Lynn pols eye trash ordinance

LYNN – City officials are looking into instituting an ordinance prohibiting scavengers from tearing through trash in the city.With a rise in identity theft, City Council President Timothy Phelan said taking precautions against those who rummage through rubbish is a must to ensure the safety of city residents.After receiving a phone call from a Lynn resident about people rummaging through her trash, Phelan said he devised the proposed ordinance from the lengthy conversation.”One of the best known ways to obtain a person’s identity is to monitor the trash, find credit card applications and fill them out with the person’s name,” he said. “So we want to scare people into not doing it by making it a law.”Credit card fraud is the most common type of identity theft where in some cases, with as little as a stolen name, date of birth, and social security number, the thief is able to cause significant damage to the victim’s credit.Identity thieves are also known to sign up for a cellular phone, long distance service, utilities or depository accounts in the victim’s name, with depository accounts coming in as third.Despite the potentially devastating consequences, Ward 3 City Councilor Darren Cyr said he was concerned that rifling through trash may be a main source of income for some who would be cut off if the ordinance was implemented.”I’m not entirely opposed to the proposal, but for some people, it’s their job to collect bottles and cans,” he said. “At the same time though, we need to protect everybody’s identity.”Phelan said while he’s never had a personal problem with people taking bottles from his trash in the past, times have changed and enforcement needs to take effect.”We want to have the police department, building department, and building inspectors monitor the ordinance if it’s passed,” he said. “There’s always a question of enforcement, but it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try.”Aside from creating an identity theft hazard, Phelan said scavengers add to the increasing rodent problem when they rip apart the trash and leave it out in the open on the street.”If there is leftover pizza or an old steak in the trash, the rat will of course go for the food,” he said. “So this really is a public nuisance.”The proposed ordinance will be further discussed at upcoming City Council meetings.