The suspension of street sweeping signs and ticketing is very popular with the Richmond Progressive Alliance crowd, but a post on NextDoor (“I heard that you Annex folks can't be bothered to move your cars for street sweeping, so now your councilmembers want to get rid of the program citywide. I don't know about you guys, but my street needs swept every month. We don't have representation here in Park Plaza until 2022, and y'all couldn't even wait a month to start screwing us over.”) drew 118 comments.

Most comments are posted below. Those omitted strayed from the subject. Almost all are supportive of street sweeping, and the only complaints are from those who don’t think their neighborhoods are swept enough, if at all.

• I heard that you Annex folks can't be bothered to move your cars for street sweeping, so now your councilmembers want to get rid of the program citywide. I don't know about you guys, but my street needs swept every month. We don't have representation here in Park Plaza until 2022, and y'all couldn't even wait a month to start screwing us over.
• I hear your frustration. What do you propose? What would you like to have happen? Why do you think things aren’t going the way you’d hoped?
• The Annex can keep its streets dirty if it wants, but leave our street sweeping program intact. Too much to ask?
• believe me when I say that I don’t want my streets dirty! We move our cars every month to have someone who doesn’t live on our street to come and park in front of our house prohibiting the streets from being cleaned. They need to keep ticketing people! They should have never stopped! I called for almost two months about an old abandoned car, which they let sit there. Well, now I’ve managed to sell my house and out of the rat infested city I go!...Good luck!
• I am in The Annex, and entirely in favor of street sweeping.
• Definitely a council overreach.

• I think street sweeping is a good thing It encourages the purity of the Bay. It's not just a cosmetic thing. You'd think the "environmental" council would support that. Oh, guess not. 4
• I’m not really familiar with this issue, but could it also be a way for the city to cut some of its budget right now since we have a huge deficit?
• No, if they wanted to deal with the budget, they could go back to ticketing folks for not moving their cars. We used to give fines for this in Richmond. Every other city I've lived in has street sweeping, and if you don't move your car you get a ticket. Street sweeping protects the Bay. It reduces the pollutants that wash into SF Bay, not only just plain old trash but also much that you can’t even see, including microplastics, copper, zinc, mercury, PCBs and, most recently, an additive to the rubber in tires that is killing Coho salmon and may also be harming our local almon and other marine life. Why in hell would the city want to stop street sweeping?
• I think if they are having issues in Annex then they should discontinue over there but don’t discontinue the rest of the city. My street needs it, I live in front of a school and appreciate when the street sweeper comes by even though it’s only once a month. If I could have it I would probably have it twice a month!
• Our environment needs it. I wonder what the scientists say about that? Oh...that's ok....now we don't care about science! From the city of Oakland: " The Street Sweeping program is responsible for keeping all major thoroughfares and arterials clean of trash and debris. Regular street sweeping not only keeps City streets cleaner and safer, but it helps reduce the amount of trash that enters our storm drain system, which flows into the San Francisco Bay." The point is not cosmetic. The point is to preserve the Bay.
• Street sweeping is important. How do we get this so it doesn't get cancelled? Also, what can we do about the people dumping their stuff on the curb or on the streets instead of taking them to the proper places for disposal? Richmond offers free bulky item collection right?
• I think only a couple of bulk items a year and it is really hard to get rid of the big items yourself.
• That all needs a massive overhaul. It needs to be easier for people to get rid of items for us to see less dumping on our street. I would h…

• Yes, you get at least one free bulky item pick up each year. (IT might be two, I dont remember...) You have to call in advance, tell them what you have, etc. I've used it repeatedly for free.
• I live in the Annex, and would like street sweeping. One issue here on my block is no parking. Ever. My husband is disabled and we have a blue space in front of our house for him, but he can park in our driveway, there is only room for one car. There have been times when I have driven around trying to move my car on sweeping days and I literally cannot find a space to move my car to within walking distance. Very frustrating.
• I would think you could get a waiver in this instance.
• I’m curious to what you heard as well. Last I heard, they were still to be sweeping but just not ticketing which is also very frustrating. I know almost no one on my block will move their cars unless ticketing is enforced. Have they said they are stopping sweeping all together or is is the lack of ticketing you are speaking about?
• I read it in the mayor's e-forum. The city didn't ticket for several months, but I recall reading an announcement before the holidays saying that enforcement would begin again.
• Ok thanks. I am going to check out the e-forum. This is what I saw for the RPD. No one except for my husband and I on my block moved for sweeping this month after this was released and I didn’t see one truck

