Waukegan resident urges city ordinance to curb illegal dumping on Southside

Clyde McLemore, executive director of the Black Lives Matter Resource Center at 668 Lenox in Waukegan, urged the Waukegan City Council Public Works and Infrastructure Committee during the meeting's public comment period to adopt an ordinance to reduce repeated illegal dumping on private property.

McLemore said mattresses, televisions and other bulky items are being left in front yards and that people who drop the items often drive away. He said city crews cleaned up a problem at his property but that the same items reappeared “after 48 hours.” McLemore suggested landlords be fined or otherwise required to stop tenants from discarding large items on private property and offered to write a draft ordinance for the council to consider.

The remarks came during the committee's audience time; no committee member took formal action on McLemore's request during the meeting and no staff response was recorded in the transcript. McLemore named “Mr. Garland” as a city employee who responded to his earlier complaint but Garland did not speak during the meeting.

McLemore also said he performs community cleanup work and framed the request as part of broader neighborhood livability on Waukegan’s Southside. He asked the committee to let him draft an ordinance and to have a committee member present it. The transcript does not record any follow-up direction to staff or a vote on the proposed ordinance.

The committee proceeded to other business and adjourned shortly after the public comment period.