TRASH PICKUP PRICE RISING?

Dear Editor,
 
 
At this time, please allow me to remind my fellow citizens that the City of Garden Grove took over the trash hauling services from the Midway City Sanitation District (MCSD) because our city thought that we could do a more cost effective job. Currently, the MCSD is charging $14.75 for their monthly curb side trash service and they will not consider an increase in their services until July of 2009. In these days of increasing prices and trying economic times, the Garden Grove Sanitary District (GGSD) is currently charging $18.92 a month for our trash service and that price will be increasing.
 
By now, we should have all received the notice for the upcoming public hearing before the Board of Directors of the GGSD set for 5/27/2008 wherein Garden Grove Disposal  (GGSD’s franchise trash hauler) will assert their entitlement to increase their fees based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) up to 5% annually.
 
According to the 11/30/1999 agreement, the formula used to increase the trash fee is: “07/01/2002 rate of $15.40 per month X CPI = the new rate”. That’s interesting because the average increase in the CPI from 2002 to 2008 is 2.90%, according to the online CPI inflation calculator. The year 2002 is also significant because the City of Garden Grove has since then been meeting and exceeding the 50% diversion rate of trash away from landfills as required by AB 939.
 
If our city is meeting and exceeding the requirement(s) of AB 939, then 50% + of our collection(s) should have been diverted to include organic waste and/or yard waste decomposes and recyclables. According to the City of Garden Grove letters dated 7/31/2002 and 8/05/2004, the recyclable revenues should have been and should continue to be used by our trash hauler to ensure competitive rates for our citizens. That is good news because our current trash hauler boasts a “fully computerized reporting system that is unique in the industry as it documents all incoming and outgoing solid waste and recyclable material.”  At this point, I have to wonder out loud how much money our trash hauler has made off of any and all recyclables since 2002 to present. 
 
Another interesting point in this cost driven subject is the agreement of 11/30/1999 between the GGSD and Garden Grove Disposal (GGD), a Division of Taormina Industries (TI) that is a wholly owned subsidiary of Republic Services, and that is a large number of players who are involved in this long term agreement that runs from 3/01/1995 to 4/30/2014. Even more interesting is the fact that the executive director for GGD/TI is also the official jurisdiction contact for the City of Garden Grove to the California Intergrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) and is also the treasurer on the Garden Grove Community Foundation (GGCF) Board of Directors. I point this out because our current trash hauler “contributes” $40K a year back to the city, $20K to the GGCF (are these ‘free’ concerts in the park really free?) and the other $20K to whom or who ever at it’s discretion by cash or “in kind services”. Section 16.4 of the agreement appears to prohibit these kinds of actions or activities and this also appears to be a violation of California Constitution Article 13D(2)(b)(1) & (2).
 
In these days of increasing prices and trying economic times, it seems that we may be subject to creative economics that in turn causes our prices to increase.
 
 
 
Tony Flores
Garden Grove, Ca. 92845
714-222-7421