Northeast News
September 17, 2014

Dear Editor:

Lets talk trash once again. Troy Nash held a meeting at The Gem theater called “lets talk trash.” I attended and spoke. Solid waste at that time was in the Environmental Services Department led by John Stufflebeam. John said at that meeting, “Golly GEE if I knew where this trash was I would get it picked up.”

I rose again and said, “John you just screwed up. You will know Monday morning.” That weekend my wife and I toured the old Northeast and recorded approximately 250 piles by address. Monday morning I dropped that list on John’s desk and every councilperson. I received support from Ed Ford, Teresa Loar, Mary Williams Neal, Becky Nace and Troy Nash.

A few weeks later when attending a focus study meeting in Lykins Neighborhood, I was complaining to Ed Ford and calling John Stufflebeam some non-printable names when John approached with the bulky item program sketched out on the back of the envelope. Ed, John, Ron Heldstab and I discussed this for an hour, then Monday I brought Mary Williams Neal, Becky Nace and Troy Nash into the conversation. We worked together and brought the potential ordinance to the council which was heard in the Neighborhoods, Housing and Healthy Communities committee. It was modified in committee and the Council passed a good ordinance.

The very next year, budget cuts took money from the program and a couple years later solid waste was transferred to Public Works and a director even more incompetent became manager resulting into a complete program failure. We will never solve solid waste problems until we have component leadership.

Our residents SHOULD NOT report problems to 3-1-1 but call your council person’s office. We need to look at solid waste in its entirety once again.

Charles Melton,

Kansas City Resident