Leaf & Limb (redux)

Kudos to District 8 commissioner Andy Herod, who apparently peruses TOA from time to time. He took note of my leaf-and-limb complaint and contacted the powers that be at Solid Waste to resolve my question. The answer was precisely as I had surmised from the beginning, namely that leaf-and-limb pickup is not available where I live. Even so, that answer prompts two observations.

The first is that, not to put too fine a point on it and with all due respect to the folks at Solid Waste, it took the intervention of a commissioner to get a definitive answer, which was sent to him directly and copied to the county manager; I have yet to receive any word from Solid Waste. Apparently, commissioners and/or county managers can get prompt answers to questions that we little people outside the rail cannot.

The second is that leaf-and-limb pickup, contrary to what the Unified Government touts, is not available to all of the county’s residents. The limitations on the availability of the service may make sense, but they are restrictions nonetheless and mark yet another service for which I pay in taxes any yet do not receive in practice.

Though Herod and I have divergent political philosophies, I have no doubts as to his conscientiousness as a commissioner. Back in 2006, when I was a candidate and he headed up the Federation of Neighborhoods (a group which, generally speaking, I doubt supported my candidacy to any measurable degree), I found him to be fair and even-handed (and no, the same cannot be said for many of the neighborhood activist types in this community). Also, for what it is worth, Herod is one of the few members of the Commission or Board of Education on whom I can count to actually respond when I contact my local elected official with regard to specific issues. For that he get high marks.

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