbage on private property without permission or leaving trash in a public space, that firsthand account is sufficient to support enforcement action.”
We also spoke with Guin Police Chief Darryl Spencer. Last year, Guin had seven violations of its “Guin Clean City Ordinance,” which resulted in fines of $500 each and $3,500 being raised, which could buy a lot of garbage bags.
We wondered if the ordinance and resulting fines were helping there.
“The ordinance has helped,” he said. “It covers violations, such as household garbage, junk vehicles and overgrown yards, etc.
“But most of our problem comes from the charity boxes set out for people to donate. One of the littering fines was due to that. We surveyed the area and caught one person dropping trash and charged him. People don’t need to bring their household junk and drop it outside the boxes.
“We take litter on a complaint basis as it comes in. We serve notices, and give people time to comply. And for the most part, nine out of 10 times, the issue is resolved.”
He said Guin didn’t seem to have a large problem with people throwing garbage from vehicles, but noted he wished more people were aware of the “Guin Clean City Ordinance” and the $500 fine.

Mayors and Hamilton fines
Guin Mayor Phil Segraves said the ordinance received some positive press when it was passed, which may have helped. He said the city does still have some litter, but noted, “I think the ordinance helps, especially as word gets around that you’ll be prosecuted. I do think it has helped.”
Hamilton Mayor Bob Page noted the city has had clean up days in the past, as well as church groups, other volunteer groups and inmates pick up litter. He said the city has also created publicity about littering, including posting signs requesting people not to litter.
Regarding throwing trash out of vehicles, he noted, “It’s very distressing people won’t take their own litter home and put it in their trash cans, so we can pick it up for them.
“It’s an ongoing problem, and I don’t know how to solve it without the cooperation of our citizens. But I realize there are a lot of people who come here from other places for their jobs or for shopping. It may not be our citizens alone who are doing the littering in our streets. Our strong message to our people is ‘don’t litter.’”
We asked Hamilton Court Clerk-Magistrate Jeannye Palmer to provide us with local fines, and appreciate her sharing the following:
“Criminal littering is a Class B misdemeanor. The fine for the first conviction shall be up to $500. The punishment for the second and any subsequent conviction shall include either a fine of up to $1,000 and up to 100 hours of community service in the form of picking up litter along highways, roads, streets, public rights-of-way, public sidewalks, public walkways, or public waterways, or by a fine of not less than $2,000 and not more than $3,000.”

In conclusion
Again, I don’t have a solution to this problem. I am sharing this message in hopes of raising awareness. I do feel “train up a child in the way they should go” and having programs in elementary school instilled a no-littering policy in my heart.
I keep a garbage bag in my car and would feel emotional pain to have to throw anything out the window. I’ve also picked up garbage in front of businesses I’ve worked at. And I picked up garbage in a church youth group as a teenager along miles of roadway. But I admit there are other areas I could definitely work on.
My neighbors’ yards are all beautiful and pristine. There has been litter discarded near a vacant lot on our road, but I know it’s not them. Someone is coming to look at the beautiful river, yet leaving their drink cups behind--something not so beautiful to look at. Why? I don’t know.
And then I have friends, like Missy Miles and her husband, Tommy, who’ve told me stories about picking up garbage along the roads leading to their home. These are the people, like Neil, and Bev and her husband, who make an incredible effort to help beautify our communities. I thank you all, and I salute everyone of you who is “part of the solution, not part of the problem.” Happy spring to all!
(Note: Super-ironically, after this column was completed and edited by my boss, we received the story about the “Don’t Drop It on Alabama” Spring Cleanup running on page 12. There’s no time or room to investigate this now, but if anyone participates in this anti-littering campaign, please let me know for a future follow-up column. Thank you!)