Garbage Bid Equals Garbage Out

There is currently an item on the Tuesday June 9 Commission agenda to revive a 2010 bid from Waste Management Systems to privatize our garbage and possibly to end side yard pickup at the single family homes.  

I understand that the resolution is being pulled because one or more of the commissioners cannot be at the meeting, so it will be deferred until July.   

The garbage should not be privatized.  While there are significant short term cost savings, the long term shows that it always costs the taxpayers more and leaves us at the mercy of an oligarchical group.  Once we take away the infrastructure, it's incredibly expensive to build it back.  

But let's say the short term gain is worth it in the eyes of the commission.  Then it needs to be considered correctly and currently.  The Bid from 2010 includes items that are no longer relevant, does not include the impact of the new construction or the value of our current capital assets.  It does not even include the wishes of the residents.  It's just an old moldy bid five years obsolete.  

 I for one would be very surprised if the bid itself did not contain an expiration date but I am told it does not.  Still, it makes sense for the village discuss the issue and create a new RFP, maybe based on the old one, and get our current needs out to the current market and then evaluate.  Otherwise, we are recycling one big pile of organic mass and it won't work.  

The original RFP and response were dirty all along.  Back in September 2010, the resolution to accept Waste Management was presented with lies.  The city manager straight up told the commission that the savings would $500,000 per year while he was holding the finances showing that the savings would never exceed $50,000.   The commission was carefully financed through Waste Management campaign fund contributions and the whole process was so loose, it was becoming more and more clear that if it passed, someone was going to jail.  There were too many questions.  

The commission tried to backpedal and asked for a revised bid including side yard pickup which Waste Management declined to provide.  In the meantime, our now current mayor, then vice mayor had won a lawsuit to put her on the commission.  A competitor of WMS, Choice Environmental Systems, objected to the choice.  The new vice mayor Kreps then put a resolution on the agenda to reject their protest out of hand.  She then read the resolution out loud, acted confused, and shrieked "What did I just vote for?" when she voted against herself.  She has not improved since.  And that objection may still be out there. 

Finally, on June 30, 2011, the bid was considered by the village commission and Waste Management declined to participate as it now included side yard pickup.   This issue has been on hiatus for four years.  In preparation for the budget of 2015, the village manager is bringing the idea back as a cost saver.  But instead of saying let's review the old RFP, update it, get it on the market and get it moving, he's taking the easy path of let's consider this again.   It's wrong and it's unprofessional to do that.  

I hope there will be enough backbone on the commission to take the needed step back and do this right and in the sunshine.  

Kevin Vericker

June 6, 2015