Government at Work for Us!--Two Great and Positive local Stories the Media Won't Cover

We live in a great country and great community--with government that works for us and does great and beneficial things for us that many citizens will never even know about.  In some parts of the world, sewage systems consist of dumping bed-pans into the local waterway (the same bodies of water used for drinking water and bathing!).   In some countries, when a bridge washes out or a road gets destroyed in a storm or earthquake or other disaster--these structures NEVER get replaced.  Just look at Haiti--nearly a decade after that earthquake and despite Billions in international aid and effort--still a wreck.  In some countries--litter and garbage are everywhere and roadways and neighborhoods are polluted and disgusting.  Many countries have justice systems that are dysfunctional and deficient--if they even exist at all.  And the list goes on and on.

Luckily, we live in America and in Escambia County Florida.  Stuff happens here, things get done.

This week, a couple of great stories popped up on the radar--the kind of stuff that isn't really sexy or salacious, so the mundane kind of stuff that will never be reported by the media.  

Nevertheless-these serve as a continuing reminder that our government in this country, particularly at the local level, works.  It ain't perfect--but it works and it works well for the citizens it serves---and here are two examples from just the last week!

1.)  RAW SEWAGE IN THE DRAINAGE DITCH!

Technicians from the Dept. of  Health
test the stormwater drain for sewage con-
tamination at J&J Apartments at 7706
West Fairfield Drive. 5-20-2019

 Our office was notified late last week that an entire apartment complex on Fairfield Drive was pumping it's raw sewage straight into a drainage ditch on the side of the road!

We immediately forwarded this complaint to our environmental division, who in turn notified the Florida Department of Health, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, ECUA, and other relevant state and local agencies.  Within a matter of days, ECUA came and pumped out the ditch and applied biocide, the area was tested and the contamination confirmed, the landlord was notified and threatened with service cut-off, resources were prepared by the county to be deployed if the residents' water supply was interrupted, legal notices were served on the responsible parties, and multiple agencies brought immediate and sustained pressure on this apartment complex to fix the issue.  Within 48 hours of receiving the legal notice---the out of area landlord hired a local plumbing contractor and fixed the issue.  As of today-we are back to normal and up and running--and the average citizen is none the wiser and NONE of the apartments' residents were inconvenienced or dislocated----because of the swift action of local and state agencies working together in coordination.  (Come to find out, the issue was  a sewer clean-out cap blew out, and a line blockage of grease and feminine products further down the line caused the sewage to seep out of the clean-out and into the ditch......this was repaired yesterday.  But just imagine if this condition was not addressed in such a swift fashion--what sorts of impacts could that have had on the wider community if left unchecked?)

2.) ESCAMBIA COUNTY LITTER PATROLS

Inmate Litter Patrols are cleaning Escambia's roadways, proactively and in all 5 commission districts, at NO additional cost to the taxpayers.  Over the last  9 months these crews have removed a staggering 18,000 bags of litter from our area, in addition to hundreds of large items such as mattresses, discarded appliances, and tires.

At my recent Coffee with the Commissioner event-another interesting story  was brought to light illustrating a great service being provided by our County to all citizens.  Escambia County Roads Department Director Wes Moreno gave an update on the County's recently created "Litter Patrols."

These inmate crews are manned by existing Road Corrections Officers using existing trucks and other resources--and they have collected an amazing 18,000 bags of trash from county roadways over the last year-in addition to hundreds of other large items, tires, furniture and other discarded rubbish on our roads!

Last year, the BCC collectively asked how we could do more with less and still provide a clean environment for our citizens--and the roads department answered the call.

"As a result of this program--all the districts are being cleaned and each crew has a zone they serve on a rotating basis.  Now, we get a lot fewer calls for service because of this proactive approach that is keeping our county streets cleaner" said Mr. Moreno during my discussions with him.  

About Escambia County's "Litter Patrol"

---5 inmate litter crews at no additional cost to the budget  

---inmate crews have collected roughly 18,000 bags of trash to date (since inception last September).

---Three female crews and two male crews -

---each maintenance area has a crew assigned which covers all five districts