Posted on 07/26/2015 12:40:52 PM PDT by artichokegrower
There is no relief in sight for Oakland restaurateurs whose compost bills suddenly ballooned by hundreds of dollars a month after the city’s new contract with its garbage collector, Waste Management, took effect July 1.
After receiving angry complaints from restaurant owners who said the added cost would drive them out of business, the City Council held an emergency meeting Monday to adjust the rates, but in the end decided not to take action.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
They didn’t build that!
Friend of mine raised a few hogs and picked up 5 fifty-five gallon drums of leftovers every day.
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That would not work in Calforkyou because the only pigs & hogs are on the dole and/or politicians!
It’s probably illegal to feed pigs table scraps in california.
Other cities around the country are trying to “out stupid” California cities but they are up against the ultimate pros and will never win!!!!
Follow the money. I will bet anything Waste Management is a political donor to Oakland's city "leaders" who jacked up the rates. It always always always goes back to that.
This happens when one keeps electing leftists
They got their kickbacks?
I am going to go out on the limb and say that the trash contractor, “Waste Management”, has some friends on the city council.
“...............I will bet anything Waste Management is a political donor to Oakland’s city “leaders” who jacked up the rates.......”
No doubt in my mind.
“Cost factors
“Sean Maher, spokesman for Oakland’s Zero Waste program, a city program created to increase compost and recycling efforts in Oakland, said the major factors driving up garbage bills are union labor, new fleets of natural-gas powered trucks, and a requirement that Waste Management serve any Oakland business that requests service.
“Next year, a new county ordinance will take effect requiring all businesses to compost, he said. ‘The city had to find a way to guarantee they all had access to that service.’”
Waste Management, like any business, only gets its money from one place, its customers. Composting cost money just like the idiotic “recycling bins” now imposed on most city dwellers. So WM is charging more. One city person stated, earlier in the article, that she didnt realize their would be seperate charges. In other words WM was supposed to bury the added costs of composting.
Having friends who live there Lizavetta I’m told that it isn’t only Waste Management, a Texas company, but the second and third of three companies, all three of whom now have contracts. Waste Management sued because its competitor was a local crony, which didn’t have the trucks to pick up the containers justifying their new piece of the action. There are typically three different containers, each of which now is picked up by a different contractor, one of which needed trucks, which are, of course, natural gas powered, and which will be paid for by Oakland taxpayers, almost doubling greenhouse gases (though not the only gas that makes a difference, water vapor).
Oakland, which supports an average police salary of 213 thousand dollars, is has an example in Vallejo California, one of many California cities that declared bankruptcy. It is hurting low-income citizens and businesses most because they don’t have councilmember influence like the unions. Even the wealthy are complaining to city officers about waste costs, which are on a sliding scale, but have more than doubled the cost of waste pickup, and, like Obamacare, impose penalties on apartment and restaurant owners who could contract privately at lower costs.
New orders sent to my friends require that homeowners take their coffee grounds, bacon grease, table leftovers, kitty and dog poop, and add it to the “green” container with leaves, branches, and what used to be “clean” organic waste. Fines are threatened for those who don’t properly sort their garbage. Not long before they’ll be demonstrating their creativity by requiring all iron pipes, which they once required, replaced by plastic because of the lead joints, and taxing private security firms, growing rapidly in Oakland as the police only respond to robberies during an armed invasion.
I am going to go out on the limb and say that the trash contractor, “Waste Management”, has some friends on the city council.
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I had Waste Management as my garbage collector. When they started to advertise that they were going “green”, I knew it was just a matter of time before they started raising their rates. Sure enough, they raised their rates from $50 per quarter to $85 per quarter, in very short order.
Fortunately for me, I live in a small town where garbage collection is not done by the city and included with your tax bill. I found a competitor (X-Waste inc.) for $50 per quarter. Excellent service and they haven’t raised their rates in the past 8 years.
Not only that but when you recommend their service to a new customer, you get a free quarters worth of pick up service. I’ve gotten several free quarters.
Alas, they do not claim to be “green”.
Thanks artichokegrower.
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