Newsletter -Late Summer 2021
These past 18 months the city has exhibited the best of neighborhood attributes. We welcomed babies and greeted new puppies, followed protocols towards a common good, and individually organized generous donations of food and essentials to outsiders. The return of the ice cream and food trucks gave us the joy of a shared gathering. We witnessed heroic efforts to administer acute care, vaccines, doses of compassion, and sharing of professional expertise within and without our city limits. These acts do not go unnoticed or pass unappreciated. Through the tribulations, examples of generosity were inspiring. Altruistic actions help define us as a community even if we can’t always participate. It is a shared good feeling.
• TRASH & RECYCLING RECAPTACLES. Emerging back into a new normal, away from Zoom office sweatpants and those relaxed routines, we can focus on what made us choose Mission Woods for our neighborhood in the first place- the singular aesthetic of a charming city of mature trees and unique houses. Residents have shared with me their concerns about unsightly trash and recycling receptacles stored outside the house, in full view of the street or a side yard. Trash bins have morphed over the last 20 years from smaller barrels, which were hand-emptied into the compactor truck, into huge, wheeled containers fit only for deployment by a robotic-arm.
Even if trash receptacles have changed, how we want our neighborhood to look has not. Older garages, new SUVs, and XL trash receptacles often make for a tight squeeze. Receptacles of a compact size are available from Waste Management. Mission Woods city code stipulates that trash receptacles be stored inside the house until moved curbside for pick-up. This reminder presents an opportunity to address the situation in a spirit of good will towards the house next door, across the street and towards the entire city-hopefully, precluding the need for formal action. Neighborliness finds many forms of expression.
Darrell Franklin, Mayor