As always, an article about landlords and cleaning up the City of Trenton produced various responses. A previous publication that focused on the topic of quality of life concerns cultivated this opinion from community influencer and ardent cleanup activist, Ivey Avery. She proposed these courses of action. Hold all landlords and business owners more accountable for the upkeep and cleanliness of their properties. Landlords must not be allowed to make substandard repairs, allow their properties to be in disrepair or littered with trash. Also, Landlords must provide the appropriate number of trash cans outdoors for residents to use for trash disposal. It is sad to see areas like Perry St. with old, beat-up trash cans in front of the apartments that do not meet the needs of the residents. I realize that weare not the suburbs, but their system of having the same type of garbage cans for their residents makes garbage day less messy. Sponsor city-wide ward competitions for cleanest street, most attractive house, cleanest house in the neighborhood etc. Recognize these residents at Council meetings or meetings designed especially for this purpose. Recently Shiloh Baptist Church had a wonderful awards program to recognize Public Works employees. Sponsor a Clean Patrol like the Publishers Clearing House and that person or persons can ride around the city once or twice a month and reward a citizen who is “caught’ cleaning his or her neighborhood. More garbage cans are needed in public places, and they can have a logo claiming Trenton is a Clean City. Use billboards, social media, make announcements in churches, community meetings, community events to get the word out. Provide a limited number of trash pickers. I do notknow the exact name of these things, but they are long handled contraptions that can be used to pick up trash. Make sure people are cutting their grass in the summer, elderly people and people who cannotafford it may apply for assistance. What if one of the Summer Jobs for teenagers could be landscaper interns. They could actually be taught to manicure a lawn, plant flowers and trim shrubbery. Not the type of cutting that I call “Ghetto Hacking” This could lead to a career or entrepreneurship. Visit schools to speak with students and get their ideas about how to have a cleaner city. Sponsor a Billboard competition.  I know that residents can call PSE G about streetlights out, but maybe there could be a city employee who rides around in the city periodically to locate streetlights that are out. These are not new ideas, but they could help in the fight against trash. In conclusion two things happened to me recently that gave me hope. I clean the area around the Serenity Garden on Bellevue and Prospect St. one of the areas is the bus stop at the corner of Bellevue and Prospect. There is a woman who lives in an apartment building at that corner, and recently she has adopted that bus stop, and not only does she pick up trash, but she also washes it down with soapy water. Recently, I was cleaning on West State St. and a young girl around 11 or 12 came up to me and presented me with a rose. She said, “I am giving this to you because you keep the environment clean.” That made my day. I am not sure where the rose came from. Thanks to Ms. Avery for her comments. Come back on Friday for an interesting, harsh response about Trashy Trenton. ...read more read less