• Ummm they need to start issuing tickets... idk if that will be counterproductive or anything but it’s another way the city could generate money.
• they just ceased giving tickets for parking during sweet sweeping on the 21st. Our street is a mess
• A picture of my street. My trashy neighbors across the street dump on the sidewalk. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Very frustrating. And disabled cars parked on the stret

• I’m so sorry. It’s so frustrating.
• have you talked to them about it?
• i haven’t Im scared. I live alone and I just have bad vibes about those guys.
• We should have city funding for street cleaning and trash pick up. There are signs in my neighborhood for street cleaning on Thursdays... ive lived here a year and have never seen a cleaning truck roll by once.
• If they start to give tickets again, there will BE funding!
• I agree. Tickets, designated trash pick-up weeks for larger items 2x a year, and car buy-back programs... just some suggestions
• We have signs in our neighborhood for it but I have never seen a street sweeper out here in 18 years since I been back in this neighborhood ... I also grew up out here ( north Richmond )
• I've been on 9th Street for 5 years and the street has never been swept.
• I live on 9th... And i hear them at 4/5 am.......maybe only MY 9th gets cleaned.....
• Okay people, I live in the Annex and we need street sweeping more than once a month. These streets are filthy. Now I don’t appreciate how you put everyone who live in the Annex in in a big clump. Who said we don’t want to move our cars for street swee…
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• yes on the parking lines! I think I’m the ONLY house on my street who has ONE car and I still barely get a spot near my house.
• I lived in the annex and it’s not that we don’t move our cars but more like there is nowhere to move them to. It’s way over crowded. I would come home and couldn’t even park in front of my house.
• Exactly, as in the comment I posted above.
• Sad to see so much misrepresentation around this issue.
• People in the Annex should mostly stop breeding!!
• nope, Richmond in general sucks actually! Try and park your car in Berkeley on a street cleaning day and see how much it’ll cost you. Richmond just promotes dirt and law breaking!!!
• The biggest problem in Richmond is funding. I wonder what trash clean up looks like in Marina Bay
• Marina Bay is funded not only by the HOAs, but also by special property taxes. Check it out. The residents pay more. That's why it's so spotless.
• Maybe the council members. Are the ones that going to come sweep north richmond too. Since we don’t see the sweeping machine clean in years.
• I haven’t had my street sweep for awhile I have to do my own to keep it clean. They should put signs up when they will sweep your street and fine the cars that don’t move.
• Y’all can’t sweep in front of y’all own doors? I mean my grandparents did that for years. Complainers are ridiculous
• That doesn't protect the Bay. The point of street sweeping is to protect the purity of the Bay.
• wtf that’s the dumbest response ever. If you throw away your trash you won’t need street sweeping y’all really stupid out here
• We have street sweeping twice a week but its a hassle when we have 10 cars with people living in them on the block and dont get moved. We cannot even walk on the sidewalks because its been taken over by stuff.
• Gayle McLaughlin lives over there so she likes to project her own beliefs on others
• I live in a commerical/residential area and it's so inconsistent. The trash gets blown down the street into the gutters which is an issue. When we called we were told it's a staffing issue. They said they have 1-2 workers for the whole city. Which sounds crazy to me.
• When I moved here three years ago we got ticketed the first week, we didn’t realize it was Thursday, but then after that I haven’t seen much sweeping on our street, keep putting warning and ticketing people would make people realize how serious it is,
• my 18yrs of living here I still move my car. And they still sweep. But I don't think they ticket anymore
• I live in the Point and in the 30+ years I have Li over here my street has NEVER been swept.
• Cierto aquí en la bissell estamos empezando con lo mismo y llame a preguntar y lo único que dice la ciudad es ser homeless no es criminal no estoy diciendo que lo sea pero que psa con la seguridad de las familias ?
• Write your Council members folks if you want to reinstate sweeping and fines. I'm sick of the Council "keeping Richmond poor" and dirty. Residents will not take it seriously until there are fines. We will all learn to move our cars if fines are reinstated. The Mayor didn't vote to remove citations. The Council did. Write or call them.
