The District’s trash inspectors are writing only two tickets a day on average despite convincing evidence citywide of solid waste violations from illegal dumps to overgrown lawns.
The 36 inspectors who constitute the Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program wrote only 14,000 tickets combined in fiscal 2009 and were averaging two a day per person through December, Bill Howland, director of the Department of Public Works, told a D.C. Council panel during a recent oversight hearing. Inspectors work a 40-hour week.
“Two tickets a day raises the question about whether they’re working a full day,” said Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, public works committee chairman.
That lack of production, Howland said, could mean their jobs. He said he met with inspectors in December and “told them I needed their ticket production to go up individually.” The number of tickets issued increased from 1,350 in December to 2,400 in January.
“If they want to stay on with DPW, they need to be writing 10 to 12 tickets a day,” Howland said. “If the evidence is there, write the ticket.”
SWEEP inspectors issue citations for uncontained solid waste, trash cans out at the wrong time or place, overgrowth of trees and shrubs, illegal dumping, and even dog walkers who fail to pick up after their pets.
During the council hearing, residents such as Kathy Henderson of Carver Terrace held up photos of piles of trash that Howland acknowledged clearly violated District law. Graham had his own snapshot, of a garbage heap at Irving and Kenyon streets in Mount Pleasant.
“I can assure you that not one ticket has been written by anyone from the Department of Public Works to address these issues,” Henderson said.
Graham said Tuesday, referring to the SWEEP inspection team, “We just don’t have enough people out there doing the work.” But he also noted the “double-edged issue,” that the existing inspectors must do a better job.
The council included about $1.5 million in the 2010 budget for 21 additional SWEEP inspectors. The new team was expected to generate $1.63 million in net annual revenue, but Howland said his enforcers would need to write 70,000 citations to meet the target — five times their current production.
During the council hearing, Howland revealed plans to redirect the $1.5 million to augment parking enforcement, but that idea was dumped after Graham objected. DPW “remains interested” in hiring the new inspectors, spokeswoman Nancee Lyons said.
» October: 969
» November: 1,445
» December: 1,350
» January: 2,400
» February: 724
