GAINESVILLE – One Gainesville city council member was quick to defend the reputation of the city when a letter appeared in local media saying Gainesville had a big problem with cleanliness.
Longtime councilman George Wangemann said at Thursday’s city council work session: “A gentleman identified four of the worst problems in Gainesville and the number one problem was too much litter.”
“I hate to take issue with him but I think he’s wrong,” Wangemann said. “I think every year gets better and better.”
Wangemann, who is very active with public clean-up projects, explained why he felt the perceived litter problem was actually improving. “We’re picking up less and less trash and we’re finding it difficult to find areas to go into that are totally trashed.”
“That is a good thing,” Wangemann said, “and we’ve been recognized by…Keep America Beautiful…that we’re doing an excellent job here and we’re one of America’s cleanest cities.”
Shanda Sexton, Executive Director of Keep Hall Beautiful, said on Friday that Wangemann’s conclusions are very accurate.
Keep Hall Beautiful is a 501-c-3 and serves as the local certified affiliate of the national Keep America Beautiful System, as well as the state Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation.
Sexton said, “The litter (problem) is actually getting much better. We are having a much harder times trying to find illegal dump sites and places that are really just overly littered.”
Sexton credited the public with being a major part of the turnaround, alerting her office whenever a problem is encountered. She said Keep Hall Beautiful’s website serves as a means of communicating litter issues to her agency.
Sexton said Keep Hall Beautiful had been recognized for their successful efforts in dealing with the local litter challenge. “We…received an award…the Keep Georgia Beautiful Governor’s Award as well as the Keep American Beautiful Presidential Award.”
Sexton says anyone wishing to learn more about keeping Hall County litter free and other civic clean-up events should contact Keep Hall Beautiful via the group’s website or by calling (770) 531-1102.
