Beacon Hill: It's Time for 2 + 2

When I moved to Beacon Hill in 1999, my good friend and then-neighbor Tom Hopcroft (now the executive director of the Mass. Technology Leadership Council) encouraged me to join the Beacon Hill Civic Association. I quickly became involved in the biggest neighborhood issue: trash. I was the chairman of the Civic' Association's trash committee for a few years, and I still today serve on the group's board of directors.

Having investigated the trash issue for a long time, my words of wisdom to the rest of Beacon Hill are simple. We have three days of trash pick up in our neighborhood. If we really want to improve the cleanliness situation here, we need to remove one of those days. The Civic Association's City Services Committee (which is what the trash committee has evolved into) has approved my request to investigate switching to two days of trash pick-up, alongside two other neighborhood needs: two days of recycling (we currently have one) and moving the start of trash and recycling pick-up to 9 a.m. (currently 7 a.m.)

Beacon Hill's three days of pick-up, on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, is a concept that's at odds with itself. To begin with, other neighborhoods are envious. They see three days as a "special" deal Beacon Hill has made with those in authority; another example of how Beacon Hill receives favored status. The irony is having three days of pick up is an Achilles heal to the neighborhood's trash situation.

One out of every four hours during the week, trash is at the side of the street. No wonder trash remains the top area of concern for residents. Switching to two days of pick up, plus recycling on each of these days (hence, 2 + 2) will greatly improve the trash situation on Beacon Hill, and in the other downtown neighborhoods that currently have three pick-up days.

We have made great strides in improving cleanliness on Beacon Hill since I moved here, with the help of our elected officials. Mayor Menino's public works department has towed cars to enforce posted street sweeping signs, which has gotten neighbors into the habit of moving their cars to make way for the street sweepers. More recently, the state legislature, governor, and the city have teamed up to pass the necessary measures so that trash violators are properly fined, and so that the punishments for improper trash handling have real teeth.

But these successes do not help the fact that trash is on my street corner one out of every four hours during the week.

I have already started my investigation, which I hope to present to the City Services Committee later in the spring. I am investigating other options besides 2 + 2 as well. Stay tuned.

Editor's Note: By investigating 2 +2, the Civic Association is not taking any position on the matter. My investigation DOES NOT mean the Civic Association supports the switch.

A Clean(er) Beacon Hill

The "Green Machine" on Phillips Street

Beacon Hill, Boston

April 24, 2010

Yesterday was Boston Shines, the annual citywide cleanup organized by Boston Mayor Tom Menino's Office of Neighborhood Services. I have been participating in neighborhood cleanups on Beacon Hill since I moved here back in 1999. I got behind the wheel of my Honda early Saturday and delivered brooms, trash bags and a variety of other tools to three volunteer stations around the neighborhood. Then I helped get volunteers started at the Phillips Street Park, before doing some cleaning of my own.

When I started, I noticed something quite striking. The streets around Phillips Street Park were fairly clean to begin with. Certainly cleaner than during other Spring cleanups. There are a couple of reasons for this. In my opinion, the biggest reason is the increased effectiveness of street sweeping, and the effectiveness is because of the strict enforcement of posted street sweeping signs.

You leave your car on a Beacon Hill street when that street is posted for street sweeping, and your car will be towed. Period. As I have said many times before on this blog, you have to remove the cars in order for the street sweeper to be effective. I pointed out to the residents I saw yesterday that the towing was the reason streets felt cleaner than they have been in the past. Just a few months ago, before street sweeping started again on April 1, the streets were a mess.

A second reason---and one that cannot be overlooked---is the ongoing, consistent efforts of neighbors to clean up their own streets. Current and former members of the Beacon Hill Civic Association's City Service Committee, including Jack Fitzgerald and Keeta Gillmore, were out and about yesterday.

A few volunteers got to witness my obvious excitement yesterday when Beacon Hill was visited by the infamous "Green Machine." It's smaller than a normal street sweeper, and it has been patrolling downtown Boston streets since 2005. Pictured above, the machine is a welcomed site. My friend Kim Jennings noted, "That thing can move." Simple pleasures when one is wrapping up a Spring cleanup day.

