Photo by IntangibleArts.You probably already have at least one good reason to care about the D.C. budget deficit debate which will soon be upon the D.C. Council: higher taxes, cuts to social services, and so on. But even if you were still in need of a reason to care, it’s worth noting that the city’s financial issues are already having a manifest effect on things that most of us take for granted — like garbage cans and recycling bins, both of which the city has run out of.
Mike DeBonis reports that, after to a $3.9 million cut to the budget of the Department of Public Works made during a budget reallocation last fall, the agency’s had nary a receptacle to sell:
The situation is more dire than a few back-ordered recycling bins. Nancee Lyons, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Department of Public Works, said last week that her agency has been completely out of recycling receptacles since late fall. Same goes for Supercans — the jumbo receptacles given to households that get once-weekly pickup — as well as the smaller, 32-gallon containers distributed in center-city neighborhoods that get twice-weekly trash pickup.
DPW Director William Howland admitted that eliminating the purchase of new garbage buckets and recycling bins “wasn’t one of [his] best decisions.” New receptacles are on their way, but they won’t arrive for another month — and considering how often District residents find theirs broken or stolen, we wouldn’t be surprised if there was a sizable waiting list for replacements.
