El Monte : Ban on Scavenging Defeated

Who has the right to the bottles and cans residents place at the curb for recycling?

The City Council last week voted down and sent back to the city attorney for revision an ordinance that would have prohibited trash scavenging.

Councilwoman Patricia Wallach, who earlier backed the measure, spoke against it last week. She said some people make a living scavenging. But some residents said the scavengers break bottles and invade their privacy.

The measure, requested by Webster Disposal Co., which contracts with the city for trash pickup and recycling, would have allowed scavenging only with the property owner’s permission.