Reso 1995-574r
RESOLUTION NO. cl5 .S 7
A RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE
COSTA MESA SANITARY DISTRICT, COUNTY OF
ORANGE, CALIFORNIA, URGING THE CITY OF COSTA
MESA TO TAKE ALL APPROPRIATE STEPS TO PROSECUTE
ITS ANTI- SCAVENGING ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, the California Supreme Court in Waste Management of the Desert v. Palm
Springs Recycling (1994) 7 Cal. 4th 478, has reaffirmed that local agencies and their licensed
franchisees have the exclusive right to discarded solid waste, including valuable recyclable
goods, once that solid waste has been put out for collection; and
WHEREAS, the City has been mandated by the State to reduce its waste stream and to
recycle 50% of its previous waste stream by the year 2000; and
WHEREAS, the value of recyclable goods is used by the District's authorized solid
waste contractors to offset the costs of collections and processing thereby lowering the resident's
charges for these services; and
WHEREAS, the value of recyclable goods has increased dramatically recently making
scavenging lucrative to unauthorized persons who are stealing and committing a crime by taking
such discarded materials once put out for collection; and
WHEREAS, certain scavengers in the County have been reported to be well organized
competing business enterprises and drive pick up trucks and other vehicles that have ben
modified to accommodate such recyclable materials and make their runs just ahead of the
authorized trash collector; and
WHEREAS, persons posing as scavengers have utilized the activity of scavenging for
other criminal purposes such as "casing" property for theft crimes and obtaining credit card and
other personal financial data from billing statements and other discarded materials; and
WHEREAS, scavenging through trash receptacles is a violation of privacy; and
WHEREAS, scavenging also is contrary to good health and sanitation practices and often
leaves the surrounding area strewn with litter and garbage.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District does
hereby RESOLVE and DETERMINE as follows:
1. To urge the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa to direct that the City's anti -
scavenging efforts be coordinated into an effective program designed to stop illegal scavenging.
2. To urge the City to prosecute illegal scavenging as a misdemeanor and to seek
significant penalties and probation so that small fines do not become simply a "cost of doing
business" for the illegal scavenger business enterprise.
3. To make the Sanitary District a partner in these anti- scavenging efforts.
PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Directors of the Costa Mesa Sanitary District
at a regular meeting thereof held on the yt. day of Ju.�.�, 1995.
ATTEST:
Secretary President
2
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF COSTA MESA )
I, FLORINE T. REICHLE, Clerk of the Cost Mesa Sanitary District, hereby certify that
the above and foregoing Resolution No. ys'- .s -7�/'was duly and regularly passed and adopted by
the said Board of Directors at a regular meeting thereof, held on the 8 tz day of, 1995.
Clerk of the District
Costa Mesa Sanitary District