I Love to Talk Trash

As the city of Philadelphia prepares for a new Mayor to be sworn in on January 2, 2024, residents and city officials who care about making this city a cleaner, greener, safer city are doing all they can to spread the word, stop littering, stop illegal dumping and sweep in front of your own door.

- Thera Martin

Our new Mayor, Cherelle Parker, is not playing about the trash in our town. She's determined to make things better. Someone who I believe is thinking along the same lines as Mayor-Elect Parker is Philadelphia Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams. A native of North Philadelphia, Williams has served as the Streets Commissioner through both of Mayor Kenney's two terms in office.

Getting residents and visitors alike to respect our streets and our city is more than a notion. It's a gigantic job and I'm guessing, may often feel like a thankless job.

However, for people who are committed to making Philadelphia better, it's a job that must be done. Carlton Williams has his hands full every day, he and his staff.

However, through the mess, they get the job done.

Commissioner Williams was the guest speaker at the December 7, North 22nd Street Business Association meeting. Here's some of what he shared with business owners in attendance.

"I see the signs up and down N. 22nd Street that this corridor is a 'corridor for mechanical street sweeping.' That means vehicle owners are required to move their cars every Wednesday. We come through, and we sweep the streets with mechanical street sweepers. Unfortunately, that does not control sidewalk litter. It doesn't control people who set out their trash nights before their designated trash day. Residents are not supposed to put out their trash before 7 pm, the night before your regularly scheduled trash day. We cleaned up this morning (on N. 22nd Street), and just before I arrived here this afternoon, as I was coming down the street, I was seeing litter on the sidewalks again. That's how trash starts to accumulate, and it looks like your corridor cleaning ambassadors didn't do their jobs when they actually did."