From Councilperson Parker Agelasto’s FaceBook page, in response to a story on NBC12 News:

Is the system broken? We have received numerous complaints about the lack of enforcement for illegal dumping and the failure of the City’s Department of Public Works to respond in a timely fashion (current response time is more than 30 days). Surely the increased call volume for service requests keeps RPD and DPW busy. However, does the average citizen know how to report an issue for effective response? We tell them “if you see something, say something.”
After calls from neighbors of Peyton Avenue who informed me that they had reported illegal dumping to the Richmond Police Department and 311, I visited the alley on August 2. I logged 7 SeeClickFix cases for bulk pick-ups and illegal dumping. The bulk pick-ups were behind residential houses and appeared to be yard debris and furniture. The illegal dumping reported more than 8 locations where dozens of tires had been brought to the alley and illegally disposed. I also contacted the Richmond Police Lieutenant for the Sector and reported the illegal dumping.
Wanting to improve her community, one concerned neighbor informed me that she had loaded a pile of the tires in her truck to deliver to the Southside refuse center on Hopkins Road but was only allowed to dump four tires. She then asked other vehicles in line to take up to four tires to dump until her truck was empty. The effort of this good Samaritan was met with resistance since there is a formal policy at DPW regarding tire disposal. As such it appears the piles of tires in the alley between Wythemar and Roanoke Street behind Peyton Avenue were going to stay put as citizens were unable to help themselves to remove the unwanted blight.
On August 7, several of the SeeClickFix cases I reported were CLOSED because Code Enforcement “is incapable of assigning an inspector to an area that is not connected with a parcel address. Please call our office…” What? A phone call revealed that SeeClickFix reports of Illegal Dumping are not being handled by RPD instead through Code Enforcement but only on private property and not in the public right-of-way. Illegal dumping on city-owned property becomes a bulk puck-up request for DPW to send a crew to retrieve. Now the tires in the alley enter the 30-day backlog of requests with apparently no attempt to fine or arrest anyone associated with the dumping.
With such a large backlog of bulk & brush requests, citizens continue to call and report the issues. They continue to ask for assistance from city leaders. Sometimes, they organize a community clean-up through the Clean City Commission or simply contact the media as the bully pulpit. This again requires DPW to respond with resources – often paying overtime to meet this excessive demand. Could DPW have solved its own problem by accepting the tires at the local refuse center thus eliminating the roundabout that ultimately cost them and frustrated citizens? Seems like a viscous loop with no good solution.
“If you see something, say something.” That’s the message of community policing but it needs to be reinforced in all departments of City government. Citizens need to inform the Richmond Police Department that you will testify in court when you witness the incident. City DPW staff need to look for items and respond to them when they see it so that we reduce mobilizing other staff to the same area. If we don’t change the condition, we can’t solve the problem. We’re only inviting more bad behavior, forcing larger backlogs, slower response times, or higher taxes.
Fortunately, in the instance reported above a community clean-up is scheduled for this Saturday, August 23, from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. Meet at George Wythe High School. Oregon Hill and Randolph are also hosting clean-ups on Saturday, August 23, from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. Meet up at S. Laurel Street at Albemarle or 1401 Grayland Avenue.