Although he’s a lone wolf now when he makes his daily trash collecting expeditions to Watchung Plaza, Montclair’s Second Ward Councilor Cary Africk says a “trash flash mob is next.”
Africk recently posted on his Face Book page that he believes “30-minutes a day of clean up will get a lot more done than 30 hours of meetings with town officials who already have had a “study” team in there and have concluded “there’s nothing that can be done.” Bemoaning analysis paralysis, Africk has taken matters into his own hands.
When we caught up with the self-appointed clean up patrol officer this morning, he was equipped with his 5-gallon bucket and trash “picker-upper” breaking a sweat working in the 90 degree heat. Unlike sometimes — the weekends for example — the ground debris wasn’t ankle deep and the trash receptacles weren’t overflowing. According to Africk, though, it can get really bad.
“There’s a lot of garbage generated by people who get take-out from the Watchung Plaza restaurants, eat it in the park and don’t bother disposing of the wrappings properly, or pile it high on the town’s overfull cans until it spills over and blows around,” he explained. Even though the municipal code requires businesses to provide extra receptacles, they generally don’t, and it’s not a high priority for the town to enforce.
“Threats of fines, codes and other legalities aren’t the ultimate solution, although additional enforcement would help,” said Africk as he leaned into a greasy paper wrapper and deposited into his pail. “The answer lies in a business improvement district (BID) initiative like there is in Montclair Center, where merchants tax themselves to pay for cleaning services. That program is a model of success should be used throughout the entire town.”
Africk added that it could even work if the other areas of town, such as Watchung Plaza, rented the services from Montclair Center’s BID for a few hours a week, to empty trash cans and clean up the ground on the weekend. “It wouldn’t cost very much and would make a big difference.”
For the moment, however, Africk is on his own — until he can get a flash mob out to help him. “That’s the next step in my plan,” he said, with a gleam in his eye. If he tweets it, will you come?
I’m never really in that part of town, so I won’t be participating. But, I do tip my hat to Carry for what he’s doing.
Green without actually costing the town money and apparently disgusted that the town paid consultants instead of asking for volunteers? Is it really too early to start calling him “Mayor Affrick”?
I think he already is Mayor Africk, since as far as I can tell he’s the only member of the council who has even a sliver of a clue.
Anyone want to help me with my monthly cleanup of the disgusting (town owned) property along the Walnut St station on Erie Street? I gave up a long time ago: a.) calling the town public works to ask them to do something and b.) having hope that the commuters (adult human beings with jobs, I assume) walking down my block would not be disgusting slobs and drop their food wrappers, soda containers, coffee cups, in the grass on the way to the train in the morning.
Good work Cary!
I don’t why the merchants don’t get together and employ a part-time clean up crew(person) and grounds keeper. It is the worst area in town in terms of cleanliness. Church street, Upper Montclair Village and even Bloomfield Ave seem well kept for the most part. After our tax dollars put in all new sidewalks and red brick it looked really nice. Now all you see are weeds and garbage. Maybe they could clean up in front of thier store fronts, pull a few weeds and show you care!
Wait, your telling me the ‘green’ people of Montclair litter?
Probably empty Starbuck cups laying around.
While I applaud Cary’s efforts … if there ever was a sign that things in this town are badly broken this is it.
How about we take a meter-maid or two and have them write littering tickets. And have them do it for about 3 months. Then you have:
1). Funding for a good cleanup
2). Just maybe cut the litter way down
Oh, yeah, let’s have the litters do the Montclair Times and B’net perp-walk of shame complete with really bad mug shots. I’d love to actually see these mindless, entitled ‘citizens’.
How about you (we) task the MPA with keeping their properties in order. When they fail, dissolve them or keep replacing executives until you find one that can actually do the job. Excuses are NOT results and results are the only thing that matters.
And if Cary can’t get anything positive to happen let’s say we help him with good, solid recall effort and get the dead wood out.
How about we (yeah, us) find our outrage and start implementing some creative solutions to this mess that used to be Montclair.
Truly sad that is has taken so long and fallen to me to bring this up:
How about issuing some summonses to the brats leaving all the litter in the first place? Watchung Plaza is too often overrun with children with nothing to do and with no evidence that they have ever been expected to behave properly with consideration for others. I would like to believe that their parents make them pick up after themselves at home, but I doubt it.
Cary is the man …
As far as littering youngsters go, fining them is not the right idea; you need to fine the parents.
go Cary
I’d like to respond to the comment by freda678, who wrote:
“I don’t why the merchants don’t get together and employ a part-time clean up crew (person) and grounds keeper. It is the worst area in town in terms of cleanliness.”
And they should do it before “the town” gets involved, charging extra to have an “executive director” “manage” it!
There are thousands of energetic kids in MHS looking to log in public service hours. It would be wonderful if a few of them would organize periodic litter pickup drives. With a large group, it would take less than an hour to clean up Watchung Plaza, and then for the party afterward Sunrise could provide free bagels and coffee and Bonjour free crepes. You could even organize a band to play music while it’s going on.
For this brilliant idea, I will waive my usual fees.