SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Friday complained that the federal government shutdown has caused additional burden on the employees of the city's Public Works.
Breed was responding to the news that employees of San Francisco Public Works were dispatched to clean up the trash in different locations of parks run by federal agencies such as the National Park Service.
"The federal government was already asking cities to cover for a lack of resources to build affordable housing and address homelessness, and now we're picking up their trash too," Breed tweeted Friday.
"We don't need a border wall, we need a functioning government," she said.
Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon, quoted by the local SFGate news outlet, said the city's Public Works crews began to remove tons of trash in or near some of the highly trafficked garbage cans at Lands End and the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park on Wednesday and Thursday.
He said the city agency's employees are adding the national parks area on top of their regular duties.
"Public Works is stepping up temporarily, as the shutdown continues, to help keep the areas clean and beautiful," Gordon said.
The federal maintenance crews have no resources to continue normal operations at those federally-run parks due to the lack of federal money caused by the partial government closure, which has dragged on for two weeks with no end in sight, he said.
With no sufficient crews available for keeping all areas clean, San Francisco Public Works urged visitors and residents to be more mindful of a clean city.
"During the budget standoff, please also help by packing out your trash to keep the majestic natural areas looking good," the agency said in a tweet Friday.