Major Step For Cleaner Neighborhoods

Laura Sargent in Representative Marty Waltz's office emailed me this week to tell me great news. Governor Deval Patrick has signed into a law a bill that will help make Boston streets cleaner.

Now, those of you who read this blog know that one issue I am fairly passionate about is trash. When I first became a member of the Beacon Hill Civic Association back in 1999, I was asked shortly thereafter to represent younger Beacon Hill neighbors on the infamous "trash committee" (which is now called the City Services Committee). Spending one night each month talking about creative ways to make Beacon Hill's streets cleaner became, I admit, somewhat addictive.

Given the time I have spent studying the issue, I hope you will trust that I do have some insight into how the streets could be cleaner. Last year, I wrote a post that outlined three main initiatives that would help significantly.

1) Towing on street cleaning days. Street cleaning only works if cars are not in the way of the street sweeper. That's why Mayor Menino administration's maximum enforcement of posted street sweeping signs is so important. Move your cars, neighbors!

2) Switching to 2 + 2. We have three days of trash pick up on Beacon Hill. That means trash is on the sidewalk far too often. I suggest moving to two days of pickup, plus an additional day of recycling (with trash pick up and recycling happening on the same day).

3) This is the issue that Laura phoned me about. The law that is now in place (whoo hooo!) will allow the City to better penalize trash scofflaws. The City will now be able to put in place procedures that attach unpaid trash violation fines to a property's tax bills. This will give those violations weight. It will also wake up absentee landlords throughout the city (building owners who rarely visit their properties and check on their tenants).

Kudos to all who helped the "green ticket" law become a reality, including Representative Marty Walz, Representative Aaron Michlewitz, Mayor Menino and his administration, and the Boston City Councilors who supported this effort. Thank you all!

Taking it to the Streets

I spent a good deal of time in my neighborhood this past week, and I spoke to a number of my neighbors.

The 2009 local campaign season has started. The first step for a candidate (even one running for re-election) is getting on the ballot, and this is done by filing nomination papers. A nomination requires a certain number of signatures from voters, and the amount depends on the office sought. So starting on Tuesday, various candidates and their volunteers have been on the streets of Boston looking for signatures from eligible voters. If you see someone with a clipboard approaching you this weekend, chances are they are not trying to sell you something. They just want your "John Hancock." The signature period ends in about two and a half weeks.

On Tuesday, I was on the streets in Beacon Hill collecting signatures for Mayor Menino. Earlier today, I went door-to-door asking for signatures for my City Councilor, Mike Ross.

In between those two activities, on Thursday I went to a Beacon Hill Civic Association Founders Club event, where I listened to my State Senator, Sonia Chang-Diaz.

Collecting signatures is hard, but it gives one a chance to talk to people one-on-one (to the extent they don't think you are a sales person). I also spoke to a number of active neighbors at the Founders Club event.

I learned quite a bit about the general attitude of the neighborhood. Here goes:

-- Trash, trash, trash. I have commented here before that the neighborhood looks pretty good right now. Yet many people I talked to cited with disgust the trash problem on Beacon Hill. Last month at the Beacon Hill Civic Association it was reported, based on a recent new-members event, that trash remains the number one issue in the neighborhood.

-- What about us? I get the sense that everyone on Beacon Hill feels as though elected officials, in general, have forgotten about them. I must say that Beacon Hill can be overlooked; many campaigns I have been a part of lump Beacon Hill in with the Back Bay, which I dare say is a faux pas. Given the relatively small size of each neighborhood, such a grouping makes sense, and certainly demographically Beacon Hill and Back Bay are similar, but the geography of the two areas is different, and the two neighborhoods differ in their policy priorities.

