Litter Patrol Cleans Up City’s Beaches : 40 Youngsters, Many on First Job, Relish the Chance to Work

Four times a week, 40 kids come to San Diego’s beaches by bus from their neighborhoods across town.

With big plastic bags and Easy-Reachers they fan out, collecting the trash left behind by the previous night’s revelers and the day’s sunbathers--everything from diapers to banana peels.

The youth Beach Patrol was established this summer to provide work for San Diego kids and a service to the city. Most of the members of the Beach Patrol say they are happy to be working, glad to be out of the house or out of trouble. For many, it’s their first full-time job.

Albert Chavez paused from sweeping the beach steps just north of the Crystal Pier in Pacific Beach. “It’s pretty fun,” he said. “You meet a lot of people who appreciate it.” He added, “It keeps me out of trouble. My probation officer told me I had to get a job.” Chavez, 17, is on probation for possession of an illegal firearm.

The beach patrol program is funded by RecyCAL, a statewide organization of soft-drink bottlers, beer distributors and package manufacturers that sets up recycling and litter control programs.

RecyCAL donated $40,000 to the city to hire 40 kids through the Regional Youth Employment program, employing young people primarily from underprivileged homes. They are paid the minimum wage of $3.35 an hour. Eight crews work Friday through Monday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., picking up litter on Ocean, Mission, Pacific and La Jolla beaches.

“Ninety percent of the people around here are slobs,” said Anthony Harris, 21, van driver for the Pacific Beach team.

Brenda Carter, 19, said, “You’d be surprised what we find out here.” She added tactfully, “like personal things that women use.”

But she said the job has its rewards. “When people tell me I’m doing a nice job it makes me feel good.” She said even the bums who live at Pacific Beach seem to appreciate the efforts of the cleanup team. “They are very nice. They compliment me and say I look very nice today.”

Some of the workers said they were hassled at the beginning of the summer. Brenda said, “There’s a couple of wise guys who would ask, ‘Are you working off a 502?’ ” (A 502 refers to a drunk driving offense.) And beachgoers have ordered the youths to pick up garbage, demands the youngsters said they didn’t take kindly to.

Now, most people have adjusted to their presence. “They don’t mess with us no more,” said Larissa Johnson, 16, who added that she has no qualms about telling people to pick up their own garbage.

The beach patrols are supervised by the city Park and Recreation Department, which in the past assigned city workers to clean San Diego’s popular beaches. Martha Hollis, grounds maintenance supervisor for the southern shoreline parks, said her workers often had to neglect grounds maintenance and gardening around the beach parks. She said the youth crews help “free up some of our time.”

But the program has not been trouble-free. Hollis said that because most of the patrol members had never worked a regular job before, she had problems with some kids loafing on the job. “They’re young and inexperienced, and they have a lot to learn about the work-a-day world,” Hollis said. “We had to let a few of them go.”

Stewart Westdal, a youth employment director, said one purpose of the program is to teach dependability. And, he said, working the beaches “has got them out into a world of people they wouldn’t normally run into.”