SANTA ANA : Council Passes Law Against Scavenging

In an effort to curtail the theft of recyclable goods, the City Council has adopted an ordinance prohibiting people from scavenging through trash cans.

The ordinance carries a $50 fine for first-time violators.

Councilwoman Lisa Mills suggested that the city adopt the ordinance because she had received about half a dozen calls over the previous six months from people complaining about scavenging.

Officials throughout Orange County say that scavenging has become more popular with the rising value of recyclable goods, and a number of cities recently adopted anti-scavenging ordinances.

Bob Coyle, division president of Great Western Reclamation, said his company has lost perhaps $10,000 worth of recyclables to scavengers over the last two years in Santa Ana.

Mills speculated that Santa Ana had become more attractive to scavengers because it had no ordinance against it.

The City Council voted 5 to 2 to adopt the ordinance on Monday.

Councilmen Ted R. Moreno and Robert L. Richardson voted against the ordinance, and sided with a handful of speakers who said it would disproportionately affect the poor.

Added Richardson, “I don’t see us spending a lot of time enforcing this.”