Fresno’s Operation Clean-up is a liability mess

We recently had Operation Clean-up in the area of Maple and Internaional avenues. This year’s theme seemed to be how much dead vegetation and scrap metal, including large appliances, can people pile up and rummage through along the bike lanes going east and west?

This annual ritual encouraged many gardeners in this area to dump loads of debris on the roadside instead of taking their waste to the proper locations in Fresno. Hey, out of sight, out of mind, right? No one is looking, plus no one seemingly cares to do much about it.

After about three weeeks, I called Fresno City Councilman Garry Bredefeld’s office and I received a call back in a couple of hours with directions on what I could do. A phone number and contact person was provided channeling me to the sanitation department. I called and the next thing we knew a SWAT team of trucks and support crews invaded the area and began effectively cleaning up.

Through Bredefeld’s office and the city sanitation department, a timely outcome followed. This yearly clean-up needs investigation before someone is hit by passing vehicles that travel this road daily. I envision a huge lawsuit against the city coming from this.

This story was originally published August 12, 2017 at 5:57 PM with the headline "Fresno’s Operation Clean-up is a liability mess."