-- Petty corruption is bad, bad, bad. I am not really sure what progressive means or whether I am one, but certainly Beacon Hill yearns for a clean political process. And for that reason, residents here tend to clump anyone in office with the petty corruption they read about in the papers. Isn't "Throw the bums out?" one of the primary themes of a progessive? I sense a lot of this emotion lingering from the overwhelming enthusiasm for Chang-Diaz last November (She was the candidate who ousted the tarnished former Senator Dianne Wilkerson). The now-Senator Chang-Diaz, who as I noted previously came to an event I attended on Thursday, cleaned house on Beacon Hill in the election results.

By the way, while I am very biased, I was very impressed by Senator Chang-Diaz. She spoke with authority backed up by a thorough understanding of the issues, even specific figures related to the budget. The crowd (which included some Republicans) received her warmly.

NOTE: I don't necessarily agree with what I observed in the neighborhood, as noted above, but it's what I heard and witnessed. Don't shoot the messenger!

Boston is Shining this Saturday

The date for Boston Shines, Mayor Menino's city-wide clean up day, was set a long time ago. There was no way to know then if the weather would cooperate.

Well, today was Boston Shines, and the weather was spectacular.

On Beacon Hill, we organized four equipment pick-up locations: on Charles Street at the Paramount, on Cambridge Street at Store 24, at 74 Joy Street (the community building there), and at Suffolk University's Donahue Building on Temple Street.

We focused special attention on north slope streets that are especially dirty. Working with the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Services and the Boston Transportation Department, a few streets in that area were posted no parking. The city brought out the infamous green machine-- a smaller street sweeper. As a result, Beacon Hill is definitely shining today.

Following the event, the Beacon Hill Civic Association hosted a lunch at 74 Joy Street, with food provided by a variety of neighborhood establishments. Special thanks to the Paramount (coffee), 7-11 (donuts), The Upper Crust (pizza), Holiday Inn (Salad), Whole Foods (Desert), and Store 24 (water) for all of their donations. Joe Green at Store 24 brought out a large crew of volunteers, and thanks also to Suffolk University for their support.

We're starting the Summer months off with a clean Beacon Hill.

After the event, I went to the roof deck of Ted and Alisha Furst on Beacon Hill for a beverage or two. The thermometer at my apartment says we're above 80. Fantastic.

Ted Furst on his roof deck.
Beacon Hill, Boston
April 25, 2009

How to Clean Up Beacon Hill: Towing is Just a Start

Boston City Councilor Bill Linehan is proposing that Boston do away with towing cars on street cleaning days. It's a bad idea.

Trust me, trash is something I know well. It's the biggest issue for us downtown residents who live on Beacon Hill. Since I joined the Clean Beacon Hill committee, I have been volunteering personal time to trash since 2000. I should put that on a business card or something. Nine years and counting.

Councilor Linehan's proposal is a populist reaction to a policy put in place by Boston's Chief of Public Works, Dennis Royer, two years ago, which called for strict enforcement of posted street sweeping signs-- including towing on street cleaning days. It's not exactly a strict policy, since the street sweeping signs are very clear as to when street sweeping takes place and mark the street as a "tow zone" during that time. Councilor Linehan would like to do away with the towing, and instead simply give out tickets with a higher fine. His constituents will like the idea. Except it won't work.

Towing is a massive inconvenience. The Boston tow lot is not accessible by public transportation. A typical tow victim needs to hire a cab to get to it. Once there, the fines can be high, starting with a 75-dollar ticket and then charges for being in the tow lot. Karen Cord Taylor of the Beacon Hill Times quipped recently that at least there's an ATM machine at the lot now. Quite a novelty.

It's good that towing causes all sorts of pain, since that makes it an effective deterrent. The proof is on the streets. I took a walk on Beacon Hill today, and relatively speaking, it's pretty darn clean. It is clean because the street cleaning program is working better than it has before. And that's because cars are moved on street cleaning days.

Anderson Street at Revere looking North
Beacon Hill, Boston
April 18, 2009

Prior to Chief Royer's strict policy, cars would never move. Despite raising ticket fines several years ago, the charges never worked. Residents figured the fine was like paying for parking (especially since the Boston resident parking sticker doesn't cost anything).

