ANDOVER — John Pasquale said he doesn't have the right temperament for public office, so instead of running he holds elected officials accountable by grilling them regularly at meetings.

"I can say what I want to say," said Pasquale, 72, a retired engineer. "I try to help."

The Whittier Street resident's latest idea, which he brought to the attention of selectmen in November, is to form a "downtown pride patrol" to pick up litter on the streets of downtown Andover.

By assembling a group of volunteers to pick up the papers, wrappers, bottles and cans that others walk by every day, Pasquale said the downtown will be kept looking clean once the $4.5 million Main Street redesign project is completed in the spring.

"I take a lot of pride because I walk by every day," said Pasquale. "I do see some citizens walking down there picking things up. I'm trying to elevate this to be a self-sustaining thing."

Pasquale said the group would patrol downtown every weekday from April through November, walking from the Senior Center, through public parking lots, down Main Street and back.

"The idea is a good idea," said Town Manager Reginald "Buzz" Stapczynski. "I think people want to have pride in the downtown, now that it's looking nicer."

Stapczynski said he wants to incorporate Pasquale's idea into the town's senior tax voucher program, in which $675 property tax write-offs are given for working 100 hours of community service.

This year, more than 200 seniors applied to participate.

Kathy Urquhart, director of the Andover Senior Center, said the downtown patrol would fit nicely in the voucher program, which has seniors working in schools, at the library and at town hall.

"It shows pride of place," said Urquhart. "I think there are a lot of seniors of like mind who would like to participate in a program like that."

Pasquale, who retired in 1996 from a Polaroid film manufacturing plant, said he became known as "Dr. Trash" toward the end of his career for working to reduce the company's overall waste output.

He hopes to begin working with the downtown patrol this spring, after he returns from Florida for the winter.

"You've got to depend on volunteers," said Pasquale. "Somebody's got to do it."