City Council: Dump trash, lose car

Illegal dumping is no stranger to New Orleans neighborhoods.
But the city has had enough and one city council member, Oliver Thomas, in his districts of New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward.
“It seems like people think that they can get away with anything,” Thomas told WWL-TV. “Hopefully they’ll stop or they’ll find some other place, but not here in Orleans Parish.”
To stem the rising tide of other people’s trash, the City Council has passed a sweeping ordinance. The penalty is a stiff one: Lose your car and pay all towing and storage fees up to $500 to get it back. Violators will also be responsible for other fees involved in the action as well.
“If you don’t have a truck or something where you can tote the tires or tote the trash then you can’t dump it," said Thomas.
Thomas first time on the council saw the city address the issue of trash and made headway to bring it under control, but it’s mostly gone by the wayside of late.
Thomas says you’re not going to lose your car if you toss a soda can out of the window, but dump trash or tires en masse and watch out!
“You’re going to pay the price, you’re going to pay a fine and you’re going to lose your car but we’re not going to stop.”
The city is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars clearing illegal tire dumping grounds in New Orleans East and the Ninth Ward—only to find the same areas littered again with people’s garbage.
“The people who are disrespecting our land and disrespecting our community," Councilman Oliver Thomas said. “All property that the city owns if we can put it back into commerce, put it back into the hands of private citizens who want to upkeep it and develop it…. We have to be proactive, the citizens have to be proactive.”