Councilmen Debate Garbage Service History. Bid Rigging Alleged

At the last Council meeting, longtime city councilman Mike Ford claimed the city had previously tried having a private company pick up its garbage/trash for about a year;  but that was later refuted by Mayor Kant and others.

Ford: "We did this before for one year . . . had so many complaints . . . had to take it over again."

Kant said later in a  newspaper interview some of Ford's remarks hadn't been "exactly correct" and the city took over pick-up in the early 1990s--after many years of private collection.

[Publisher's Note: Previous media reports confirm Kant's version: the city first took over services in early1990s--when it was operating its own landfill]

Councilman Kingrea later charged the whole exchange was staged political theatre, "playing the crowd," for city employees present and the media (for political effect to maintain the status quo).

Kingrea: "You're playing the crowd. Mike."

Ford: "I'm not playing the crowd . . . been around a long time."

Kingrea: "We know you have . . . that's why you're playing the crowd!"

Ford: "We did this before . . . for one year . . . had so many complaints . . . had to take it back over . . . that's experience . . . not playing the crowd."


Kingrea: " . . . reason we have to reject this (all previous bids) . . .  city played with the bids after they were issued."

[Publisher's Note: Another member of the council privately supported Kingrea's account]

Ford: "Who played with the bids . . . a serious charge."

Publisher's Note: A subsequent newspaper report said that Mayor Kant had personally prepared the city's latest garbage pick-up bid estimate. The Mayor's new figures were about $300,000 less than those previously released by the 2011 Budget Committee and city staff.