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Abandoned shopping carts are becoming a regrettable part of our urban landscape. During our last rain, our Graffiti Abatement Team picked up 177 shopping carts during a six-hour period.

The City of Madera does not have a local ordinance that addresses the shopping cart issue.

The City of Merced recently passed an ordinance that charges store owners $25 per recovered cart and $1,000 for citizens found in possession of a cart.

To the south, the City of Fresno has initiated discussions on the shopping cart problem.

In actuality, a local ordinance is not required. State law allows local governments to fine business owners $50 per cart if they are not picked up within three days. Given the controversy this issue has generated elsewhere, Madera is attempting to address this issue using a different strategy.

Our Neighborhood Revitalization Department has identified 13 businesses that generate shopping carts. Several weeks ago, these businesses were invited to a meeting to discuss the problem and outline possible solutions.

Unfortunately, only 7 stores were represented at the meeting.

Given more immediate priorities, the Neighborhood Revitalization staff is working with business owners to attempt to create a "self-policing" approach to the problem that does not involve government intervention.

The first step was for each business to submit a Shopping Cart Retrieval Plan. It is unfortunate that only six businesses chose to submit the plan. To that end, I applaud the following:

-Long's Drugs (Howard Road)

-Food 4 Less

-Wal-Mart

-Save Mart (Country Club)

-Bridge Store

-Pak 'N Save

My primary concern is with those businesses that did not submit a plan or even bother attending the meeting.

This issue is not "government driven."

The Neighborhood Revitalization Department is responding to numerous complaints by community residents who view abandoned shopping carts to be a public nuisance and a major form of neighborhood blight.

Personally, I feel these complaints are warranted. The attitude of Maderans is undergoing a major change. Like graffiti, abandoned vehicles and substandard buildings, our constituents are no longer willing to tolerate a community that shows little evidence of pride.

As an elected official, I hear this message is getting through LOUD AND CLEAR.

Unfortunately, this same message is not being heard by some of our business owners. Their inaction tells us that either abandoned shopping carts are not their problem, or they prefer that government needs to be the solution.

Either scenario is surprising - most businesses would prefer less governmental involvement in their affairs.

It is my sincere hope that the attitude and actions of these non-participating businesses can be changed.

We don't need more rules and regulations to inhibit the private sector's ability to create jobs and increase profits. We don't need the exercise of creating a new ordinance because a few businesses refuse to participate in a self-policing program.

To those of you who view these carts to be a nuisance, I would urge you to take some time to contact the owners of the cart and ask that they have someone pick it up immediately. As citizens, we need to have a zero tolerance for abandoned shopping carts, graffiti, illegal dumping and other conditions that negatively impact the physical appearance and quality of life in the community. We can't always expect government to be the solution.