Recycling Efforts

I saw my friend and neighbor Linda Centell at the District 3 block party. You may remember Linda; she works with Ann Erdman, Pasadena's Public Information Officer. At the party, Linda introduced me to Gabriel Silva. Linda thinks the world of this guy and now that I know more about him, I do, too.

Gabriel is Pasadena's Environmental Programs Manager. Do you want to guess what that involves, or should I just tell you?

It'll take too long to get a consensus. I'll just tell you.

The Environmental Programs Manager is responsible for the following recycling programs: residential curbside, green waste, used oil, large venue/special events, compact fluorescent light bulb/battery, sharps (needles, syringes, etc.), e-waste (like the free collection events), composting and of course all those Christmas trees. His duties also include: elementary school education/outreach, household hazardous waste disposal, coordinating the Greening the Earth Day Festival, annual outstanding recycler awards, developing new programs to increase the City's waste diversion, managing several state grants, and reporting.

I know the above is true because I got it from Gabriel. Though it seems like a lot, a paragraph still doesn't give you the scope. Think of each of those duties as containing other duties. For example: did you know that a single Rose Bowl Game (large venue/special event) can generate as much as six tons of recycling trash? Someone has to pick up all that stuff. And sort it. Eeuw.

Silva doesn't collect all those cans himself. He coordinates the effort, though, by teaming up with the Los Angeles Conservation Corps to employ 50 to 80 young adults to help at UCLA Home Games, the Rose Bowl Game and the BCS Bowl Game.

I'd say something about how well he delegates his staff, except if I understand it correctly there's only one staffer to delegate. So I have to assume Gabriel does a lot of the work himself. When Linda introduced us, we interrupted him collecting the trash bins from the block party. It was a Saturday, but these things have to be done and when you don't have underlings to do them for you, you do them yourself.

Just take another look at Gabriel's list of duties and think about that.

Ow. My back is killing me.

Here's more information about recycling in Pasadena.

District 3 Block Party 2009

I got to the District 3 Block Party as things were winding down. That might have been a good thing. Had I gotten there much earlier, City Councilmember Chris Holden and his son Nick might have been too busy to pose for me.
Holden is mostly but not entirely responsible for the annual party. Above, you see his Field Representative Jackie McIntyre (standing, in the black dress). She had a lot to do with putting the party together. I got to meet her but she'll never remember. I think she was pretty well exhausted by that time.
If I'd gotten there earlier I'd have heard the band. Everyone said they were fantastic. There was even a carnival ride and a huge water slide. I know this is so because I saw the crews packing them up. They'd packed up the food, too. The ice cream man showed up just in time.
Remember Celeste? She's going to be sporting some new teeth soon. That's her brother Cesar behind her. Everybody got a free prize. (I had Cooties when I was a kid. No, I didn't have cooties. It's important to make the distinction.)

I'm not much involved in local politics. Yes, I have opinions. I vote. But I don't visit the local political blogs and I don't go to city council meetings. However, I know this much: I live in District 3 where Chris Holden is not only my City Councilmember but my neighbor. And I can't imagine leaving.