Sanitation staff shortage affecting City of Bradenton recycled and yard waste pick ups

A sanitation staff shortage in the City of Bradenton is being blamed for the late pick up of recycled and yard waste.

Trash cans can be seen sitting out by the roadside longer than some neighbors would like. Some neighbors said their yard waste has sat out for weeks and the recycling trucks only arrived Wednesday afternoon.

"They are a full day late and actually they missed the week before. I'm just not sure what the schedule is and between my neighbor and myself just a week ago we were determining if it was on the schedule every other week," said Kevin Renauer, a retired Bradenton home owner.

"It's a bit of a inconvenience dragging carts out to the road and back especially for my older neighbors here," Renauer said.

The city's sanitation department has 14 unfilled positions with five workers out sick due to COVID-19.

"What we are having to do is basically run extra routes when we can and make use of overtime," said Rob Perry, Administrator, City of Bradenton.

While recruiters try to hire more qualified people to fill up the open positions, some city leaders have hit the routes to help get those pick-ups back on track.

[daveblevins]

Why do you have a staff shortage ? Don't people want to work ?