Trash collectors are supposed to cart things away from your house — not show up with items to leave with you. But, then, most trash collectors are not North Philly native Anthony Sweeney.
Since he started working for the Streets Department 15 years ago, serving neighborhoods in Northwest Philadelphia, Sweeney says he’s always tried to get to know people along his routes. And so, for Christmas a few years ago during COVID, he stopped at a home in Germantown to drop off wrapped gifts for the kids who lived there, because he knew that both parents had been out of work for a while.
“The two boys used to follow the trash truck around when they had nothing else to do, because everything was closed,” says the Chestnut Hill resident. “So for Christmas, I brought them some toy trash trucks and other things like that. It was just a little thing I could do to try to make their Christmas a little better.”
Then there was the time that a woman along his route realized she had somehow thrown away her wedding ring and United States Passport, and Sweeney corralled his coworkers and made it their personal mission to find both items amid piles and piles of garbage. They succeeded. “She was so happy,” remembers Sweeney. “And that made me happy.”
It’s stories like these that don’t surprise Lygea Madison one bit. She’s a longtime Philadelphia event planner and producer and the owner of Madivents. Madison met Sweeney prior to his Street Department days, back when he worked seasonally in the operations department of the city-owned Dell Music Center in Fairmount Park.
“Let’s be honest,” says Madison, who produced concerts and other events at the Dell. “We’re talking about the City and city employees, and you don’t always have the most friendly or competent people that you have to engage with as an outside vendor. Some people go out of their way to be unhelpful. Anthony is honestly the most helpful individual I have ever encountered.”
“Even with the horrible traffic and angry drivers in the city, I really love driving the trash truck. I love seeing the smile on a kid’s face when they wave and I blow the horn for them.” — Anthony Sweeney
Sweeney demonstrates the highest standard of integrity, those set forth by The Citizen and Accountability Lab, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that launched the Integrity Icon program to “name and fame” public workers; it’s an initiative designed to spotlight role models who squash patterns of government corruption and instead set new standards. Sweeney will be honored along with four other Icons on June 3. (Attendance is free. Please RSVP here.)
Madison recalled a time when the City would pay teens with behavioral problems to work at the Dell to try to motivate them and give them work experience. Sweeney became their de facto supervisor. “These were the so-called ‘bad’ kids,” says Madison. “But Anthony just has this very special quality, he has this way with people, that no matter who you are, he is able to motivate you and work with you to get the job done.”
Sweeney impressed Madison so much that she stayed in touch with him and hired him to work some of her events at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. She says he got her out of more than a few jams there. “This is supposedly the City of Brotherly Love,” Madison observes. “Well, he is basically the city’s loving brother.”
Sweeney didn’t start out his life working for the city. After graduating from Frankford High, he opened a car detailing shop that didn’t last and also took cooking classes, eventually spending about 10 years working for the since-closed Germantown restaurant and music venue North by Northwest. Then he learned about the part-time opportunity working for the city at the Dell, and he saw that as a stepping stone to more gainful employment with the city.
In 2011, the Streets Department was hiring laborers — what you and I call trash collectors — and he snagged one of those jobs. “Some people look down on trash collectors,” Sweeney says. “But they shouldn’t. It’s a very important job, and it’s provided well for me. Plus, so many people lost their jobs during the pandemic. Not me. I was working more than ever. Seven days a week. Fifteen hour days. I didn’t take a day off for two years. Not kidding.”
Sweeney’s hard work and dedication during the pandemic paid off: In 2023, the Streets Department promoted him to heavy equipment operator, aka he drives the trash trucks. “He’s a person who comes to work all the time and always does his job,” says his supervisor, Demetrius Thompson. “And he’s a motivator. He likes to get the job done, so he motivates those around him to do the same.”
Now, says Sweeney, the department really wants him to take the test for a more supervisory position. Less hours. More money. But Sweeney says he just isn’t sure. “Even with the horrible traffic and angry drivers in the city, I really love driving the trash truck,” he insists. “I love seeing the smile on a kid’s face when they wave and I blow the horn for them.”
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