As I See It
A new, better plan for leaf collection
Maybe this time they’ll get it right. The city of La Crosse has struggled of late to pick up our fallen leaves in a timely fashion. But now they have a plan for doing better this fall. Last year, the city was unable to use their vacuum trucks to pick up all the leaves residents piled on the boulevard before the snow fell. They became covered in snow and ice, and remained there, frozen in our Wisconsin winter. Part of the problem is the city got a late start on its leaf collection. But crews are at the whim of Mother Nature. It makes no sense to send the trucks out when only a few leaves have fallen. But they need to get them picked up before the snow starts. So the new plan is to recruit additional city employees to lend a hand. The city is scheduling a six week collection period, sending crews out five days a week. The more manpower they have, the more quickly the work can be done. So it makes sense to put all hands on deck. And chances are there are at least a few city employees whose workload would allow them to help suck up leaves. If the city is going to promise it will pick up leaves, it should make every effort to do so in a timely fashion, and that means recruiting as much help as possible.