The city’s policy of dumping leaves and other yard trash out of the plastic bags holding them and leaving the bags lying in the gutter is contributing to plastic ending up in the ocean. The bags wash down the storm drains in the next rain.
They should go back to picking up loose leaves.
— Mark McKenzie
Asheville
We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.
We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.
Yes, let’s use a million of the bond scam to buy some used leaf vacuum trucks like AVL used to operate … such a stupid decision to stop this practice.
Oh cry us some crocodile tears. Mountain X, AC-T, and social media have been full of letters from citizens angry over the City of Asheville cutting a service and failing to complete their core duties to its citizens. Leaf collection, street maintenance, sidewalks have all gotten the ax in the last five years. Yet, when election time comes around you keep electing more and more progressive candidates who erode more and more of those core services. At the end of the day, you get the government you deserve.
Also, the letter writer should know that their complaints will fall on deaf ears at the City. Why? Because the department director behind those boneheaded decisions is now the Assistant City Manager over her former department. You can bet that Cathy Ball will never admit that eliminating curbside leaf collection, replacing the street paving and sidewalk programs with big fat contracts and an inflated and overpaid contract management department were bad decisions. She literally took a program that was managed by ONE person and made it a department. A program that used to cost $85,000 per year to manage now cost tax payers over a million dollars a year, and not one peep to Council because Cathy controls what they see out of Public Works through her “yes man” director. I’ve emailed MountainX reporters about this (over several years), yet they never seem to generate any stories.
Enjoy your stupidity Asheville; you earned it.
Do you know for a fact that those who are grousing in LTEs to MX, the ACT and on social media have in fact voted for the “progressives” on City Council, or is your contempt for people who on City Council who hold differing views for you so strong that you just assume this?
Yes, I do know for a fact that Asheville voters keep electing more and more progressive candidates who erode more and more core services. I thought that was common knowledge.
My contempt is not for the people. It’s merely for the fact that Asheville City Council, and their appointed City leaders keep removing, altering, and lowering core services, while Asheville voters keep empowering them.
I guess when Asheville voters are asked to haul their own garbage/recycling to the landfill because Asheville leaders don’t want to buy those trucks either; maybe there will be an awakening. But, maybe not. Detroit kept going until they’d ruined that city.
Ain’t it funny that in the bad old days of old Asheville, the city provided more services? But the city wasn’t selling itself out to corporate hotels and breweries like it is today.
But do you know that the specific people who are complaining about services being eroding are voting for the “progressive” candidates who do this? Perhaps this letter writer and other letter writers on the topic are not voting for these candidates. Your original post did not make a distinction between those in Asheville who vote for these candidates and those who don’t.
are there any candidates , other than silly progressives, that EVER run ???
The fee to file for election remains $75, i.e. about the same as a homeowner-grade leaf blower.
SO so TRUE, Robin! Very accurate, but like I say decades of NO leadership shows!
Thinking more strategically, leaves should not be picked up at all. It is borderline stupid for citizens to expect the city to pickup leaves, take them to be composted and then buy the compost and have it hauled back.
Virtually everyone has a spot on their property that can house a mulching leaf pile. In the fall it is tall and wide and within the winter has reduced down to not much.
Plus, it is much simpler/easier to move leaves with a tarp than stuff them in bags,
So I’m recommending to the city to stop this practice.