Councilman cleans up, but keeps toilet in yard

A month after Snellville’s mayor blew the whistle on a colleague for keeping a junky yard, Councilman Robert Jenkins has cleaned up his act.

Sort of.

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Shane Blatt/sblatt@ajc.com

Snellville City Councilman Robert Jenkins, who was told by code enforcers in January to clean up his Street Deville property, has turned one of the offending items, an old toilet, into a planter.

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Shane Blatt/sblatt@ajc.com

Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer had alerted code enforcers to the items that were in Jenkins’ yard, shown in this photo taken a month ago.

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Jenkins — who in late January was issued a warning by code enforcers to clean up his Street Deville property, including removing an old toilet and broken-down car — has taken out the trash and, in the process, transformed the toilet into a planter.

“I just hated to get rid of it,” Jenkins said. “It was in good shape.”

So Jenkins positioned the commode next to his driveway, spread rocks around its porcelain base and planted a tulip, two bunches of daffodils and two iris plants.

Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer, who in January tipped off police by e-mailing photographs of the offending trash, chuckled when he heard the news Tuesday.

“It’s good to hear he cleaned up his act,” Oberholtzer said. “I certainly wouldn’t put that in my front yard.”

But Jenkins said he is proud of his potted potty.

“I’m waiting for some warm weather to get it blooming,” he said. “It’s my contribution to folk art, not to mention I do love to see things grow.”

Charles Brisendine, 58, a neighbor of Jenkins, said the toilet is nothing more than an oversize flower pot, just constructed of different materials.

“It’s kind of cute,” he said.