I met and exchanged ideas with my Alderman this evening.

I had been welcomed to attend a forum of Local School Council members who represent the schools of our ward, the 46th, hosted by our Alderman, James Cappleman.

The collection was small but representative, I as the Community Representative from Walt Disney Magnet Elementary School, and the discussion was not just lively, but it had a hope of productivity in it.

During our open table discussion, I actually brought up the topic of dog waste.

Representatives from each school agreed on the subject.  Every school in the ward has a dog waste problem: the improperly discarded waste near school grounds can find its way onto one of our students and spread through a classroom and what is left behind invites rats and bugs.

Disney Magnet Elementary is certainly among the effected.  Not only do our students enjoy a rear grassy campus where dogs often run off leash, it is also true that out of all of the schools in the ward, Disney Magnet is the farthest away from an actual designated dog park.

I voiced my opinion that tangible solutions could be found.

For example, a money line item or fundraising effort could install posts that dispense dog cleanup bags with signage attached showing the next trash bin and closest dog park.

While careful not to commit, Alderman James Cappleman did express that menu-money, what can be described as the Alderman’s Infrastructure Discretionary Fund, might be useful for such an effort.

It does not promise anything, but it does start the discussion.