Bloomington residents are having the same “debate” that Maplewood residents had a while ago, and that Saint Paul residents barely manage to stave off, year over year; socialized trash collection. In Saint Paul, every few years, a coalition of:
- Environmentalists who think that having one truck go through your alley every week is better than having more than one truck go through your alley every week
- NIMBAs (“Not in my back alley”) who for whatever reason are tormented by the number of trucks driving through their alleys at ugodly hours of the Midday
- Big Government dweebs
…unites to try to jam down municipal garbage collection.
And it’s apparently go-time in Bloomington:
Those in favor most often cited the need to cut down on the number of trucks in the neighborhoods.
“Every Thursday morning my normally serene suburban home life is shattered by a steady caravan of heavy trucks,” wrote John Zimmerman. “Air brakes squeal, backup alarms chirp, and I lose track after the tenth truck has rolled through.”
Apparently John Zimmerman’s realtor told him he was moving to rural Iowa.
Bear in mind, Bloomington already has a semi-government-run system, doling out parts of the city to seven different haulers. The city wants to go from picking seven winners to picking one:
The city still is negotiating with the seven haulers, but the most recent proposal would cost the average household $18.42 a month for trash and recycling pickup, said Public Works Director Karl Keel.
When the government wants to socialize a municipal service, the first number they give you is like that 3% interest rate on your credit card, or that first joint they give the grade school kids; it’s a teaser. It will not last.
In Maplewood, the rates may not have risen – but the “fees” tacked onto the rates certainly have. The “winning” hauler also made the rate by supplying cheap trash carts that fell apart after a year, cutting corners on customer service, and other “savings” that, in a free market, you don’t have to tolerate.
I pay $20 a month, fees and all, to a ma and pa company that calls me if I forget a payment, picks up extra stuff without any muss and fuss, and always answers the phone on the second ring.
Think you’ll get that with one big municipal service?
Opportunity Dumps: If you’re a Bloomington Republican, here’s a classic example of a local issue that your candidates can use to set themselves apart from the incumbents (who, on the Bloomington City Council, favor the proposal 6-1). Yes, it’s early. No, it’s it’s not early enough. If you’re thinking about being a conservative candidate for Bloomington City Council, you should be out there on the barricades today.
(And if you’re a “liberty” supporter? Helping the people win this battle would convince a lot more people that you’re not just a bunch of white frat boys wallowing in an echo chamber eating chicken wings and listening to each other argue about who’s the biggest Austrian-schooler).
Currently, Bloomington’s 26,000 households pay an average of $26.72 a month. Keel estimated that city residents would save about $13 million over a five-year hauling contract.
Many residents have pointed out that by negotiating with different haulers, they’ve been able to get extremely low rates. Council Member Tim Busse was skeptical of some claims.
“I’d like to meet the residents who are getting their trash [picked up] for 10 bucks a month,” Busse said. “I want to take you with me the next time I buy a car. That’s some pretty good negotiating.”
In the end, the council voted 6-1 to continue negotiating the single-hauler deal, with only Cynthia Bemis Abrams opposing. A public hearing will be held before a final decision is made.
Mitch, you missed the obvious – this is a Union grab and payback for getting elected. If trash collection goes municipal, trash collectors will have no choice but be collectivized into a goobernment union. They will then strike at will to line thier pockets with no recourse. Look up how well that works in Toronto.
Look how well it works in Illinois, too. It is interesting to me that they are talking about this huge problem, but they’re not noting any real harms. It’s just that garbage trucks create noise when they start and stop.
Which is exactly what you would have with just one company doing garbage collection. You’d just have it ten times on one day instead of twice a day each day, at worst, on your block.
As Deming said, “In God We Trust, all others must provide data.”
Not necessarily. Look at Minneapolis, They have a cartel of haulers and I don’t think any of them are unionized. When Waste Management tried to break into the market awhile back they tried to argue that they were unionized and tried to get some knee jerk leftist on the City Council to pass a resolution that Trash Hauling employees be unionized. That was quickly scuttled when result would be getting rid of the present system and engaging WM (big bad corporation). I am sure there is more to the cartel story and why they have been able to keep Minneapolis happy for so long but I value my personal safety too much to delve into that.
When I moved from Edina (private collection) to Minneapolis (city collection), eight years ago, I can’t say I was disappointed – I actually expected it – but I was frustrated. I’m paying more for half as many pickups, and the quality of service is much lower.
Here’s the Minneapolis garbage site.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/solid-waste/garbage/solid-waste_garbage
I would guess the city crews which “maintain all garbage carts” are union. The subcontractor I could find, Republic, seems to have at least some dealings with the Teamsters. Couldn’t quite figure out if that extended into Minnesota, though.
As Saint Paul is currently debating this again, I thought about asking the questions, “Where will this all end? Will we eventually also have our shopping districts divided out by the corporations that own them, like Yum Brands serving the Midway, Restaurant Brands International servicing downtown, and so on?” This would lead to less delivery trucks breaking up someone’s serene urban morning as one corporate delivery could be made to the location rather than several deliveries made to small and large businesses throughout the days and weeks. As I said, I *thought* about posing this question, then decided that the way things seem to happen here, it might be taken seriously and actually get proposed and passed.
Every burg and borough goes through this, every few years. Too many garbage trucks bust up the streets so if we had fewer garbage trucks, the streets would last longer and my taxes would be lower. Then the City Engineer points out the worst offenders are school buses so are you going to ban them? And as soon as you adopt organized collection, the widows complain they generate 1/10 as much trash as the couple with toddlers but pay the same rate. So you lower the rate and charge extra per bag, so then people steal bags or dump private trash in business dumpsters . . . the complaining lasts until the Spring water bills come out when all the snowbirds start complaining they pay too much for sewer (being gone all winter) while the sprinklers complain they pay too much for sewer (their water soaking into the lawn).