Former police chief and now Mayor Jerry Sanders believes he's above the law. So does a city council majority. You'd think that upon taking office by swearing to uphold the law -- they would. After all taking office is an inauguration, not a coronation. Mayor Sanders, like this week's Time magazine trashing the validity of the U.S. Constitution, in effect is saying the City Charter says what politicians say it says.

All prior city councils since 1919 have upheld the People' Ordinance which stipulates trash collection is to be provided by the city, among other things to discourage illegal dumping in canyons and on other people's property. Politicians have an insatiable appetite for higher taxes and revenues. Now, along with Mayor Sanders, Councilmembers Kevin Faulconer, Todd Gloria, Tony Young, Marti Emerald and David Alvarez have all decreed they are above the law and are eliminating "free" trash pick up to thousands of city residents and small businesses. Is this a clever precedent for eliminating refuse collection for all residents in order to give more subsidies via the Chargers and Padres to the millionaire players and billionaire owners in the national football and baseball leagues and other political supplicants?

The city's independent analyst has written: "The People's Ordinance (SDMC 66.0127), approved by San Diego voters in 1919 last amended in 1986, requires the City to collect, transport and dispose of residential refuse at least once per week at no charge. Certain small businesses also receive free refuse collection by the City pursuant to the People's Ordinance. In order to receive City refuse collection services, residents and small businesses must place their refuse at the curb line of a public street in approved containers."

The City Attorney has opined that "the City to discontinue refuse collection services and the City's obligation to fund them ... Voter approval would be needed." JAN I. GOLDSMITH, City Attorney

When the City tried a similar stunt by imposing North Park parking meters over the objections of businesses and residents in 1965, Allen Hitch opposed and defeated the ordinance and was elected to the city council. We need another Allen Hitch to run against the whole lot of them, excepting Carl DeMaio, Lori Zapf, Sherrie Lightner who voted to override the mayor. Actually, we need five "Allen Hitches" to run against and defeat the above five councilmembers. The mayor is soon to be history but candidates for mayor should be forced to declare their position on trashing the City Charter.

The fact that many residents don't get free pickup is beside the point; it's more practical for a 100-unit apartment building to "voluntarily" use commercial bins than putting out 100 trash cans each week. If the city faithfully lived up to its charter obligation it would provide refuse service to everyone as intended instead of other non-essential, questionable, politically motivated services: such as housing poor people in the most expensive apartments in the San Diego, subsidizing golf courses and at one time and maybe still private airplane parking, while underwriting energy guzzling and air polluting public transit.

Some ideas are so stupid only politicians believe in them, seduced by fads such as sending three trucks to collect trash, one for household waste, one for recyclables, and one for greens with three times the gasoline consumption, and three times the pollution and carbon footprint in needlessly raising the cost of refuse collection. This would be the logical place to make changes to save money.

Too often fads are learned from state and national politicians like double flush toilets, ethanol that consumes more energy than it generates and the soon to be required mercury light bulbs that are hazardous to your health, while pretending they are saving the planet.

It's time to yell, "STOP!"

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                                              Schnaubelt, president of Citizens for Private Property Rights, has been a commercial real estate broker
                                              for 39 years and was a San Diego City Councilman from 1977-81.

                                                                Fred Schnaubelt, 2728 Adams Ave, S.D. 92116 (619) 280-2082

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