Aberdeen mayor has plan to tackle the growing garbage problem downtown

Two temps to be hired while city works out longer-term plan

By Dan Hammock • February 13, 2021 8:50 am
A look inside the fencing around the homeless camp adjacent to Aberdeen City Hall, visible in the background. (Photo Courtesy Kellie Daniels)
A look inside the fencing around the homeless camp adjacent to Aberdeen City Hall, visible in the background. (Photo Courtesy Kellie Daniels)

Reacting to mounting complaints about garbage, shopping carts and other waste piling up around Aberdeen City Hall and the adjacent homeless camp, Mayor Pete Schave this week asked the City Council to authorize hiring two temporary employees to deal with the problem for a few months while the Public Works department develops a longer-term plan.

The council has authorized up to $20,000 to deal with the noticeable and growing downtown garbage problem.

In talks with city department heads leading up to Wednesday’s council meeting, Schave said, “I told them that we just can’t let it go on like this. We don’t have the item budgeted and don’t have the people to do it (on staff), we’re just going to have to bite the bullet” and hire people through a temporary employment agency to clean it up.

Last year, the city was able to use some of its federal CARES Act allocation to hire two temporary employees to clean up the garbage downtown and around City Hall, and in and around the homeless camp behind City Hall.

“We have not had them this year, and we are behind and need help,” said Community Development Director Lisa Scott, who said council members and Schave had been getting complaints from citizens, along with a fair amount of social media chatter.

“We’re hiring two contract temporary employees for approximately two, maybe three months, to pick up the garbage,” said Schave. “It’s the same program we had last year, the only difference is last year we had CARES Act funds (to pay for it) and now we don’t.”

The council, after some discussion, approved the motion unanimously. After the vote, Councilman Nathan Kennedy asked about a longer-term solution.

The garbage problem “is something that isn’t just going to go away,” he said. “So I’m curious about why we’re going down the road of hiring temps rather than having like a seasonal employee type of situation.”

Public Works Director Rick Sangder explained that his department has a number of positions coming open as current employees move up the ranks in the department to fill vacated positions. As those positions come open, he will work on job descriptions to fill those openings that will include taking care of the garbage while still fitting within the parameters of Public Works.