Cincinnati residents frustrated after weeks-long trash pickup delays
CINCINNATI (WXIX) — Cincinnati residents say they have gone nearly two weeks without trash pickup, and they want answers from the city.
Nya Williams has been advocating for residents of Mt. Airy after she said she found families living among piles of garbage this past weekend.
“We got there and the trash was like building up like a castle on the garbage cans,” Williams said.
Williams’ father owns an apartment complex on Shadymist Lane. She said his residents, along with what she described as the rest of Mt. Airy, have not had their trash picked up in almost two weeks. Williams said she and her father called the city to ask why.
“The man on the phone was like, ‘We don’t have enough staff and we don’t have enough resources,’ so he said leave it until next Thursday, take it back and leave it until next Thursday. We can’t do that,” Williams said.
City cites staffing shortages
According to the city, some Department of Public Services staff called out sick, which it said “impacted the number of routes completed.” Shadymist Lane residents said the last time their trash was picked up was Sept. 3.
“I understand that they were understaffed or whatever, but at the end of the day, the way nobody is doing anything about this and all this trash is piling up, that’s not safe. No human should have to live like that,” a resident said.
In a statement sent to FOX19, the city said normal staffing and operations were back up and running Monday. Residents whose normal garbage day falls near the end of the week said their concern is still growing.
“What do they think is going to happen when Thursday comes? It’s going to be trash everywhere. We’re not receiving the public services that we are entitled to and that we pay for,” a resident said.
City response
The city said it posted messages on all of its social media accounts last week to inform residents of the staffing shortages. The city provided a list of neighborhoods with impacted routes. Residents can sign up for CincyAlerts at cincyalert.org.
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