Mayor Shirley Franklin, joined by Councilmember Cleta Winslow and other members of the Atlanta City Council, city officials and a bevy of community representatives unveiled the City of Atlanta’s new Trash Trooper Program today in conjunction with the Keep Atlanta Beautiful/Great American Clean-Up.  

The Trash Trooper Program represents an integrated approach utilizing resources from governmental agencies and authorities, businesses and civic organizations to improve and sustain the appearance and cleanliness of the City of Atlanta.   Mayor Franklin said, “The Trash Troopers are our strike force to help keep Atlanta clean and beautiful.  Plans for the program were first introduced in my State of the City Address in January. We have been planning several months for clean-up activities across the city and the implementation of the Trash Trooper Program.”

Twenty-four sanitation workers are assigned to the program.  The clean-up section of the Trash Troopers will serve as a strike force providing quick response to community clean-up requests, which cannot be served with those crews currently providing daily scheduled collections of garbage, yard trimmings and bulk rubbish.

The second section of Trash Troopers will provide grass cutting along specified rights of way, the clean-up of illegal roadside dumps and special environmental cleanups - such as the removal of scrap tires. Routes for grass cutting have been designed and illegal dumpsites have been photographed and verified.  The program will operate under the leadership of operational staff Dorothy Culberson and Angela Green.  

The Mayor added, "This program is truly represents a partnership effort that will involve other city departments and some state agencies."  

·        Georgia DOT will provide grass cutting twice per growth season along those State rights-of-way that are within the city limits. The State of Georgia Department of Corrections will provide community service workers to augment City staff for routine and special request clean-ups.

·        The Atlanta Department of Corrections will also provide inmates to augment City staff, when available.  

·        The Bureau of Recreation in the City's Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs will also provide grass cutting along rights of way abutting recreational facilities such as parks, golf courses and recreation centers, as well as other specified rights of way near these facilities.  

·        The City's Department of Watershed Management will provide cleaning of catch basins as a part of its routine maintenance.  

·        The Housing Code Enforcement division of the Atlanta Department of Planning and Neighborhood Conservation will survey areas and cite property owners to abate code violations.

Franklin said, “Residents also have an important role to play in the ongoing effort to maintain a clean city.   The activities planned as part of the Keep Atlanta Beautiful/Great American Clean-up are a good beginning.”

NPUs, faith-based organizations and the business community will join hands to clean neighborhoods across the city on Saturday, April 26^th.  The Clean-Up Rally will begin at Perkerson Park at 8 am and people will return to their respective neighborhoods to work. 

On Sunday, April 27^th, metro area places of worship will observe Clean Sweep Day by responding to the challenge to clean the neighborhoods around their respective places of worship.  On Monday, April 28^th, a number of Atlanta businesses will participate in a similar challenge.

For more details on the Keep Atlanta Beautiful Campaign, contact Katherine McCladdie at 404 330-6972.