Towing changed all that. Suddenly residents had an easier time remembering to look at the posted street sweeping signs, and remembering what the signs said. With the cars not there, the street sweepers can reach the curb. And when they reach the curb, they work well.

I have said many times that if towing doesn't happen, there's no reason to have the street sweeping program at all. Because it's a complete waste of money.

To be sure, street sweeping is just the first leg in a three-legged-stool solution that is necessary to bring real cleanliness to Beacon Hill. The other legs are: first, enforcement of the "green tickets" that ISD issues to trash scofflaws, and second, switching to two days of trash pick up on Beacon Hill.

I have written about the green ticket issue before. Boston's Inspectional Service Department (ISD) writes green tickets to residents that improperly dispose their trash. Unfortunately, the tickets have no teeth and are not enforced. Boston's Mayor Tom Menino, City Council President Mike Ross and State Representative Marty Walz, among others, would like to pass a state law that allows Boston to connect the green ticket fines to property owner liens; the best scenario would be if the fines show up on individual tax bills. Unfortunately, Governor Patrick wouldn't sign the law when it passed in December. In fact, he didn't do anything with it, and the legislation suffered the ignominious "pocket veto." I am hoping the law is passed again this year and is signed by Governor Patrick.

The second issue is far more emotional, and it's one I have thought about a lot. Beacon Hill has enjoyed three days of trash pick up for some time. It has its advantages, especially if you live in a neighborhood where small is the norm-- or as I put it, everything in my apartment is a "miniature" version of itself.

The problem is three days of trash pick up means crap is on the side of the street for 42 hours a week. That is one fourth of the week. No joke. Trash is on the street curbs roughly one-quarter of every week on tony Beacon Hill. We have tried to address this issue as a community by shortening the amount of time one can place trash on the curb (what's called same-day pick-up). The problem is this really doesn't give much time for residents to put trash out. The Beacon Hill Civic Association, of which I am a board member, supports same-day pick-up, but we are also trying to move the start of trash pick-up on the hill to 9 a.m. in the morning to give residents two more hours.

Removing a day of pick up cuts down the amount of time trash is put at the curb by a third. From 42-28 hours. Wham. Just like that. And an informal survey I am conducting on the hill is showing that most neighbors would be ok with it.

Councilor Linehan, I don't like your populist idea. Street sweeping is working now better than ever before. And with green ticket enforcement and two days of pick up (instead of three), we can all make our streets far cleaner than they have been.

Cleaning Up Beacon Hill

Perhaps the day will come soon when trash is not on the side of my street for 42 hours of each week.

The Beacon Hill Civic Association is pressing yet again for what's called "same-day" pick up, which means neighbors are required to place their trash on the curb only on the day it is picked up. The trash trucks roll through Beacon Hill starting at 7 a.m. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Same-day pick up means no trash will be allowed on the street before midnight on those days.

I am a big fan of same-day pick up. With it, the time that ugly, unsightly trash bags will be on the sides of neighborhood streets will be cut in half. (The 42 hours number above is derived from trash being permitted at the curb from 5 p.m. on-- the current rules.)

The Beacon Hill Civic Association is circulating an online petition to gauge neighborhood support for the same-day concept. I have signed it.

In reality, there is a portion of the state sanitary code that requires trash to be outside of homes only on the day of pick up, the BHCA is asking for enforcement of this portion of the code. (Hence the language of the petition).

Of course, same-day pick up is only effective if Boston's Inspectional Services Department can enforce the law. A similar effort eight years ago was not successful, primarily because the green tickets ISD issues to trash scofflaws are not enforced strictly in the city.

City Council President Mike Ross, State Representative Marty Walz and others support a state law that will give Boston new ways to enforce green ticket penalties. The law suffered on the Governor's desk last month and was subject to a pocket veto. I am hoping it will be passed, and signed, later in 2009.

I also recently spotted the video below of a new street sweeper that the city is investigating. It uses far less water than a typical street sweeper. It's great that Boston Public Works and Transportation Chief Dennis Royer is investigating these types of new vehicles.