At the last city council meeting of June 9, Cottonwood resident Gary Chamberlain made a pitch for a unified-citizen’s effort for Sedona residents with Cottonwood residents to fight litterbugs along HWY89A -- from the outskirts of Sedona to the borders of Cottonwood.

Cottonwood citizen seeks community support

By Tommy Acosta, Associate Editor

SEDONA, AZ (June 16, 2009) - What happens in Sedona stays in Sedona but not necessarily so if it is debris spilling from the back of an uncovered truck or vehicle.

At the last city council meeting of June 9, Cottonwood resident Gary Chamberlain made a pitch for a unified-citizen’s effort for Sedona residents with Cottonwood residents to fight litterbugs along HWY89A -- from the outskirts of Sedona to the borders of Cottonwood.

“At 55-65 miles per hour you may not notice the litter that plagues state highway 89A between Cottonwood and Sedona but at 20 miles per hour you should be angered and concerned about what you see,” Mr. Chamberlain said to the council and citizens present.

“Litter issues aren’t going away unless we take strong and forceful actions to change the behaviors of the violators. We must educate and punish those who illegally litter our highways and communities.”

He hopes to educate citizens and inspire them to take action against those who litter indiscriminately with no regards for the aesthetic value of a community or the health of its citizens.

“Litter is more than a visual irritant -- it is a negative indicator of much-larger social problems we all face in our communities,” he said. “There are many other states where litter is more and some less visible than Arizona. Which do we prefer? Why do we even tolerate litter at all? Litter is a visual reminder of how a growing number of people ignore our litter laws and little respect for our environment. Wouldn’t most folks rather be doing something other than picking up someone else’s messes?”

He said in April a group of high-school students from a Village of Oak Creek private school cleared litter from an Oak Creek drainage in Cottonwood between Fry’s and Home Depot.

“There were 72 bags of litter collected including one queen sized-bed spring, two televisions, one microwave, a typewriter, a shopping cart, two sleeping bags, two-10 foot sections of PVC pipe joined together with a tee fitting, a tire on a rim and a heavy cart on wheels,” he said. “Vagrants are living in this drainage wash. There were multiple beer bottles, coke cans, food containers, old bedding and fecal waste in this water shed.”

He said Sedona residents driving to Cottonwood on 89A need to be aware of litter and those who do so. According to Mr. Chamberlain, trash-transfer trucks, building contractors, landscape contractors; tourists who dump food wrappers, water and soda cans or bottles, alcohol users who dump beer cans, drug users who toss pipes and other paraphernalia before entering Cottonwood or Sedona; items that fly out cars by accident and people who just throw stuff out of the car windows are the main cause of unsightly litters along 89A.

“People don’t realize that littering is a problem issue or illegal,” he said. “They don’t want to properly dispose of litter -- too much trouble, too far to go. They don’t want to spend or have the money to properly dispose of litter. They know that someone else can and will eventually pick it up. It’s an easy way to dispose of illegal drugs, drug paraphernalia or alcohol containers.”

He said people need to have pride for their communities and environment.

“Pride in the beauty of our environment and community is something that is taught and learned,” he said. “If we have a significant segment of adults with children, who have no shame, what are the values of their children? Shame or “to be ashamed” is something that is taught and learned.”

He said communities need to take specific steps to create awareness of the problem.

“Education, education, education is what we need,” he said. “Adults need to stop acting worse than children. We need to teach the values and benefits of pride in ones self and community.”

He hopes to create an event where the Cottonwood and Sedona community participate in community clean-up activities.

“This fall I would like to hold the Cottonwood / Sedona LITTER Challenge,” he said. “Each community challenges the other to a four-hour litter lifting event along 89A. Both communities will take their litter collection to a central location where all items will be weighed by category. The winning city will be declared and an award presented. All litter will be reported and collected by ADOT. Each city will be able to profit from recycled cans.”

He said violators need to pay for their infractions.

“We should make it mandatory anyone caught littering or involved in a highway related violation be required to work with one of the litter recovery programs. Make them wear a pink suit that has a message on the back “LITTERING IS ILLEGAL” and put their names and faces in the paper.”

He said these and other measures, including hefty fines, will help “educate” litterbugs.

“Tough love at every level needs to be employed,” he said.

Mayor Rob Adams said he supported Mr. Chamberlain’s efforts in the past and continues to do so now.

“I’ve been working with Gary for months now,” the mayor said. “I appreciate Gary sinking his teeth into it and putting his money and time into it. I would like to join with Gary to enforce littering laws, especially on those open trucks blowing stuff all over the place.”

Commander Ronald Wheeler said people need to get involved.

“People need to be willing to be part of the enforcement process,” he said. ‘If you don’t call us, we can’t take an enforcement action.”

Mr. Chamberlain said he has a functioning program geared to help alert authorities when litter laws are broken.

“The purpose of the program can be viewed as a neighborhood/community watch,” he said. “Anyone spotting littering or crime is encouraged to call any of the law enforcement dispatch numbers noted and report their observation.

“Law enforcement should be able to respond to enough 89A CSI calls, litter and tossed –cigarette reports to stop some of these violators and issue a warning that they have been noticed,” he said. “Through the support of law enforcement, the inconvenience of being stopped and warned by the police, this 89A CSI program should serve as a deterrent to those who litter in our community.”

Mr. Chamberlain said he could be contacted at.:

Gary Chamberlain
89A CSI-Project Manager
PO Box 4180
Cottonwood, AZ 86326
89A.CSI@gmail.com

‘I will personally deliver all cards ordered by any Verde Valley participants in this program,” he said.