In response to recent Letters to the Editor that discussed the amount of litter on Marion County’s roads, a few Ocala residents wrote in and shared their thoughts on the topic:
“I contacted Marion County about the garbage on the sides of the roads and reported that there was even a mattress sitting on the side of the road on 62nd Road, across from where the new Publix is being built. I informed them about the large amounts of garbage along that entire stretch of road from 200 to 60th and 62nd. I was told they would write a ticket for it and submit it to the area responsible for garbage removal on the sides of the roads. It took about a week before the mattress was removed, which is okay. What is not okay is that not a stitch of all the other garbage was removed. Some items were lying right next to the mattress. The County Commissioners need to get on top of this because it’s getting worse and no one is doing anything about it,” says Ocala resident Joseph Alberti, Sr.
“There is always trash between SW 8th Street and 10th in front of the car wash. It’s mostly from people buying from Wawa. I think it’s disgusting. Why can’t Marion County put trash cans along the side of the road like most cities? What happened to the clean up by people who do work release from jail? You don’t see them anymore. It’s just sad that there is trash everywhere you look in this town,” says Pamela Whitehead, Ocala resident.
“You can tell where the homeless are staying by the trail of trash around the woods in my area, and I have asked them nicely to no avail. So, I guess the hard way is now coming and it’s the ‘tough love’ type of reaction they will be getting from me. They steal from any open garages or open sheds, and they will also take any bikes left unattended (even kid’s bikes). I know I’ve seen too many stolen bikes in this area over the last year. But back to the ‘Clean Up Ocala’ campaign: let’s see these idiots get off their rear ends and stop making Ocala a trash bin,” says Ocala resident Ronald Guillory.
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