Personal intervention keeps poop off the streets
CITY HALL — Raise a stink and you might just succeed in getting what you want here.
Or in Valerie Hiss’ case, her efforts to reduce the stink throughout Santa Monica have gotten her far with city officials, who originally turned their noses up at her community project that involved attaching “doggie houses” to neighborhood trees.
Hiss’ three-year effort of reducing what she calls “doggie debris” throughout the city was put in jeopardy earlier this month when her project became public and city officials abruptly put an end to it, citing a concern for the health of the trees.
Hiss has spent $5,000 affixing 60 make-shift miniature houses to trees. The houses dispense plastic bags so pet owners can pick up remains left by their pooches. But Hiss was informed by city officials that she was violating an ordinance that prohibits objects from being placed on trees. Officials said the Hiss was ordered to remove her doggie houses, which were provided upon request by pet owners living in all areas of Santa Monica. City workers removed at least two, and a few more have gone missing since Hiss’ project was first made public at the beginning of August.
But City Councilman Kevin McKeown, Hiss’ next-door neighbor, stepped in and helped devise a solution. This week, Hiss will be granted permission to attach the doggie houses using aluminum screws on certain types of trees. According to city ordinance, permission to attach an object to public trees must be granted by City Hall’s director of community and cultural services, Barbara Stinchfield.
Stinchfield confirmed this week that she will allow Hiss to continue her efforts, with some conditions — such as using only aluminum screws and not attaching the houses to soft tree trunks like palm trees. She will also need to get consent from adjacent property owners where a doggie house would be attached.
But it isn’t without stress and frustration that Hiss has gotten her wish to keep the city free of doggie debris.
Initially, city arborist John Aguila left her a voicemail message telling her to remove the trees immediately. She called him back numerous times in hopes of finding a solution and to ask him for suggestions. She received no response.
“He never called back, and more days passed, and I started realizing that the doggie houses were coming down,” Hiss said.
She took the issue to a higher level and fired off an e-mail to City Councilman Bobby Shriver, who immediately responded by suggesting she contact City Manager Lamont Ewell because he was out of the country. She also e-mailed City Councilmen Herb Katz and Kevin McKeown, who also responded promptly. Katz asked her to bring a doggie house to his home so he could see the product.
But it was McKeown who invited Hiss to a City Council meeting, where he introduced her to Ewell — who happened to be a user of her product. Living just down the street, Ewell uses the doggie bags to clean up after his schnauzer, Colby.
“It is indicative unfortunately of the way the city reacts; it’s very abrupt and very aggressive,”
“They just charge in... there needs to be a conversation first.” — screws used for the dispensers create holes in the tree trunks, which lead to infestations of pests and fungus. Hiss said
“What seemed unnecessary to me was the bureaucratic tenor of the city response to the situation,” McKeown said. “And I live directly between Valerie and Lamont, within shouting distance... I decided to simply call us neighbors together.”
Before she knew it, Hiss had a meeting with Ewell, open space management staff and the city’s urban forester, Walter Warriner. It was decided that all was needed was a letter authorizing her to mount the doggie houses on city parkway trees, so long as it is deemed safe by arborists.
“I’m thrilled because it wouldn’t have happened without that personal contact,” McKeown said.“This is a complete success in working one-on-one at a human level instead of letting the bureaucratic machine lurch forward unattended.”
Hiss knows all too well about the bureaucratic machine. A few years ago, Hiss was one of 3,000 residents who received threatening letters from City Hall warning her that if she didn’t clip her hedge to the levels specified in a 56-year-old ordinance, she would face up to $25,000 in fines.
So when she decided to start her doggie house project, Hiss was leery of asking anyone at City Hall for guidance. And city staff’s initial reaction backed up her original fears.
“I never thought about going to the city because I was pessimistic about how they would react,” Hiss said. “I felt very negative that they wouldn’t support my program... I just didn’t feel good about going to them.”
Shriver was one of those hedge owners who was threatened as well, which prompted him to run successfully for City Council in 2004. He campaigned on restoring customer service at City Hall, which is why Hiss volunteered on his campaign.
And after educating himself on Hiss’ problem, McKeown jumped into the fray to prove that dealing with city government doesn’t always have to be a bureaucratic headache.
“I realized we could do better and that we had committed to doing better,” he said. “This is at least one good story about city bureaucracy.”
Now that Hiss went directly to elected officials and has met with city staff, she has a new outlook on city government in Santa Monica. “(The city staff) were very open in talking about ways we could continue the program,” Hiss said. “I felt the city councilmen totally came to my aid, and it proved that my project was worthwhile.”
Since Hiss’ effort became public in the Santa Monica Daily Press, she said she’s had 12 requests from residents who want doggie houses for their neighborhoods.
McKeown said the next step is to possibly have City Hall provide biodegradable bags.
“When I read Nora Casey’s pieces in the Daily Press, it was immediately clear to me that Valerie had a great idea, was providing a needed service and that controlling doggie debris was absolutely congruent with city policy on urban runoff and protecting the bay,” he said.“We spend so much time, energy and money in cleaning up the bay, but we need to get at the source.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 23, 2006. Read the original PDF.