DETROIT – In contrast to Mayor Mike Duggan’s slogan “every neighborhood has a future,” residents on the city’s west side are piling up trash in front of their homes. 

    However, one Arab American woman said she selectively received a $1,000 ticket for leaving solid waste outside.

The Detroit resident, who wished not to be named, said all her neighbors were doing the same, but she was the only one fined.

Furniture, appliances and mattresses could be seen on curbsides of the woman’s neighborhood. Solid waste gets picked up every two weeks, so such items can remain on the street in the interim. 

“I had furniture and branches on my yard, exactly like my neighbors, but I was the one who got the ticket,” she said. 

She went to court hoping the ticket would be waived, but a hearing officer ruled against her. She was fined $1,130 and given 28 days to pay.

The blight violation law, passed last year, states the city of Detroit will issue fines when an owner fails to follow ordinances of property maintenance, zoning, solid waste and illegal dumping. For bulk collection the city will collect up to one cubic yard of bulk from the curb. Construction debris will not be picked up and cardboard boxes must be flattened. A ticket of $1,000 could be issued by city inspectors or police officers. 

 “Illegal dumping should be recriminalized to have a clean and neighbor-friendly environment,” said Detroit resident James Rios.

In 2002, the Detroit City Council decriminalized illegal dumping at the request of then-Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, making it a civil infraction. 

Rios said he has gotten sick of being ignored by the city council, so he decided to take action himself. 

He said he joined other community members to keep Detroit clean. They formed the Southwest Ambassador Youth Club to clean up alleys and remove debris. Rios said the group is still waiting to hear from their councilmember on tackling the dumping problem in neighborhoods.

The biweekly solid waste pickup schedule began May 15 in southwest Detroit, after Rizzo Environment Services Inc. was awarded a garbage pick-up contract. Bulk pickup used to take place every three months. 

“I am looking forward to see if Rizzo is more willing to help us maintain well-kept yards and beautifully maintained streets,” Rios said. 

In his State of the City address in February, Mayor Duggan focused on rebuilding a new Detroit by demolishing abandoned buildings and going after owners of blighted properties. 

Rios said if Detroit does not step up to the challenge of cleaning garbage-strewn neighborhoods, he plans on leaving the city with his family.