Week 68 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Holiday Happenings

Ward Five Council Member Richard Fimbres is a teamwork maven who honors the people who have helped him “get the job done” throughout the year. As you can see, there are lots of folks including police, firefighters, teachers, city staff and some ordinary citizens, too.

To my surprise, Pat Tapia from Environmental Services, was one of the honorees. He’s the gentleman who helps us quickly clean up our neighborhood when there is dumping.

Three more folks followed Pat and then I was called up. Richard talked about One Can A Week, Rescued Critters and cleaning up the Miles Neighborhood. “He does all that all by himself.”

No one said anything after they received their medallion but I had to explain the situation.  

“I have to tell you something about cleaning up the neighborhood. Environmental Services and Pat Tapia make it happen. Without Pat’s help, I’m just chopped liver.”  

Big laugh but everyone now knows that Pat is key to keeping our Miles Neighborhood free of dumping or any neighborhood in Tucson for that matter.

We are all scient beings ...

humans, other mammals, honey bees, trees ...

Of all the art forms, photography moves me the most. Humans make up so many things that are nowhere near the truth I am often confounded. Then I discover a profound photograph of poor folks, abandoned veterans, kids in cages and even a ground squirrel snuggling with a flower.

We have to all appreciate this planet and everything on it. I know, that has been said since we came out of the caves 12,000 years ago. However, if we don’t do something about it now, we’re all going to be back in the caves soon no matter how much money we have.

Photo of ground squirrel in Vienna, Austria nuzzling sunflower by Dick van Duijn. CNN photo of the year. https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2019/12/specials/year-in-pictures/news.html

This week we donated 259.1 lbs. of pet food, 10 pill bottles, a dog collar, 3 dog toys, 20 cleanup bags and $28.48 in cash and two check.

To clarify, $24.98 of the total donations ($53.46) was used to purchase 50 lbs. of pet food at 55 cents per pound.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 67 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

  Hi Folks,

PACC Outreach Folks Grateful for “So Much Food”

On Saturday I got an email from Bennett Simonsen, PACC’s Community Programs Manager and our contact. He was attending the vaccine clinic and Rescued Critters came up in a conversation. Here, I’ll let Bennett tell it.

“We have a giant vaccine clinic today and one of our staff who does outreach and a volunteer who does outreach both mentioned you and how grateful they are for you bringing in so much food. I thought I’d pass it along. :)”

Outreach connects with people in Tucson who love dogs and cats but may not have the wherewithal to afford food and veterinarian help. That’s why PACC offers free clinics and free food when available. And our donations are an important part of that mission, it turns out.

So any time you feel like adding more to your Sunday donation, know that more is always good … and appreciated. 

Get Ready for Brush and Bulky the week of January 6th

Click on map to view Brush and Bulky 2020 Schedule Online

For two months now I have been looking for the 2020 schedule for Brush and Bulky. Then last Tuesday, I heard from a neighbor who was motivated to contact me after reading the post on dumping. He was putting trash in the alley a week before the Brush and Bulky pickup and thought I should know because he didn’t want to be “put up on your wall of shame.”

That made me laugh and a number of folks I told. The photos were not meant to shame anyone. They are simply to show we do have a dumping problem here in Miles, but we also have a quick solution.

The idea I would like to get across is that we have free and posted bulky trash pickups every 90 days in Miles. If there were more conscientious neighbors like the gentleman who gave me a heads up on Brush and Bulky, there will be no need for photos of trash on the sidewalks and easements.

By the way, just hold down the control key and click on the map at the same time to link to the 2020 Brush and Bulky schedule. 

This week we donated 132 lbs. of pet food, 2 pill bottles,  one chicken stick and one $10.00 check. The $63.59 cash donations purchased 116 lbs. of pet food at 55 cents per pound.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 66 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

A short list of dumping you

probably never noticed ... 

because they were gone within 48 hours.

Steve, my friend and neighbor asked me today if I saw the dumped mattress over on 12^th and Warren. I said yes I did and it was picked up before noon along with a couch and lots of branches. See second photo on the left.

