No One in Charge at City’s Trash Fee Open House for District 2
By Kate Callen
Which is more dismissive? Someone who ignores you? Or someone who pretends to listen but clearly doesn’t care what you think?
If you’re okay with synthetic respect, the City’s Trash Fee Open Houses have been pleasant in a quaint sort of way.
The April 7 event for District 2 residents (including OBceans) felt like a high school science fair. Environmental Services staffers were friendly. Display tables featured toy-sized trash bins in three colors and giant photographs of the latest in trash trucks.
It would have been a worthwhile event if community members wanted to learn the finer points of top-notch waste management. But that’s not why they came.
Melanie and Bob Sherman of Point Loma were hoping someone in charge at City Hall would explain why trash fee estimates are so high. And they wanted assurance that new fees wouldn’t be skimmed for “administrative overhead.”
Melanie looked around and said, “This is not what we were expecting. We were expecting a town hall. I wish there were somebody here from the City Council to answer our questions.”
Bob said he was appalled by the millions spent on a trash fee study. “People are pretty upset about this. It shows the kind of waste and incompetence we’re dealing with.”
The City needs a boatload of money to avoid fiscal calamity. Serious budget cuts are needed now. But Mayor Todd Gloria is shying away from proposed reductions. He doesn’t seem to have the executive mettle to make tough choices.
Instead, he’s trying to devise new methods for extracting more money from San Diegans. Like raising the sales tax. Or imposing new trash collection fees.
Voters rejected last year’s sales tax ballot measure. But back in 2022, they passed the trash fee ballot measure in part because the City estimated monthly charges at a $23 to $29.
Out of the blue, that number was raised to $53 with a caveat that it will gradually increase. The irrepressible District 9 Councilmember Sean Elo Rivera said the estimate was higher because San Diegans have expressed a desire for “world-class public services.”
(Show of hands: How many people told their Council reps, “I want garbage pick-up that’s the envy of Singapore, and I don’t care what it costs”?)
This week, the City lowered the number by… a whopping 10 percent. The new estimate of $47.59 is still far higher than the initial price, and it exceeds the $41.32 that Los Angeles charges.
Does the Mayor believe the public will buy his bait-and-switch? Probably not. But his back is to the wall. So he has trotted out his favorite political ruse: Present a series of “community outreach open houses” to create the appearance that the public has a voice.
It would be bad enough if this charade were run by city employees. It’s worse because our impoverished government is giving outside consultants a ton of money to put on a show.
Last March, the City Council agreed to pay global giant HDR Engineering up to $4.5 million to decide how to collect trash and what to charge for it. The decision was so preposterous that the Union-Tribune’s Economic Roundtable, which rarely agrees on anything, were unanimous that the cost was outrageous.
One-third of that amount, according to reporting by inewsource, goes to HF&H Consultants, headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, to perform community outreach.
No one from HDR Engineering or HF&H Consultants attended the District 2 open house. Councilmember Jen Campbell wasn’t there, and she didn’t send a representative.
No matter. This Mayor and City Council have failed us time and again. We must keep pushing hard on them to limit the damage they do as long as they’re in office. But we also need to look at the people hoping to succeed them.
Here is advice to anyone considering a run for office in San Diego:
If you’re elected, you must win back public trust. You can’t replenish the treasury without it.
Don’t outsource your job to expensive consultants. Don’t insult constituents by pretending to listen to them. Pay close attention and answer their questions directly.
If you show San Diegans the respect they haven’t gotten from their leaders in a long time, you just might get this city back on track.
Thx Kate, for this excellent analysis of the many problems with the city’s trash collection fee proposal. We need a huge turnout at next week’s (April 14) council hearing to protest this proposed fee.
Brava, Kate.
Yes, excellent article, Kate.
No one gets to the truth like you do, Kate. Thank you. This is how our UC Community Plan Update meetings went — all for show and nothing more. It was clear city representatives didn’t want to hear the good input of residents, and they never really answered our questions.
It seems everytime there is a cost increase it’s the taxpyers fault. ” You are using too much water-conserve .You’re not using enough water rate hike”. Buy electric vehicles and solar panels to save the planet. Private solar panels are reducing SDG&E profits -raise the rates.
Sewer & storm drain maintenace fee originally $5, now it’s close to or exceeds the water bill.
“Toilet to tap ” water project years behind and grossly over budget.
Stop voting in these same political hacks.
Some people want to turn our disgust with the current Democrats running the city into a love affair with Republicans. No, can’t be further from the truth. We’re disgusted with these Dems because they’re acting like Republicans.
Frank,
Tell me a large city that’s run by Democrfates that is clean, in budget, great niegborhoods, propolice, low tax rate and not had any city politicians indicted .
Let’s see; New York, Boston, Philidelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego don’t make that list.