• Winter Snow Storm Green Waste Cleanup Recap

Today was Wildomar's "Winter Snow Storm Green Waste Cleanup" event. Since we have two different trash companies in our town, there were two different drop off points.

For the west-siders we were assigned to Marna O'Brien Park. For the east-siders, they were sent to a drop off point near Ronald Reagan Elementary School.

From what I could gather, Waste Management donated the bins, whereas CR&R only cut Wildomar a discount on the containers. Just for that, I'll be adding extra dog missiles into my trash next week in protest.

Mayor Ben Benoit at the head of the line of trucks.

Around 12:30 I asked how many truckloads had been made, but stats weren't being kept. However, since people did have to sign liability waivers, there was a rough estimate that could be had. There were 14 lines per sheet, and at Marna there had been more than 7 pages filled. Over at the Ronald Reagan site, more than 5 pages had been filled. Many people made multiple trips so I'll put my math wiz beanie on and estimate that there were at least 300 trips between the two sites.

[BTW my math wiz beanie hasn't been calibrated in a few years, so I may have underestimated by a lot]

When I left Marna O'Brien Park the line up was still down the street, around Bryant and, as rumor had it,  it was almost all the way to Grand.

Mayor Pro-Tem Bridgette Moore checking papers to make sure everyone was from Wildomar.

Not having a truck, I figured I'd just put my trees into the green can over the next several weeks, but local resident Jaime Fernandez offered the use of his truck. Not only that, but he helped load it and he spent more than an hour in the line up waiting for his turn to unload it. I felt bad about it, but he smiled and said he was happy to do it.

A look at the west side drop off area at about 12:30. 

The line up was said to be shorter at the east side location. When I got there at midday, there weren't too many trucks or cars lined up, but Shelia Urlaub had snapped a picture from one of her three trips that showed quite a line up... though not nearly as impressive as we west-siders had to put up with. ☺

A look at the line up at the east side staging area.

Of Wildomar's elected officials, I saw three in action. Ben Benoit, Bridgette Moore and Tim Walker. I missed Marsha Swanson since she was doing the early shift on the east side. She had just left before I wandered over there. The only one that didn't show was Bob Cashman... the same guy that wanted to be either Mayor or Mayor Pro-Tem.

Let me take a moment to say this. I don't know why our City Council Members take such pride in their work. I don't know why they put so much time in where it clearly isn't part of their duties. I can only tell you this, I am very thankful that they care that much to not only be there, but to actually work.

And they didn't just work for ten mins, they put in some legit volunteer work, so that those that brought their green waste wouldn't have to wait longer than necessary. Imagine if we had a city council with five Bob Cashmans on it. Nice fellow and he even goes to most City Council meetings... but is that all we really want from an elected official? Perfunctory effort? I don't.

Kudos to the four that went and made the event all the smoother. I'd also like to add into that list Planning Commissioner Gary Brown. He and his wife were working tirelessly, helping people unload their vehicles. Let me also include the many other volunteers that were there. Without so many people willing to help others, people they've never met and most likely won't see again, this wouldn't have worked out so well.

Council member Tim Walker pitching in.

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Below is a 72 second video. It'll give you a feel of what was going on over at Marna O'Brien Park.

Over at Marna O'Brien Park, there were some able bodied people that didn't feel like helping people unload... and I'm pretty sure they were actually paid to be there by CR&R. Oh sure, they weren't being paid to do more than move the big blue bins, but imagine how much quicker their morning would have gone if they'd done more than play pocket pool during the down time.

The new version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors" called "Pockets, Head Scratch, iPhone"... a favorite among the bored.

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Man is the only animal that can be skinned more than once. —Jimmy Durante

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