The backstory is I picked up the mattress on Sunday after my rounds along with a number of other items I had spotted. Everything was piled in a wide alley and a photo taken. Sunday evening I sent an email requesting a work order to my friend Pat Tapia at Environmental Services. While walking my pups around the neighborhood about noon today I saw the pile was gone. I was actually startled by the empty alley.

Pat tells me that I can expect a pickup within 24 – 48 hours after I notify him. This latest pickup only took 4 hours. This got me thinking about how much Pat has helped me clean up our Miles Neighborhood and, too, realizing he’s not getting enough appreciation from us.

Those photos only tell eight stories of dumping on our streets and in our alleys. Actually there were at least a score in the last year. Of course, I thank Pat in each work-order request email and lately, I have moved all of the dumping into one pile for his crew instead of having them make stops at individual addresses.  

I know we can do even more to show our gratitude for a clean and safe neighborhood so I would like all of us to send Pat a Christmas Card telling him how much his efforts mean to us. All you have to say is “Thank you, Pat, for making my neighborhood clean and safe.”

Send the holiday greeting card to:

Mr. Pat L. Tapia

Environmental & General Services Department

4004 S. Park Avenue

Building 1

Tucson, AZ 85726-7210

I already have a new pile accumulating in an alley that includes a very large and heavy TV so, I would like you to move with a slight sense of urgency.

And thank you.

This week we donated 208.4 lbs. of pet food, 1 pill bottle, and $47.55 in cash and one check.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 65 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Another Update: Scooter Creep

As promised, Erica from the Tucson Department of Transportation called me back the day before Thanksgiving and said she had spoken to a lawyer about scooters indiscriminately parked on a homeowner’s sidewalk. Definitely, the homeowner is not responsible, however, the party who left the obstruction is.

My suggestion is to put the scooter in the street near the curb but away from parked cars. You don’t want to fix your problem but cause a problem for your neighbor after he or she runs the darn thing over.

If you would like to learn all about your sidewalk responsibility, just click on the link: https://www.tucsonaz.gov/files/transportation/files/Chapter_25.pdf

and read Section 25 – 12 and 13. Or you can just keep your sidewalk clean and when there is upheaval or damage call a sidewalk repair person. Simple, right?

The sign is working!

The reaction to the Poop Deserter sign is positive, with a smile. Oh, there was one negative comment about the strong language but one should really hate—not just dislike—things in life like Hitler, bullies, animal, kids and people abusers, arsonists and so on.

To date the signs have been ripped down in front of the Miles School and the above trashed sign found in the barrel in the park. It was replace post haste.

The point is folks are now paying attention to the problem and there appears to be less of a mess. 

This week we donated 206.6 lbs. of pet food, 6 pill bottles, and $93.26 in cash and one check. Our cash donation was more than twice the amount for last week. Very nice.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 64 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Update: Scooter Creep

Three weeks ago I provided the phone numbers and email addresses to reach the two scooter companies and the City to voice a concern you may have about dumped scooters. Now I have a quicker and more efficient way to get your message across.

Just call the Transportation Department at 791-3154 and describe the problem. They will make note of the situation and alert the scooter company involved. This method creates a better record and minimizes your involvement.

I learned about this simpler approach when I called Code Enforcement to ask a question about homeowner responsibility when scooters were left as an obstruction on the sidewalk. Under normal circumstances, homeowners are responsible for keeping a clean sidewalk and/or easement.

But what about discarded scooters? That was my question and Code Enforcement forwarded me to the Tucson Department of Transportation, the folks monitoring the scooter test program. I spoke to Erica who was most helpful. She gave me a more effective reporting system. Then I asked her who is responsible if a person is tripped up by a discarded scooter and gets hurt on a homeowner’s sidewalk? Is the homeowner, the scooter company or the City responsible?

Erica couldn’t answer my question because she’s Tucson Transportation but did connect me to the person who could. By the end of this week I will be called  back with a definitive answer.

A note about dealing with the City. Yes, calling a bureaucracy is no fun at all, but when you finally get the right person on the phone, you will be talking to a real pro like Erica.

Through my community service involvement, I have discovered many more pros who work for the City. Adding another one like Erica to my list is always exciting to me

Finally, had a Panda Express fortune cookie speak to me.

