Residents urge downtown single-use-plastic reductions and praise improved park maintenance
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Summary
Two residents addressed the Common Council on Oct. 21: Melissa Marquez urged the city to reduce single-use plastics downtown and improve recycling and beach receptacles as part of a capstone project; Jerry Hodeman praised recent improvements in grass cutting and park upkeep at Vidi and Cheska Park and thanked specific staff.
Two members of the public spoke during the council’s public comment period on Oct. 21, 2025.
Melissa Marquez, a lifetime Racine resident who said she lives downtown and is completing a master’s degree in sustainability at the University of Wisconsin–Parkside, described a capstone project focused on reducing single-use plastics downtown and improving the city’s recycling program. Marquez said she has drafted a 40-page thesis and offered examples from other cities. She described a storefront “pledge” model used in Oshkosh that awards seals to businesses that reduce single-use plastics and noted San Diego as a benchmark for best practices. Marquez recommended increasing recycling receptacles downtown and adding receptacles at beaches and parks to support more regular shoreline cleanups.
Marquez said she has already observed changes in the city’s recycling collection, noting there are now blue recycling bins in addition to the older black bins, and asked how materials are sorted. She said she provided recommendations to staff and hoped to get traction for the project.
Jerry Hodeman thanked city staff for improved maintenance at Vidi and Cheska Park. Hodeman recounted that grass cutting there had previously left windrows and tall grass that discouraged some residents from using the park; he praised former supervisor Bill Fulstrom for earlier oversight and said current supervisor Scott Salinas and park staff are doing a good job. Hodeman said contractor contracts include requirements against leaving windrows and that the contractor corrected one late-season cut the following day.
Why it matters: Both speakers raised practical, neighborhood-level concerns — waste reduction and park maintenance — that relate to daily quality of life in Racine. The remarks were offered during public comment; no formal council action on the proposals was recorded in the meeting minutes that evening.
No formal action followed the public comments portion of the agenda.