This past weekend (July 31/Aug.1) many city workers worked overtime conducting bulk trash pickups in Highland, Anderson Island and other neighborhoods.

Public Works Director Gary Norman spearheaded the effort that included personnel for Water & Sewer as well as Property Standards.

Norman says bulk pickup sweeps will continue on weekends. All these departments have job vacancies, and getting people to work extra time on Saturdays and especially Sundays is understandably a challenge, especially during the extreme heat.

An Allendale sweep started Thursday, and the MLK area is the next neighborhood on the list.

Norman also advised that efforts are being made to hire independent contractors to help these much-needed effort.

Council members Tabatha Taylor and Jerry Bowman are to be commended for their continuing push to start the bulk trash pickups. Like it or not, in government just like the private sector, the squeaky wheel usually gets the grease. In this instance, Taylor and Bowman were yelling, not squeaking!