This week we donated 212.1 lbs. of pet food, four steel cat bowls, one pill bottle, one box of treats, one green bag carrier, two thermal pads and $40.75 in cash and one check. There were 15 cat food cans which was three better than last week.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 63 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks

Morel Canned Cat Food, Please

When I walked through the door, the PACC receptionist came from behind her desk and took the plastic bags I was carrying. “Oh good,” she said, clutching the bottom of the bags, “the cat shelter told me they were running low on cat food. Thanks.”

That’s the first time I got a comment besides, “Oh, wow, that’s a lot of food.”

Most weeks we donate between 10 and 15 cans of cat food. If all our cat food donors could add just one more can to their gift, we could come close to donating a 24-pack each week. That would cut down on the meowing a bit at dinner time.

Paid in Pet Food

Last Monday, I noticed the roll-off on S. Vine Street was only about a quarter full and was worried it would not fill up like the other three around the neighborhood. I only had till Tuesday morning to do something about it.

My first thought was to take the trash stacked outside the roll-off on 12^th Street and transport it to Vine Street. That would help. To my surprise, someone saw that mess

and shoved all of it into the roll-off. Now that was considerate, but I was still short some trash.

On my drive home I saw a large stack of old carpet piled up in front of Gerry’s house on Miles Street. Mitchell, her grandson, greeted me at the door. He was installing new carpet and would appreciate help with chucking the old.  

As I took the last load, Mitchell told me to come back Wednesday and pick up a pet food donation he and his dad wanted to give me. Turned out to be a 55 lb. bag of Pedigree. (See photo above).

While finishing up at the Vine Street roll-off, I noticed Rossana on 13^th Street trimming her tree that drooped over the easement alongside her property. She was using a long-handle clipper that looked arduous. I walked over and handed her my battery powered saws-all. A little instruction and soon those massive, low hanging tree limbs were on the ground. At last, the roll-off was full. When Rossana returned my saws-all she said, “This tool is going on my Christmas list.”

This week we donated 258.2 lbs. of pet food, one Bark chew, one pill bottle, one cat collar and $50.60, in cash and three checks.

See you Sunday,

Peter

Week 62 - Rescued Critters Food Drive

Hi Folks,

Fixing Streets and Collecting Pet Food

Patrick Hartley, our Tucson Department of Transportation Complete Streets Program Coordinator sent us an invitation for two street design seminars at the U of A School of Architecture. I decided to attend both because one was in the morning and the other offered lunch. In addition, since both were scheduled for 90 minutes each, the 2-hour parking meters worked perfectly. It would have been a no go otherwise because parking around the University is very stressful.

Both lectures were presented by Peter Koonce,

a national leader on innovative transportation

engineering and planning solutions for safer

multi-modal transportation.

Of course, there were a lot of young folks in the lecture hall but I fit right in because I said nothing like most of them. In the morning session I learned a very interesting fact which I already suspected was a normal human trait. When folks plan for far into the future, say 25 years which is the timeline for our committee, they seldom-to-never accomplish such a grand plan. The colored lines in the chart above are the projected time span and the black dots indicate the level of achievement over a 14-year period.

This tells me that concentrating on fixing potholes and  building sidewalks and bike paths is the right way to go.  

In the afternoon session I really did learn something about speed and pedestrian safety. At 20 mph, 9 out of 10 pedestrians survive, 5 out of 10 at 30 mph, and only 1 out of 10 at 40 mph. Very sobering and yet there doesn’t seem to be a way to slow the vehicles down.  I’m thinking that perhaps just posting the mortality numbers on every Speed Limit Sign would help a lot. This information sure gave me pause.

While standing in line for my Jimmy John’s roast beef sandwich and oatmeal raisin cookies, I got a chance to speak to Dr. Arlie Adkins, Assistant Professor, Urban Planning in the College of Architecture who coordinated the two lectures. When I asked him about adding a speed limit indicator in all automobiles as they now have for most trains, he said that the situation is quite political with resistance from auto manufacturers and congress. I for one would love to have a speed limit indicator on my dashboard. And there would be fewer accidents, fewer smashed up cars and … oh, wait, I get it. 

This week we donated 119 lbs. of pet food, one bag of cleaning pads, 14 pill bottles and $111.71, in cash and two checks.

See you Sunday,

Peter