In the dumps

 County road and bridge superintendent Richard Fierro said he's been seeing a lot of illegally discarded tires lately.

There's a pile of construction waste and an old washer-dryer set strewn on the side of Wireline Road, a collection of what looks like roofing waste off Knox Avenue, and a broken TV was sitting pretty off West Arcadia Street last Sunday.

Illegal dumping has been a problem in the county for years, and candidates for Precinct 1 and 3 commissioner have differing views on how to fix it.

Fierro said the county budgeted about $800,000 to clean up illegal dumpsites this year. But with his department stretched thin because of worker shortages, sometimes his crew doesn't have time to pick up everything unsightly.

"The Sheriff's Office has caught some people dumping illegally, but it's tough," Fierro said Tuesday. "Most do it late at night in remote areas, so it's pretty tough to catch them."

Sheriff's Capt. David Bright said his deputies are doing all they can do to enforce the county's illegal dumping laws, but he's dealing with an employee shortage too, and deputies stay busy with more pressing matters.

All four commissioner candidates agree that more enforcement is necessary and that the new code enforcement officer position, approved last month, will put a dent in the county's illegal dumping problem.

A $15,000 grant will cover part of that person's salary. Commissioners are still figuring out how that person's work week will shape up as far as hours go.

But there are 900 square miles in the county for one person to cover. The city's code enforcement department employs several officers and has 30 square miles to patrol.

The idea of a county-funded trash collection service has been tossed around as a way to cut down on illegal dumping, especially during burn ban times, but Precinct 1 Republican incumbent Freddie Gardner and Precinct 3 Republican challenger Dale Childers think that's a bad idea.

Childers said last week that people choose to live in the county for a two reasons - it's cheaper and there are less restrictions. If that's their choice and the idea is to pay less taxes and fees, they need to take responsibility for their waste by making arrangements for regular trips to the dump, he said.

And while he's for the new code enforcement officer, Childers said he's wary of growing a county code enforcement department with several employees.

"I don't want to see us get into code enforcement in the county," he said. "It's just too big."

As Odessa's former assistant fire chief, Childers supervised the city's code enforcement department before it was reorganized under neighborhood development. He said it takes a lot of legal wrangling to enforce code violations, and fines were never enough to cover the department's operating costs.

"You also have court costs," he said. "It's a very time-consuming and costly endeavor."

Precinct 3 Democratic incumbent Barbara Graff said she wouldn't be opposed to growing a county code enforcement department because she thinks fines will be enough to cover operating costs, but that's not something she's advocating now.

She prefers to focus on cracking down through the code enforcer position and adopting abatements that would strength the county's illegal dumping laws.

"Illegal dumping to me is like an elephant," Graff said. "A person can only eat an elephant one bite at a time."

Graff said she'd be in favor of a county-funded trash service, but she's taking a wait-and-see approach to that, too. Graff said she's not sure if her constituents would be willing to pay fees to have their trash picked up.

"It's not something that would happen overnight," she said. "I would rather concentrate on the code enforcement officer."

Precinct 1 Democratic challenger Linda Young-Anglley said she's in favor of countywide trash collection and would pass the department's start-up cost on to county residents through fees. She said she'd make trash collection optional if homeowners want to burn their trash.

Young-Anglley said she's discussed the idea with what would be her constituents if she wins Gardner's seat, and they've all said it would be cheaper to pay county fees than to go with a private trash collector.

"The majority of the ones I've spoken to want the service," she said.

Gardner said he's opposed to countywide trash collection because of its prohibitive start-up cost.

"We'd have to have personnel, equipment - it would be a multi-million-dollar endeavor," he said.

AT A GLANCE

Here are county commissioner candidate views on county-funded trash collection.

>> Precinct 1 commissioner Freddie Gardner: No. Start-up and operating costs would be too expensive.

>> Precinct 3 commissioner Barbara Graff: Yes. Would like to see trash collection but isn't pushing it right now.

>> Precinct 1 challenger Linda Young-Anglley: Yes. Start-up and operating costs would be passed on in fees to residents.

>> Precinct 3 challenger Dale Childers: No. If people are going to live in the county, they should plan on making trips to the dump.