A received email delivered this headlined item. ‘Mayor Gusciora and Director Onitiri to Announce City-Wide Cleanup Initiative’ with a press conference on Monday, March 24 at 2 p.m. at Trenton City Hall. The pair will discuss the City-Wide Clean-Up Initiative and the specific collection date for each ward. Trenton residents will suffer through another batch of photo ops with Mayor Gusciora, Onitiri, members of city council, and a host of others standing in front of garbage piled higher than Mount Everest. This gateway to Trenton on Greenwood Ave. underscores capital city issues with trash and a lack of community pride.(Submitted photo) The picture will include details about a collection of more garbage in 2025 than the previous year which means trash problems grew. And, that’s a good thing? Consider this. Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK) currently feeds more people than ever before. Rescue Mission of Trenton makes a similar claim regarding intake of persons with myriad challenges. Accommodations for more represents increased problems. The numbers underscore a worsening of conditions. Pray for the day when Rescue Mission of Trenton Executuve Director Barrett Young announces a decrease in persons needing help, when TASK CEO Amy Flynn says her Escher St. facility shows less persons staring down issues of food insecurity. Issues connecting to food and shelter are not one-offs, these identify as daily challenges, just as being a clean city represents an issue that deserves year-round attention. Regular cleanups of our 100 block of Franklin St. includes a collection of one disgusting item — discarded, excrement-filled baby diapers. Persons who toss these small bundles of crap onto city streets have serious issues regarding cleanliness. City-wide cleanups do not change attitudes about being clean — they list as the equivalent of bathing one week annually. The only way to rid Trenton from this scourge of garbage is by strict enforcement and attempting to instruct people about what’s expected of them. If residents fail to meet those expectations then Trenton must mete out punishment. L.A. Parker is a Trentonian columnist. Find him on Twitter @LAParker6 or email him at LAParker@Trentonian.com. ...read more read less