Bloomfield Resident: I’m Tired of Living in a Trash Can

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) — While the city of Macon is tearing some dilapidated, others still have owners who are paying their taxes, but not putting money into their property.

“I’m tired of living in a trash can,” said Bloomfield resident, Clemmie Williams, Jr.

Williams has been living on Walmar Street for years. For years he’s kept his property neat and clean while others have let theirs into dumps.

Williams points to overgrown yards littered with broken furniture, food wrappers, and even old clothing. He says several homes like these on his street are an eye-sore and a breeding ground for criminal activity.

“If you clean up our neighborhood then the un-worthies, the dopers, prostitutes whatever you want to call them, they won’t come around, because nothing dirty will come around what’s clean,” said Williams.

He says the problem is a lot of the owners live out of town, or state and don’t keep the homes up to code when tenants move out. So Williams came up with a solution.

He and two of his neighbors are hitting seven homes on their street to pick up trash and do the yard work. It’s a simple idea that Williams, and his neighbor Connie Bensley, believe will protect their property values and make the neighborhood more attractive to newcomers.

“You drive down the block, and you see a house that’s living in, all boarded up, trash in the yard, and people are going to say ew yuck. I don’t even want to be here,” said Bensley.

Williams is only asking the city to provide dumpsters so they can toss big items like sofa’s and tires, and he’s asking one thing from you.

“Keeping our neighborhood clean. Let’s set a precedence, not just for Macon, but the state of Georgia,” said Williams.

Williams said he has been speaking with the city to get the dumpsters in place. 41NBC spoke with city officials today who confirmed that and said they’re excited about the partnership. They plan on bringing the dumpsters down on certain days to help with the cleanup.