Garbage Truck Picks Up Bulky Items

I reported several different bulky items located throughout the neighbourhood this last week. Most of the items I reported were in the form of a single email sent to 311. I gave a basic description of the items in each lane between the areas of Main and Redword to McGregor and Mountain. It seems every lane had its share of bulky items sitting in and around dumpsters. The 311 agent said it would take extra time to take care of that complaint because it was too general. It would have to be sent to a supervisor to assess the amount of garbage to be picked up so they can schedule the correct workforce to take care of the issues.
That seems fair enough, except, when I was talking to a supervisor in a City of Winnipeg truck, who was driving down the back lanes in my area, I got a different picture. He told me he checks all bulky item reports. He said he checks all of my reports as well, where I give a specific address, a list of items, and include a photograph of the items to be picked up. There seems to be a bit of a discrepency in what 311 is telling me, and what I am seeing in action on the street, or should I say in the back lane.
I did see one of the dumpsters that I reported earlier in the week get its bulky items picked up though. I made my report on Sunday last week, and heard the garbage truck in the back lane. I was interested in what would happen with the particular pickup, because I knew more items had been deposited since I made the ticket. I wanted to see if they would pick up only the items I requested or if they would pick up all the items that were at the dumpster.

By the time my husband and I arrived in the back lane across the street there was an audience watching the waste management workers. There was a scrapper, waiting to get at the dumpster, and there was an elderly gentleman, who was another home owner. The elderly gentleman had also placed a complaint with 311 over the phone regarding the dumpster and demanded that they pick up the entire amount of garbage instead of the six item limit that seems to be written into their contract.
So, there we were, all four of us, watching as the one worker stood by the truck (likely operating the mechanism that crushes the bulky items), and the other loaded the bulky items in.
The workers did pick up every large item that was beside the dumpsters, and even picked up the garbage on the ground, throwing it into the dumpster. I think they did it because of the audience watching them.

But as much as they ensured the work was completed to our satisfaction at the one dumpster, they drove right past a couch that was in the back lane. I witnessed the couch get dragged out of one of the houses just a few hours earlier and deposited in the back lane for the garbage truck to pick up.
Of course I understand why the couch was left in the back lane. It was sitting there waiting for someone to call the city and report it as being in the back lane. It was waiting for the 311 agent to create a ticket and have a city worker come out and verify that it truely is a couch, sitting in the back lane, waiting to get picked up. It is waiting for the city worker to confirm the pickup and send the request to the waste management company that is contracted to take care of our garbage so they can send another truck, just like the one in the picture, to come down the same back lane. What a waste of City dollars. The truck was right there. It drove right by that couch. The couch will be in the back lane for at least another week, hoping and praying that nobody sets it on fire, so it can be moved to its final resting place in the Brady Landfil. In the meantime, don't get too close to it. It may have bed bugs. And for heaven sakes don't take it home with you.

Getting Contact Information For Landlords On My Street

After getting a response from the office of the Honorable Gord Macintosh letting me know that I do have rights as a neighbour of a problem house, I thought I would get contact information for the landlords of problem houses on my street.
And especially after reading an article in the Free Press today by Gabriella Giroday entitled "Authorities find new ways to close problem properties", I got all motivated and fired off an email.
I sent an email to the Residential Tenancies Branch at rtb@gov.mb.ca. I gave a brief description of the issues that have been occuring at specific locations and asked if I could get the contact information on the landords. I sent the email at 12:19pm today and had an answer by 12:36pm.
The Residential Tenancies Branch provided me the name and phone number of the landlord for one of the houses, after checking with the landlord of course. I was very pleased with the information and proceeded to call the landlord and inform them of the incident that took place with their tenant. They were thankful for my information and said they would send a letter out to the tenants right away regarding the complaint. I could not be more pleased with the outcome of that. And I entered that information in a log I started on their property.
The second residence which I complained about did not go in the same direction. I was told by the Residential Tenancies Branch that they do not have a listing for that address and I would have to contact the Land Titles people to get the information. Doesn't a search cost money? Well, I am not ready to spend money on a search just yet. So I sent an email to 311 to ask them about the property, again explaining that there have been problems at the residence and I would like the contact information for the landlord so I can contact them. I sent that email at 1:41pm today and received my response at 1:50pm. Again, I was given a very quick response. And again I was told to go to the Land Title office.

Good afternoon,

Thank you for your email. You may find out this information by requesting the title of the home through Manitoba Land Titles. There is a $10 charge and this document will show the registered owner of the home. Manitoba Land Titles is located at 276 Portage Avenue.

Thank you for contacting Winnipeg 311.

Sincerely,

311 wasn't much help. I will have to stop the property manager the next time I see him and ask for contact information. We need a better system, though, to get information on these landlords that are allowing their tenants to cause such problems for the neighbourhood. And why would the Residential Tenancies Branch not have information on landlords? Or how do they get information on landlords? Or should they have information on landlords?
As I was typing this blog entry the property manager for said residence showed up to do some work on the house. I sent my husband out to ask for his contact information and got it. Great, thats one more house on my street where I can call the landlord directly and let them know what is going on. I will still be calling the police to log the complaint and get an incident number. But now I can also call the landlord and ensure they are aware of the issues at their rental property.

