Frank Simpson is a community observer and creator of a local citizens' network that documents scenes or conditions indicative of the devolution or degeneration of Petaluma's public streets public areas and neighborhoods. Articles on subjects such as abandoned property vandalism etc may be posted from time to time. At other times the focus may shift to topics that are more positive. Occasionally articles will be written by (or about the adventures of) The EVEL Twins (Triplets?): Boris--Frank's EVEL Twin and ACE PINS Photographer; Igor--Boris' EVEL Twin & The Real Prince Of Darkness; and Ivan--The Source Before Darkness & Light. The EVEL Twins will focus on the Beauty of Blight! In addition the EVEL Twins are sometimes joined by ZELDA--The Real Queen of Mean. After reading Petaluma's General Plan in March 2008 the Twins (two plus one) and Zelda packed their bags and "caught the last train for the coast".. never to be heard from again. However they do check in from time to time.
Finally for the academically inclined there is a handy reference guide: The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Field Guide to Field Identification by Julian Montague. According to the Amazon Description:
Petaluma's wandering cart situation was documented as far back as 1986 in an Argus Courier photo of 11 carts in Washington Creek. The headline above the photo--"End of the check-out line." The cart deposits in that creek have continued unabated over the years. We have also documented similar chronic situations in other creeks our parks the Petaluma River and many of our neighborhoods.
Prior to 2004 the wandering cart population was due mostly to the homeless and the usual assortment of mischief-makers. Based on my records and observations the problem really began to take off in 2004. The change was due in my opinion to the dramatic increase in the number of people who started using shopping carts as car substitutes...
In my opinion maintenance of the status quo at the third level is facilitated by the fact that we have a high and longstanding threshold of tolerance for the situation in Petaluma. In retrospect it probably has not helped that our neighborhood group (Petaluma Involved Neighbors or PINS) has been "nudging" the stores to get control of their carts. We probably should have stayed out of the way and let the problem advance.
I have been asked why stores don't act on their own to impose tighter controls on their carts without being "told" to do so by the City. A variation of this question is to ask why we should blame the stores for the theft of their property. Another common objection is that a cart control ordinance will cause an increase in food prices.
Each store has a certain number of carts assigned to it and it is the responsibility of the store manager to control the inventory. They do their best and I am sure that they get their bell rung if they lose too many carts. On the other hand at the corporate level a certain amount of "cart attrition" is built into the equation. In short they expect to lose a certain number. It is just a cost of doing business. Granted they may allocate some funds for cart retrieval services but as often as not they just tell the manager to go get 'em.
Store managers are terribly busy people. They don't have a lot of time or staff for this particular endeavor. It has been our experience that cart retrieval in Petaluma can be same day two days a week or never. It all depends on the local store or retrieval service. The problem with this (aside from the fact that you may have to look at the errant cart for longer than you like) is that the longer they are on the street the more likely it is that they will make it into our creeks waterways and river.
Some companies have realized that it is cheaper to install control systems without prodding from local authorities. Quite simply they have learned that it is more cost effective than trying to retrieve them after they have left the premises. I will not go into the details but there are control systems that are close to being 100% effective in keeping the carts on their property. In many instances they are money savers for the stores as they are not chasing or replacing stolen carts.
To put it bluntly an ordinance coupled with enforcement forces the stores to take permanent corrective action. However if an ordinance is properly implemented the enforcement need will diminish as stores get control of their cart inventories.
With effective cart management stores can maintain a lower cart inventory. In addition the service life of each cart is longer because they are not being pushed down our streets and sidewalks--a bone-jarring experience for man and cart.
I agree that removal of a shopping cart from store property is theft and I appreciate the sentiment of many that the solution is to arrest the cart "thieves." I am also fully aware of the glaring irony that you can have someone arrested for stealing food or clothing but no one is going to be arrested for taking a shopping cart.
Initially we tried a non-governmental approach by writing to all the major stores encouraging them to be good neighbors and get control of their carts. This did have a salutary effect and for a time the cart populations in our neighborhoods diminished.
When the carts started to reappear we formed small teams to locate the carts and report them to the stores for recovery. At one point. I developed a store directory and published it so anyone could quickly call and report an errant cart. From time to time we would return the carts on our own mostly to get them out of our neighborhoods and parks. This quickly fell off because of the time demands and also because we lost access to trucks or vans large enough to haul them back.
As an aside many a time I personally pushed carts back to the store. Returning carts on foot can be a teeth-rattling experience given the "uneven" surfaces of many of Petaluma's streets and sidewalks. If you are more than half a mile from the store you may become
The fact is that many cities in California (not to mention the rest of the United States) have had to deal with abandoned shopping carts as a public nuisance and have passed ordinances to deal with the problem.
In Petaluma I would argue that abandoned carts are also a potential public safety issue given the fact that so many end up in our waterways creating potential flooding problems...
Comment: Hi. I just posted the last comment and for some reason the weblinks didn't show up correctly. You will have to copy and paste only half of the link- sorry! In any case. I forgot to add that there is one cool feature on the CSCRC net website- they have a "report a cart" link where you can tell them where a cart is. Good luck!
Response: Curious as to whether your city has a shopping cart ordinance?If properly drafted AND enforced it goes a long way to solving the problem. Of touse that hasn't happened in Petaluma :-). For more on shopping carts simply go to my blog page http://frank-simpson petaluma360 com/ and click on "Shopping Carts" under "Categories." I've done a fair amount of research on ordinances. If you want to discuss further feel free to contact my at the e-mail address at the end of my "Bio" at the top of the blog page.
