Candidates agree garbage collection ordinance was premature

Last month, City Council members Ryan Kost and Trini Pehlivanoglu introduced a resolution to end private curbside trash collection, which would have established a city monopoly on garbage collection.

The ordinance was contentious. It surprised city residents, over half of whom would have been required to switch collectors. It was intended to reduce costs and decrease road damage and pollution by reducing the number of garbage trucks on the road, but a confusing rollout left many residents feeling like the city was taking their choice away. The ordinance was pulled a week later.

City Pulse asked this year’s mayoral and Council candidates for their thoughts on the ordinance and its rollout.

Mayor Andy Schor said the proposal had precedent.

“Everyone else does it differently,” he said. “In East Lansing, they say the city is doing all of it. In the townships, they say the township is doing none of it.”

Despite city staff believing “this is the right thing to do,” Schor said there would need to be more conversation, both with the community and waste management services. He expressed concerns over staffing and suggested a half-and-half model, whereby the city would contract out 50% of households as a test run, an idea he said had been discussed with the Council but “wasn’t really talked about.”

Ultimately, though, he said a city monopoly would reduce costs, pollution and road damage, the latter of which he said was the issue he heard about most often when knocking on doors.

Schor’s opponent, Kelsea Hector, agreed the proposal would benefit city roads but understands why residents were suspicious of it. She said many citizens feel the city does not adequately “take their input and their voices into consideration when they’re making choices,” creating institutional distrust.

“I would have to see a lot more accountability and feedback and a working relationship with the people and organizations, because I think that’s where the hang-up comes in,” she said.

Jeremy Garza is running at-large after serving two terms in the 2nd Ward. He said he prefers “to keep stuff in house, not contract positions out,” but that he does not think the city has the capacity to take on the task.

He said he “couldn’t support the ordinance” despite seeing the benefits, because there were too many unanswered questions.

At-large candidate Julie Vandenboom said a city monopoly would improve roads and lead to cleaner neighborhoods by eliminating the issue of people not paying for any trash services at all. But she said she would like to see a more “fleshed-out” conversation with discussion on improving city services, involving private companies and perhaps finding space for some of their employees. She said the Council suffers from a general lack of transparency, especially when decisions are made in committee meetings that few watch.

The Council records and posts its committee meetings on its own YouTube channel, but they rarely receive more than 50 views. Many receive under 10.

“I think with a little more transparency, something like this could be successful if we talked to people and found out their concerns,” Vandenboom said.

At-large candidate Clara Martinez said it was too early to take a stance. She said she sees the issue through a framework taught to her by former Mayor David Hollister: “One, what is the issue or concern? Two, what is the solution for it? And three, how do we know that this is the right solution for the current problem?”

“I’m still focused on identifying what is the current problem, and how are we going to move that forward with a solution that works for people and the city?” she said.

4th Ward candidate Heath Lowry said he was “a strong supporter of CART” but would have preferred the process to be more “democratic.” He said there is not enough information to take a stance on the ordinance itself.

“I want to see the hard numbers on how it would impact the city, from an environmental standpoint, a road standpoint, an economic standpoint and our relationships with Granger and the surrounding landfills,” he said.

2nd Ward candidate Erik Almquist said it was an example of a continued lack of transparency from the city government.

“It was decided before it even came to City Council, the pods were decided and purchased before it even came to City Council,” he said, referencing the city’s purchase of 50 ModPod housing units for homeless residents. “These things are being done, and we’re not having transparency.”

His opponent, Deyanira Nevarez Martinez, called the proposal “premature” and said she would need to know more, especially about the long-term impacts.

“Sometimes certain proposals don’t get thought through the whole way,” she said.