Cigarettes and Chewing Gum
A newsletter on small things
The thing about picking up trash is that it becomes impossible to unsee it.
When I first decided to run for City Council, I wanted to follow some of the best practices I learned from my time staffing at the Michigan legislature. This includes holding coffee hours, regular times where anyone can come share their thoughts, questions, or concerns about the city. And as readers of this newsletter know, I also have a strong preference for multi-solving, a concept centered on tackling multiple problems through singular action. So when I noticed our parks and downtown were in need of attention, I started combining coffee hours with cleanups. What I found was that getting in the mindset of picking up litter as I saw it started to carry over into my everyday life.
For example, a few weeks ago, my partner’s cousin was in from Georgia, and we decided to show him downtown Wyandotte…I could charitably be called “exuberant” (and, perhaps more accurately, “obsessive”) about bringing out-of-towners to our beautiful city. At some point, he threw a napkin towards a trash can and missed. I hesitated, then jogged back to put it properly in the receptacle. He laughed a little and asked if that would have kept me up at night. Truthfully, if not embarrassingly, the answer was yes.
This weekend, in celebration of Earth Day, I had the opportunity to join the Beautification Commission in cleaning up our downtown to prepare for the spring planting next month. Thanks to the number of folks who turned out to prune planter boxes and work on the gorgeous downtown landscaping, I found myself walking the east side of Biddle picking up all the trash I found. It’s no exaggeration to say I picked up hundreds of cigarette butts (and the remains of some “jazz cigarettes” from those who must have been observing the holiday this week) and dozens of wads of used chewing gum, far more of which were too firmly adhered to the concrete to get up without a scraper.
Over the time I spent collecting these tiny pieces of trash, I pondered on why chewing gum and cigarettes make up so much of the litter downtown. And while I wouldn’t claim this as absolute truth, I have my suspicions that it’s easy to be careless about these things because they’re small. It’s easy to think that such a miniscule object will have no real impact on the world around you, but if everyone feels the same way, those small items of litter lead to what amounts to over an hour and a half of removal effort. And that’s just a few blocks of downtown, not to mention all our other streets, parks, and pathways.
So as we wrap up Earth Month, this is my charge to everyone who is able: take five minutes and pick up the pieces of trash you see around you. Our only antidote to collective carelessness is community care. And if everyone takes five minutes a week, whether it’s Downtown or in their neighborhood park, we will slowly start to see the transformation.
In the rest of this e-news, you’ll find the community calendar and some information on upcoming city happenings that I hope you’ll find useful. As always, if you’ve got any questions, you can find me at kstec@wyandottemi.gov–or at our next coffee and cleanup.
All the best,
Kelly
Community Calendar
Monday, April 24
City Council Meeting, 7pm, 3200 Biddle Ave. or via Zoom. See city website for Zoom details.
Saturday, April 29
Hebda Cup, 7am, on the river
RHS Centennial Celebration, 11am-2pm (rededication at 11am), 540 Eureka Road
Oak Club/American Legion/20th St. Park Rededication, 2pm, the new American Legion Park (Corner of Vinewood and 20th)
RHS Mural Restoration Jazz Concert Fundraiser, 3pm, 540 Eureka Road. Contact RHSMurals@gmail.com, $20 adults/$10 students
PRCU American Heart Association Benefit Dance, doors at 6pm, 1430 Oak St, tickets $20 with cash bar and food available
Tuesday, May 2
City Special Election, see below for details
Saturday, May 6
Cinco de Mayo Block Party, 1st St and Maple. Food trucks and full bars available along with entertainment
Monday, May 8
City Council Meeting, 7pm, 3200 Biddle Ave. or via Zoom. See city website for Zoom details.
Saturday, May 13th
St Vincent Pallotti Spring Fling, 11am-12am, Yack Arena (3131 3rd St)
Monday, May 15
Downtown Cleanup and Coffee Hour, 5:30pm, meeting at the Coffee Lounge (93 Oak St)
Saturday, May 20
Spring Dig-In, 9am-1pm, meeting on the corner of 1st and Elm
Threads of Life Fashion Show, doors at 11am, Biddle Hall (3239 Biddle Ave), tickets $45
Monday, May 22
City Council Meeting, 7pm, 3200 Biddle Ave. or via Zoom. See city website for Zoom details.
This Month in the Dotte
Restaurant Week It’s Restaurant Week in Wyandotte! I always love showing folks the diversity of food options our city offers, and I am excited to check out the specials our fabulous small business owners are putting forward this year. You can see the full list of participating restaurants and promotions here. Wherever you choose to check out, you won’t be disappointed.
Millage Renewal Election On Tuesday, May 2, the city will have a special election regarding a millage renewal. You can read about the reasons this millage is important in a newsletter I wrote last summer, when the city was approaching the renewal as a permanent cementing of the 3-mill levy. As I mentioned then, the city has been forced into using this way of making up dollars because the state has failed to adequately appropriate money to local units of government. And in case you think I wasn’t serious about following up with the people who currently represent us in the state legislature, you can read the letter I wrote to our then Rep-Elect and Senator-Elect here. But regardless of my hopes for improved revenue sharing in the state’s FY24 budget, the fact remains that without this millage we currently cannot begin to consider the level of pay and staffing increases our city needs to provide the level of service we all strive for. Whether you are voting by mail or in person, please consider supporting this millage–and regardless of how you’ll cast a ballot, please make a plan for you and those you love to vote by May 2!
Diversity is our Strength From May 19-June 16, I will be joining the United Way of Southeast Michigan in a 21-Day Equity Challenge, and I’d be thrilled for you to join me!. Whether it is racism, sexism, homophobia, or any other form of discrimination, hate has no home in Wyandotte. If you’d like to join me in the challenge or learn more about how it will work, you can sign up at the United Way’s website. Give me a shout on social media or via email if you’ve joined–I would love to have a special coffee and cleanup dedicated to discussing how people are enjoying the challenge and what we can do to keep Wyandotte growing.
That’s all for this month, folks! Put your gum in the trash, enjoy the weather, be kind to yourselves and each other.