• did they stop ticketing during or before pandemic?
• I think they just stop giving citations but you’ll still have to move your car if you’d like your street cleaned
• You do have representation any councilmembers that is sitting in those seats represents if you do not want to go to district 1 district 5 district 6 do you still have three other councilmembers that you can go to which is Martinez Johnson Choi
• Ben Choi is no longer a council member. His term ended.
• Bates was a yes on "the pause" but will probably side with Tom on the next vote.
• Lol i got citations this year 50 dollars a ticket. But i live on san pablo so.... Major Thoroughfare i guess
• HHah sorry i thought I was typing this in English ....here it goes again .on Bissell st I reported the same situation and as a response I only got a “ being homeless is not criminal “ I never said that!!!! But there’s many families that live around seen trash and people with drugs ...poop all over like if it was nothing .
• pues lo entendí en dos idiomas but you are right. There is a guy living on my street who can’t park and leaves his trash on the street. Very frustrating but I’m more upset that he leaves his trash than the fact that he sleeps in his car
• I agree our unhoused neighbors dont move they have been here for months have block parties and all. Im glad that theres no tickets given because its not fair until they get control over the un housed that keep us from parking.
• I think it takes people talking about where it is needed. I would gladly give up sweeping our street for you getting yours cleaned.
• I didnt think street sweeping was optional in Richmond, but was mandated as a result of a lawsuit in order to keep pollutants out of the bay.
• No police ,no sweeping ,no tickets,no nothing it’s out here
• Street sweeping needed 100%, usually after garbage pick-up because the trucks liter the streets and the drivers won’t get out to pick up the trash that flies away. Five feet of curb across the street this morning after trash pick up is absolutely covered in items that got away. Is it in their contract that they cannot get out of the truck? What happened to two-man crews? Street sweeping and trash pick up are also great jobs to have available in our community.
• Actually I think part of the problem is that a lot of the homes in the annex have been turned into apartments or duplexes and there is just hella people living in a space that was originated for a single family. A lot of front houses and back houses popping up...way overcrowded
• I find it ridiculous for them to be lumping all of Richmond into one group. So many neighborhoods are different with completely different needs. It must be incredibly difficult for people to park in the Annex. Where I am not so much except for the fact that some neighbors have 8 cars. Annex may not need swept. They should be able to decide that. My neighborhood most definitely needs it. I bet most of my neighbors would be pro sweeping. We are also right up against Booker T Anderson where trash is left all the time. Major fail on Richmonds part.
• When I first moved here (18 years ago) streets were rarely swept. The city was forced to be more consistent by some regulatory agency due to storm water runoff landing in the Bay. I wonder if making people self enforce will have an effect on that.
• that would be great if the rest of the neighbors would too. I’m constantly picking up fast food wrappers. Doesn’t help if the whole neighborhood doesn’t as well. I can’t reach all under the cars that no one moves
• So how do we organize and get something done about this?
• street sweeping signs are going to be put up so you will get a ticket if you don't move your car. it was in the paper.
• This isn’t the hero they want but it’s the hero they need.
• If only you knew why the annex is fighting against street sweeping. It’s not about the tickets or the inconvenience. It’s because they believe the No Parking signs with times of street sweeping will lower their home values and effect the aesthetics of the neighborhood. They have been fighting the city for years to not put the signs up and now when they lost they found another reason to push their agenda.
• I am in the annex and have heard nothing of this. It sounds like BS to me. I and my myriad neighbors that I speak to regularly are in favor of sweeping. It does pose a hardship to renters who have to compete for parking spots with a bazillion other cars from the buildings they rent from, but surely there is a solution.
• I would appreciate if we all took a deep breath and tried to continue conversing without making blanket accusations, focusing instead on what may be possible.
• East Richmond Heights ( county) gets the street sweeper but never a set date. Useless because all it does is dodge cars.