GwinnettViews

GDP article by Jamie Ward: Trash plan may get more time: County may allow current haulers to continue pickup until next year

So what does this mean? Since I read the article yesterday I went back and forth on my thoughts.   Maybe they are taking their time to get it right.  Then I laughed at that thought because of how bad the Old-New Plan was screwed up.  Maybe they have have no idea where to go next. Seems plausible especially if you have no real new ideas and the Old-New Plan was screwed up. Maybe they are still trying to figure out how to spin all the other great ideas lately like the stadium and the new budget and the raise in water rates and they just don’t have time for this and of course they really know that the Old-New Plan was screwed up. So maybe they defer and delay and maybe people’s anger and concern will be directed in another direction like the stadium and the budget which in all honesty we can do nothing about.  We have heard here on this  site “it’s just trash what’s the big deal.” The big deal is the way our county is being run. The big deal is the decisions that are being made just don’t make sense. The big deal is the county thinks they know what is best for the citizens and from the things they have done lately do you really think that is true?  The big deal is the erosion of my choices.  Today it’s trash what’s next?

Let’s revisit the last meeting of the MBSCT:

What we need to think about is who knows better what is best for us at the end of the day?  The BOC?  Really?  When the MBSCT was created we asked more than once for them to be sanctioned.   However, after attending the last meeting of the MBSCT I am pretty sure I don’t want this group to be speaking for me.  I had high hopes for this committee that they would come away from these meetings listening to the public and come up with ideas that would make sense and be some ideas that the BOC could agree was in the best interest of the people who live here Gwinnnett County.

1. The majority of the MBSCT want each of us to have mandatory pickup with limited exceptions. The exceptions would have to be defined and I guess you would have to have a written note from someone somewhere to qualify for it otherwise you have to pay for the trash service.

   My only issue with this one is that this is one more thing the government is mandating like we don’t know that picking up trash is important.  Most of us are going to have trash service whether the BOC tells us to or not because we don’t want the trash to stay at our house. I am sure I am naive in thinking most people want trash service whether at their home or their business because they want their trash picked up. I really find it hard to believe that because someone does not have trash service that automatically makes them an illegal trash dumper. Again I am probably naive but I hope we live in a better county than that.

2. The majority of the MBSCT are in favor of moving haulers into districts and allowing them to bid on the districts. IE: There would be 8 districts and a hauler could bid on one or more of these districts. This would allow for “one hauler one neighborhood” thus allowing for less traffic on the street. One thing I did not understand is how this allows for residents to choose. Does this allow for the pricing to be set in the bids through the county instead of through the residents themselves?

   Where is the free choice of the residents in this?  Again to hear the MBSCT say we need to go to a “One Hauler One Neighborhood” sounds great in theory but who is getting to choose the hauler. Not the residents. Yes I am happy the local businesses get the opportunity to bid again and stay in business but if I were them I would be wary of this approach as any. Why? Because what’s to stop them from getting undercut on their bid by bigger companies with more resources. What’s to stop one company from having more than area? What will that do to service? According to Commissioner Beaudreau having a SLA (Service Level Agreement) will keep performance high. What will keep the service at a high level is my ability to fire someone if I don’t like their service. Seems to me a business listens a lot better when you hit their pocketbook than if you hit their customer service line. I heard more than one trash hauler say this in the meeting. The ones that were there have no problem being held to that standard. For most that’s how they got where they are today

3. The majority of the MBSCT believe the only way to make sure that all of us residents are toeing the line is to put the trash bill on our tax bill.

   This is how you stop illegal dumping? Nope, sorry but if you think making something mandatory that the majority of the people use anyway is going to stop illegal dumping then you are losing it. The people who dump illegally won’t give a rip and will continue to do what they do. If you really want to stop illegal dumping then get serious about stopping the people who do it. Don’t interject the government more in our life and punish us because the majority of the county do what we are supposed to and a small percentage don’t.

The findings of the MBSCT were supposed to be presented today. In the end it will be interesting to see what their findings end up being. Will things change? There was nothing on the agenda for the working session of the BOC. Where will the county go and what decisions will the make at the end of the 120 days?