For Immediate Release

On the First Day of the Prince George’s County Council Retreat, Council Member At-Large Mel Franklin Urges County Leaders to Restore Twice-A-Week Curbside Trash Pick-Up

Contact: mel@melfranklin.net  

Upper Marlboro, MD – On Monday January 7, 2019, the Prince George’s County Council held the first day of its two day annual retreat at The Hotel at the University of Maryland.  During the discussion about local priorities, Council Member At-Large Mel Franklin (D-Upper Marlboro) urged fellow leaders to restore twice-a-week curbside waste removal, which was reduced to once-a-week service two years ago:

“Curbside trash pick-up is one of the few ways that nearly everyone in the County interacts with their local government.  When we reduced service to once-a-week pick-up, it significantly inconvenienced our constituents and sent the message that, despite the sizable amount they pay in taxes, they would not receive the adequate services from their government that they feel they deserve.  I do not believe that we properly anticipated the hardship that the new policy would cause and should correct that mistake by restoring twice-a-week waste pick-up for the residents we are privileged to serve. 

“Let us also accelerate our progress on growing our local economy, especially investing in our small, minority, and woman-owned businesses, so that our tax base is large enough to prevent us from needing to balance our budget on reducing direct services to our constituents.”

County curbside solid waste removal policy only impacts residents who live outside of municipalities that provide their own service.

###