Letter to the Editor: Trash cans on the street no answer

To the editor:

This letter is in regards to the mandate that our three trash cans are in

our streets and not in the alley. I agree with Garry Nelson's letter to the

Shafter Press dated March 31, 2022. However, the Rotary motto doesn't have a

safety component. Many of our streets have no sidewalks, forcing students

walking to and from school to travel in the street. When you add a line of

garbage cans to the line of parked cars, those children will now be in the

middle of the street. This is a dangerous situation for our community's

children and citizens.

It seems that some alleys have low-hanging wires (a safety issue) and

improperly disposed trash (a code enforcement issue). The city has found

these issues make the alleys unusable for trash pick-up. The City Council

views the messy trash pickup/garbage collection as an issue and has been

unable to correct this blight. Now, this alley blight will remain and

probably grow, and that same blight will migrate to the streets with our

trash cans.

It is truly disappointing that "input" meetings are in reality lectures to

the citizens telling them how it is going to be to keep the "powers that

be" happy. I expect this letter will have no impact ... Like many public

boards and public agencies there has been a deaf ear to any and all

expressed concerns by the citizens.

Pat Wilson

Shafter