Party Duplex Must Be On Double Secret Probation

The main floor of the Party Duplex got cleaned out again last weekend. But the occupants of the upstairs are still residing there. The Party Duplex has been pretty quiet the last few weeks, which is good. But yesterday, around 6pm we witnessed some beer bottles being thrown out of the upstairs window at the back of the house. They were being hurled into the back lane and breaking on contact. My husband was taking the garbage out at the time and just about got hit by one of the beer bottles as it flew through the air.
Then a short while later, we were in the back lane talking to one of the other neighbours. We could see from where we were that it was the four year old that was tossing the beer bottles. Was he making a statement on what he thought about the beer in the house? Or was he just trying to entertain himself in some fashion? I don't have an answer on that.
What happened next, though, was amazing. The mother, who saw the audience of neighbours, started yelling at the boy to stop throwing the beer bottles. And the same mother began cleaning up the mess her son made. She picked up all of the broken beer bottles and put them in the dumpster.
This is the same mother that we encountered a month ago when her son was throwing rotten apples down the lane. This is the same mother that told us her son could do anything he wanted because "it's just the North End".
I think someone has been put on probation, maybe double secret probation. I see a change in attitude from this young mother. Lets hope she keeps it up.
The home team scores another point !!!

Update on Residential Tenancy Act For Manitoba And Us - Posted Sept15/10

I have an update on the post I made on Sept 15/10 entitled "Residential Tenancy Act For Manitoba And Us".

I received a response to that post from one of the candidates running in the Mynarski Ward (David Polsky):

Hi xxx The Residential Tenacies Act is under the durisdiction of the Province of Manitoba. You would have to contact your MLA George Hickes at 945-3706 or by email - george.hickes@leg.gov.mb.ca.

Or you can contact the Honorable Kerrie Irvin-Ross. She is the Provincial Minister responsible for Residential Tenacies Act. Her phone number is 945-6190 and email - minhcd@leg.gov.mb.ca.
Thank you.

I took his advise. I sent an email to George Hickes and the Honorable Kerrie Irvin-Ross.

George Hickes

I have a neighbour on my block who has disrupted the neighbourhood the entire summer. They have had loud drinking parties that last until 6:00am every night that it has been nice this summer. Finally on Aug 20 at 9:30am the police arrived at the house. The children and dog were removed. CFS arrived on the street. The kids and dog were taken away. The next day the adults were taken away. A week later the property manager had the residence cleaned up (after throwing up when he entered the unit). Then a week later the same people moved back in. The same people were given new furniture and clothing by CFS. And the same people partied all night long this last weekend on Friday night and Saturday night. They were yelling, swearing and screaming at each other in their back yard. One was smashing the other persons car in their back yard. How long must a neighbourhood put up with this kind of behaviour.

They do not appear to be involved in crime, so the Safe Communities and Neighbourhoods Act does not apply as of yet. These issues fall under the categories of The Residential Tenancy Act and The Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law.

There needs to be a change in the Residential Tenancies Act in section 67 - Landlord to investigate complaints. The section states the landlord needs to "make a reasonable effort to remedy the situation". This is a very subjective statement. There needs to be a footnote and rules on what is a reasonable effort. There needs to be accountability that the reasonable effort was done. Each recurrence of an issue must escalate. There must be a limit to the number of complaints on each type of issue.

When sections of the Neighbourhood Liveability By-Law are violated, the landlord must be held accountable and must be given specific criteria to act on and specific outcomes if issues are not resolved.

I have been writing a blog about my street http://adayinthehood.blogspot.com/. I began on Aug 22, after a particularly bad week on the block. I have specific issues relating to this one "party duplex" in my blog. It is located at XXXXXX. It is known to the Police, to the city By-Law office, to CFS, and who knows how many other places.

The police have enough work to do. They should not be forced to come to these problem houses over and over again because the current Acts do nothing to protect citizens. The By-Law officers do not seem to be able to enforce violations, they are aware of issues and file reports on issues, and request that issues be resolved. But they do not seem to be able to put the pressure needed on landlords to correct the issues.

The City of Winnipeg, and in particular the North End has many houses like this one that need to be taken care of. I do not want your office to tell me it is a city issue and the city to tell me it is a provincial issue. Someone has to take responsibility. Someone has to review these Acts and ensure they are working to take care of all citizens of Winnipeg and Manitoba.

Thankyou

My email was forwarded by the office of the Honorable Kerri Irvin-Ross to Gord Mackintosh's office.

On behalf of the Honourable Kerri Irvin-Ross, Minister of Housing and Community Development, I would like to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail.

As the matter you address falls under the jurisdiction of Honourable Gord Mackintosh, Minister responsible for the Residential Tenancies Act, I have taken the liberty of forwarding your e-mail to their office for review.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us. I will ensure this is brought to the Minister's attention.

Yours sincerely,

Nancy Renwick Special Assistant to the

Minister of Housing and Community Development
Room 358-Legislative Building
(204) 945-6190

I finally got a response from Gord Mackintosh's office.

So, I do have some power in resolving these issues. If the landlord does not resolve these issues in a manor I feel is reasonable, I can contact the Residential Tenancies Branch. I will keep that in mind if the Party House starts up again.

I am also glad to see that I can file a complaint if I feel these issues are not being taken care of.

Knowledge is a good thing.