The City of Lawton Continues to Blame Citizens for Trash Problems

In the latest episode of Lawton, OK's saga dubbed 'Mayor Booker's Blunders,' the fines the city announced last year aren't having the effect on cleaning up our town your elected leaders thought, so they're increasing the costs.

Long story short - having less trash pickup isn't leading to less trash being around town. After threats last year of surprise fines, it doesn't appear people are starting to pay attention. Obviously, the answer in City Hall is more than doubling the fines in the hopes of cleaning up our little town.

Don't get me wrong, I wish Lawton was as clean as Duncan or my own hometown tiny Northern OK Mayberry, but threatening residents is far different than encouraging them.

New fines can total up to $750, assessed on your water bill by surprise - and that's by design. You shall now live under the fear of a massive fine.

All the same, I sort of see the point. My block recently had a renter who ran a landscaping and cleanup business out of his home. He would gather limbs and trash from properties and pile it up for a month in the front yard until the city did their bulk pickup in our zone. That neighbor is gone now, and he's been replaced by another with similar tendencies in regard to junk vehicles and trailers, so I get it.

if you keep your property, or at least the visible front lawn mowed, clean from litter, and within the guidelines of your zones monthly bulk pickup you shouldn't have anything to worry about. You can see both sides of this issue, but the way the City of Lawton operates without oversight or transparency, it keeps the people riled up.

At the same time, who cares if the people get riled up... it's not like anyone ever bothers to vote in local elections anyway. What are they going to do? Say nasty things on Facebook?

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.

From the City of Lawton:

On July 23, 2024, Lawton City Council passed an emergency ordinance that will keep property owners accountable for keeping our community clean.

If you own or are responsible for any property within the city limits, you must keep it clean and free of trash and weeds. You also must follow the bulk waste guidelines set forth by the Solid Waste Division that can be found here. If citizens do not adhere to these guidelines, and these things become a nuisance, they can be fined and fees will be assessed.

For the first violation, the fine can be up to $300. If you violate this rule again on the same property within a year, the fine can go up to $500. For the third and any further violations within a year, the fine can be as much as $750 each time.

Is this the old banana in the tailpipe?

You might be wondering why the city is dumping this on us all of a sudden, it has some on social media wondering if this is the diversion for the new CIP tax vote coming up at the end of the month.

They've billed the 2040 CIP tax as a way to rebuild roads without raising taxes, but it didn't take long for Lawton citizens to remember the city buying the mall with the last round of roads money.

While I don't think anyone would legitimately complain about cleaner streets and better-maintained neighborhoods, this could all be a smokescreen to hide the fact voting NO on the new CIP would actually lower taxes for Lawton residents.