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Need more incentives to enforce litter laws

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  • Originally published December 30, 2011 at 5:03 p.m., updated December 30, 2011 at 5:15 p.m.

Editor, the Advocate:

Recently a woman who just moved to Victoria wrote a letter to the editor stating that Victoria was the trashiest city she'd ever seen. Evidently, she had not been to Port Lavaca. The rest of this is not directed to you people whose parents taught you the proper place to dispose of trash.

It seems there are people who were not taught this, and they don't know what the barrels, trash cans, etc., are for. There are usually places to dispose of trash just about everywhere. There is no excuse to buy a bag of ice and fill your Igloo and leave the empty bag in the parking lot as you drive off or to leave dirty diapers in the parking lots at grocery stores, post offices, etc.

There is some talk of the banning of plastic bags, but whatever replaces them would still be thrown out. I propose to use Herman Cain's digital symbols, which were 9-9-9, to teach people to dispose of their trash properly. Evidently, the present fine, which I don't think is ever enforced, does not work. I propose that we use 3-3-3, which is a $300 fine.

If you don't have any money to pay the fine, you have a choice then of three days in the slammer or three days going down the streets picking up trash.

Our sheriff and police chief must give their law men a great incentive to arrest someone leaving trash in the wrong places.

I would suggest giving the officer who makes the arrest an automatic day off from being on duty. In other words, he can sleep late, go fishing, watch the ball game on TV or whatever he desires. To aid him in making an arrest, maybe let him use an unmarked car.

By the third arrest, the easiest punishment probably would be picking up litter from the roadsides because, by then, word has spread all the way to New York City.

Curtis Foester, Port Lavaca




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Comments

  • Beakus Beakus Report a ViolationReport a Violation Permalink  | 

    Good point Curtis. Rather than re-invent the wheel, just follow the lead of a place like Singapore. It took them a few decades, but cleanliness is part of their culture and so is punishment for offenders. It is worth looking at what offenders are faced with.

    December 30, 2011 at 6:38 p.m.