Comment: I live in southern CA and was crawling the web trying to find any info on how to get rid of shopping carts in my neighborhood. I had tried walking one of them to a major street - in the hopes that it would be more visible there and hence be picked up. But I gave up after about ten feet because of said teeth- and bone-jarring. I was both relieved to find your site and saddened by the photos of the carts tossed in the river. But there is hope! I was able to find information on cart retrieval services online. We have one major company here that goes all the way up to Fresno. I have seen their trucks driving around to "herd" the cart "clusters". Maybe they could come up there? Their website is <a href="http://www cscrc net/">http://cscrc net</a>. Also for example the city of Alhambra runs a cart retrieval program: <a href="http://www cityofalhambra org/government/cart html">http://www cityofalhambra org/government/cart html</a>. Finally here is an article on shopping cart retrieval companies: <a href="http://findarticles com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_19_27/ai_n13782130">http://findarticles com/p/articles/mi_m5072/is_19_27/ai_n13782130</a>
Comment: I'd like to see something happen with the shopping carts that keep showing up on corners in my neighborhood. It's already against state law for shopping carts to be removed from store property without the store's permission. While our PD likely has better things to do simply making a casual contact with some toad pushing a shopping cart through a residential area if they happen to see them would be a start. The stores and I live near Safeway and see their carts sitting on corners near my house often need to be made to pick their property up off the street. If they can't/won't control them leaving the property then they should at least "man up" and bring them home when reported or seen elsewhere. Perhaps the Code Enforcement officers can pay a visit to Safeway and make them see the "error of their ways"? Might be a better use of that resource since they can't seem to get their building code enforcement off the ground without setting off a firestorm.
Comment: Sorry. Frank but your point "Arresting people for taking shopping carts is not a realistic solution" is pure feelsgood Liberalism. Arrest these thieves and "advertise" their identities and fines via local media (no matter whether they be senior citizens or non-WASPs). Fred almost had it right until he suggested punishing the stores who are merely trying to assist their customers. As a "Conservative's Compromise," if you advocate cart-thief arrests I'll push for fining stores that do not retrieve reported wayward carts within 24 hours.(And you can still call me a Cart Scrooge.)
Comment: I detest this idea it's very "bigbrother" like but anywhoo what about having people register to use a cart while grocery shopping. This ensures that you are responsible for your cart from the time you pick it out for grocery shopping to when you unload it at the car and and ensure it goes back to it's proper spot safe and sound in or near the store where a store employee or some other system in place checks it back in? If you don't return it you get penalized and charged a fee. Naww. I can see potential issues with this too. Potentially innocent people could be blamed for the mishandling by other less than ethical folks. You're right Frank ultimately this is a problem that affects everyone and it's called apathy. Sad photos.
Response: "Apathy" is the correct word on so many levels. There are others that come to mind but this word is sufficient unto the cause. As to your Big Brother comment--a typical ordinance does not mandate the form of control that stores must employ. It does require that they do something and measures the effectiveness of their efforts. There are several known options. The system you were describing is similar to a token or coin deposit system. Unfortunately we don't have a single coin large enough (in value) to be effective. If the "deposit" was $2 that is 8 quarters you have to put in.. and retrieve. Also issues with managing and maintaining the machines. On the other hand if there was a control ordinance. I suppose a store could try it out.
Comment: If money talks as Frank suggests can't we make cart retrieval more appealing? What about a free coupon or gift card for every errant cart returned to its rightful location? What about a fundraising campaign for the local middle and high schools that would encourage kids to collect the carts instead of making mischief with them? What about a competition? Prizes could be given every month for the highest score with a grand prize for the most carts collected during the school year. (Obviously we'd have to come up with something else to get us through the summer.) There have to be ways to turn this around and what we've done in the past is clearly not working. Where do we turn to get something like this started? Who might be willing to organize it and negotiate the terms between the schools and the stores? Anybody out there have a better idea??? -- Leigh
Response: I appreciate the creative thinking here. However a bit of caution is in order. Locations that have tried the "reward" approach usually find that a certain group of people will take the carts only to later claim the rewards or coupons.
Comment: Frank - When I read your excellent article and viewed the awful [but telling] pics it made my blood boil. How can we tolerate this visual pollution? And how can we tolerate the pollution of our waterways?I blame the city for lack of an effective ordinance the people who steal the carts who brazenly ignore the laws against stealing property and we citizens who tolerate this whole mess!I don't buy the perceived economics argument. What about the store's civic duty to the town and citizens? Let them invest in a control system that will prevent carts from leaving their parking lots. When will the city do something about this mess?Finally those pictures of the carts fouling our waterways just breaks my heart. I just don't understand people who act like this.
Comment: Someone from out of town saw the cart cluster at the corner of Sonoma Mt. Parkway and Ely and asked if they were there to be used as needed free of charge by anyone. She said that was very thoughtful. She was of course trying to be funny. Passing a cart ordinance in Petaluma would require the council to make a decision and heaven forbide it upset someone. This may be called as you say," a long standing threshold for tolerance" or some of us might say a long standing reputation of procrastination.
Response: The cart cluster you mentioned is usually composed of G & G Carts. By the bye there is a G&G cart in the creek by Doggy Poo Mountain. Perhaps we could put a team together to pull it out and set it up as a Doggy Poo receptacle? Just a thought...
Comment: Great blog Frank! I walk a lot and occasionally see a lost cart and return it to the proper store. But I've given up on reporting the stray carts along Maria Drive to the Safeway management. They just don't seem to care so it's a waste of my time to call them. You're doing a good job of reporting this on your blog.
Response: Thanks for making the effort regarding Safeway. Your experience is quite common and in total accord with that of others who reported back to me. At one point. I organized a phone tree with several people to keep the pressure on all the stores and frankly the results were poor. It also ate up a lot of time. It was also frustrating to note that when they did pick up the carts new ones appeared to take there place--sometimes the same day.
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