How would you like to clean up this mess?

Sad to say, but this is only one of the many horrific messes that the City of Huntington's Sanitation workers run upon every day. How would you like to clean up this mess?

Frankly, the sanitation workers don't have the time to rake all of this garbage up, re-bag it and throw it into their compactor truck ... and they shouldn't have to! Huntington's City Council needs to immediately strengthen the ordinance related to household trash collection. The ordinance should be modified to require that properly sealed plastic bags of trash be placed in tightly sealed containers and placed at the point of collection. The containers should be of a uniform style and size and be of the Pelican-style that have the lid permanently attached. Currently, the ordinance states that plastic bags can be placed for pickup without being in a closed container on the day of the pickup. Many people don't even place their garbage in a sealed bag, and many of the ones who do begin putting their plastic bags of trash and garbage out days before the next scheduled pickup. Within hours, animals find their way to the potential site of any food that they might find (God bless the poor animals that are homeless and hungry, due to some unfeeling human being casting them out to survive on their own). Dogs, cats, rodents and other wild animals tear open the bags, and the wind, rain and cars scatter it for blocks and blocks. Trust me litter travels until something substantial stops it! This can be stopped, but Huntington City Council must have the "guts" to establish strict rules for this issue and enforce them! The ordinance states that a resident in violation of the ordinance related to this issue can, after a ten-day opportunity to correct the violation, be fined up to $500. and be given a jail term of up to thirty-days. No more bags or loose items placed out for pickup! Everything in a sealed bag and kept in a tightly sealed container that is not so full that the lid won't stay closed. If a resident needs several of these approved containers to fulfill the requirement, so be it! It's time to resolve this issue once and for all! City Council needs to demonstrate the courage required to get tough with the residents that are causing this on-going blight on our community! We ought to be mad as hell and not allow it anymore! Are you with me? Call your councilperson and encourage them to "stand up for the good and welfare of our neighborhoods!" Are you with me? Together we can accomplish anything we can imagine!