One of my all-time favorite movies is the 1947 version of Miracle On 34th Street, starring Edwin Gwenn as Kris Kringle. My favorite scene is when the kindly Kris Kringle is in court asserting that he is the real Santa Claus. As the perplexed judge sits on the bench trying to decide what to do, his political advisor signals him to take a break. The old pol, played by William Frawley, takes the judge into his chambers and gives him some sage political advice. “You go out there and rule there ain’t no Santa Claus, you won’t get elected dog catcher.”
Today, my neighbor contacted City Hall to inquire as to when the city would do their annual leaf pick up in my neighborhood. This has been a service rendered by the city since I first moved here in 1976. My neighbor was told that Cleveland City Council in conjunction with Mayor Justin Bibb decided that they will no longer pick up leaves in Cleveland neighborhoods. No notice. No rationale. No neighborhood input. No neighborhood meeting. No explanation. Just no leaf pickup.
Maybe for the apartment-dwelling mayor, leaves are not an issue. What were our councilpersons thinking? Why didn’t anyone ask residents about the leaves? Will the council and the mayor decide — with no notice to residents — not to shovel snow this winter?
An email has already gone out to the residents of the CHALK neighborhood (Cormere, Hadam, Ardoon, Larchmere and Kemper) which adjoins Shaker Square, to start a protest. In addition, neighbors are reaching out to the adjoining neighborhood associations. As one of the highest voting areas in the city, I hope someone listens — that is, if they like staying in office.
For people who live in heavily wooded neighborhoods like mine, leaves in the fall are a big deal. It’s a fall routine to rake our leaves to the curb and have the city vacuum them up. Last year I finally broke down and bought a rechargeable leaf blower to save my aching back — only to realize that the amount of time I get on a charge is way too short — which makes cleaning up the whole yard an all-day process.
My across-the-street neighbor, who has one of the most well-kept lawns in the area, blows leaves daily. He already has a four-foot pile on his tree lawn, in anticipation of the city trucks coming by. Other neighbors have piles almost as high.
Could the city council or the mayor have at least had the decency to tell Clevelanders that they will no longer pick up leaves?
City Hall is advising residents to bag up to 20 bags of leaves each week. I guess once you pass 20 you must wait for the next week to dispose of more. To bag up the leaves I already raked, I calculate it would take a lot more than 20, and the leaves are still falling. And if all those leaves go into plastic bags, that’s more plastic in the landfill.
I can envision residents of the city, and especially Ward 4 residents, storming City Hall with pitchforks and rakes, and I’ll be with them dumping a bag of leaves on my councilwoman’s desks. In the alternative, Ward 4 residents — where I live — can call Councilwoman Deborah Gray’s office at 664-4941 or Mayor Bibb’s at 311 or their individual councilperson. And when you get someone on the phone, sing the following to the tune of Autumn Leaves:
The falling leaves — drift by my window
The autumn leaves that need to go
With no city trucks — my back gets weary
As the pile of bags begin to grow
But you’ll miss our votes, Justin and Deborah
When autumn leaves start to fall near the next election.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she serves on the Board of the Ohio History Connection, is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
4 Responses to “Autumn Leaves Blow Winds of Dissent by C. Ellen Connally”
Mel Maurer
Sing it out loud and clear Ellen.
Dillon
Everyone I talked to on my street are leaving them on the lawn in protest. They’ll have an even bigger expense on their hands when the leaves start blowing onto the street and into the gutters.
Barbara Christian
Be careful what you wish for. The city might decide to solve the leaf problem by cutting down all the trees.
Hank Wait
Bibb has since reversed course. Also there was a few years during the Jackson administration where there was no leaf collection.