The trash cans on Via de la Paz, which are normally emptied by Chrysalis were overflowing.
A resident contacted Circling the News and asked why businesses aren’t taking care of the overflowing trash on Via de la Paz and Antioch. Besides being an eyesore, it could become a sanitary hazard, the person said, and pointed out that two weeks ago he had taken some of the trash to his home bin in an effort to keep the street clean.
On June 1, CTN emailed Pacific Palisades Business Improvement District officials, who are currently responsible for trash pickup in the town’s main business district (not including Caruso’s mall).
For many years, the Chamber of Commerce solicited donations from the community to pay Chrysalis to empty those trash containers once or twice week.
Then last May, at a BID meeting, Chamber board member Rick Lemmo, a senior VP with Caruso, announced that the Chamber was no longer in the trash-collection business. It would no longer fund or orchestrate trash pickup because the organization was devoting itself to promoting local business.
The Business Improvement District, which was formed in 2016 and encompasses the village area, receives a yearly assessment from commercial property owners. That money is then used for improvements in the District, such as trash pickup.
According to a 2019 Budget Update, the BID’s total revenue for 2019 was $140,736. This past year, $119,980 was spent on “Clean and Beautiful” which includes street cleaning and power washing ($78,763) and tree trimming ($34,108).
Chrysalis, supported by the BID, had been keeping the sidewalks and streets impeccably clean before the Covid-19 shutdown in mid-March.
Lemmo, the current BID president Rick Lemmo, contacted the nonprofit organization (which helps unemployed individuals re-enter the workforce), about the overflowing trash cans on June 1.
Grace Davis, Director of Operations, Works at Chrysalis, spoke at the BID Zoom meeting on June 3. She said that because of COVID-19 there had been a decrease in staffing.
Part of the problem was transporting workers in the same car to a site. That was not possible because of social distancing.
She said that the long-time supervisor for this area Oscar Enriquez has moved to a new position and sent his “thanks” for working in this area.
He will be replaced by Torrance Hunter, who will take over the Palisades crew. Crews were on the street on June 3 picking up trash. Normally Chrysalis works in the Business District on Mondays and Fridays.
Chrysalis was working on trash pickup in the Village early on June 3.