Cleaning up Springfield’s garbage

Meet Alexander Harris-Taylor, trash cop

Alexander Harris-Taylor deftly navigates his city-issued red sedan through the network of streets and snug alleyways in Enos Park, finally stopping in front of 315 E. Rafter.

Bundled in a bulky North Face jacket, he braces against the 4-degree wind-chill and strides toward the rear of the two-family rental house. He whips out a small, silver digital camera and shoots pictures of heaping garbage bags, scattered soda cans and newspapers, and empty cardboard boxes that once held Huggies diapers and Dole bananas.

It’s the second visit Taylor has made to the unkempt backyard. Unfortunately for the owners, he’s not some modern artist or a Dumpster-diver — he’s their friendly neighborhood housing inspector. Since the trash hasn’t budged in the five days since his initial inspection, Taylor calls in the department of public works to clean up the mess. The property owner foots the bill. Cleaning up neighborhood clutter, along with enforcing the housing code, mowing unruly vacant lots and removing varmintinfested, inoperable vehicles, keeps Taylor and the city’s four other housing inspectors on their toes. They each patrol two wards, operating on a complaint-driven system. Taylor, who inspects 12 neighborhoods including Enos Park, Pillsbury Mills and Melrose Park, handles five to 20 cases each day in Alds. Sam Cahnman and Frank Lesko’s wards.

“We’re in and out of our cars all day long — no matter what the climate is,” Taylor says. “It could be raining, snow, sleet, and we’re out here in this weather. Every day, all day. There is nothing that keeps us from doing our duties, as far as making sure we clean up and take care of the people of the city of Springfield.”

Robert Law, the housing division manager, says his short-staffed department manages to handle 10,000 complaints a year (a few thousand are garbage-related). Thanks to a city trash ordinance passed in October 2007, he says, property owners are now held responsible for signing up for garbage service with a private waste hauler like Allied Waste Services, Lake Area Disposal, or Illini Disposal Inc. At least 500 owners, who previously let their trash pile up or dumped it elsewhere, have signed up for service at the urging of city inspectors.

“Things have gotten better in the city in the past year regarding trash and no-garbageservice complaints,” Law says. “There’s still a lot left to do, and we’re addressing it. It’s definitely one of our priorities.”

On the frigid February Wednesday, Taylor steers his “mobile office” through the 1000 block of North Fourth Street. He sees a lot of solid waste issues here, and it becomes clear that neighbors are used to seeing a lot of him. They wave and honk their car horns, each time eliciting Taylor’s toothy grin and wave in response.

Taylor moved to Springfield from New York City, starting as a housing inspector in August 2004. He was inspired by Mayor Rudy Guilliani’s pledge to clean up the Big Apple and wanted to do the same for the capital city. He began work on the east side, inched closer to downtown, then finally landed on the north end last year. He turns his vehicle down an alley in the 1100 block, responding to a complaint called in a day earlier about fly dumping.

This particular problem, which has plagued the city for years, manifests when culprits dump their trash and drive off. Taylor locates the pile of abandoned garbage, and when the nearby property owner says it’s not his, he believes him. “He’s a good landlord,” Taylor says. “I’ve worked with him before, and I’m assured that he’s upstanding and this is the truth that he’s telling me. Plus, it’s at the edge of an alley.”

Taylor follows strict protocol in dealing with fly dumping. He snaps on a pair of rubber gloves and goes to work digging through the garbage. When Taylor finds old magazines, bills, or mail with the dumper’s address, he’ll work with the police department to send two citations: one for fly-dumping and one for not having garbage service.

If city residents still refuse to sign up for service with a private waste hauler, Taylor

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