Shopping for a cart

Costa Mesa’s crack “shopping cart patrol” may have set a bar even the

most by-the-book traffic cop can’t meet.

In its first month on the job, the patrol -- consisting mainly of

Hernandez Cart Retrieval Services, with a little aid from the city’s

code enforcement division -- netted 740 abandoned shopping carts.

That rounds up to 25 per day. (And, if the workers keep up the pace,

it’ll mean a cost of $5.45 per cart at the $48,000 annual cost. That

cost could be offset by the $150 fine for stores for each cart the

city retrieves after the fifth one in any 12-month period.)

It also provides amply proof of a fact most everyone already knew:

Costa Mesa has a problem with abandoned carts.

But there is equal evidence that the city is on the right track to

solve, or at least significantly cut into, the problem. While city

leaders wouldn’t say which stores are most to blame, when they come

knocking on those stores’ doors demanding payment, expect to see the

supply of carts dry up.

And expect to see “containment systems” coming to a store near

you.