Editorial by Matt Marquardt –
Following one of its priorities for this year, the Mayor and Council is aggressively pursuing a request for proposals (RFP) for garbage and recycled items pick-up in the city in order to see if it can be done cheaper by private enterprise.
(PHOTO: A Mason City sanitation worker dumps garbage from a home on East State Street Thursday morning.)
The City will be seeking RFP’s from local trash haulers as well as itself; yes I said itself, as the City seems to be unclear on how much it costs to run this operation, an operation it has been running for decades. It says on the typical monthly water/sanitation bill that garbage pick up is $9.00 per month. That cost will rise to $9.60 per month on July 1. The cost has risen about 10 cents per year on average over the last several years.
The jobs of twelve city employees hang in the balance as the council examines this issue.
The council seems to be split on privatizing the sanitation department, if you can believe that, as they have been lock-step so far on everything as far as voting goes. The only time any council member ever publicly voiced dissent on any issue was when John Lee questioned Mayor Bookmeyer’s deal with the Harley Dealership, brokered at the Mason City Country Club, saying it set a bad precedent.
According to sources close to the City Council, Alex Kuhn will not be supporting privatization of the sanitation department. “I have no intention of supporting this,” he said recently. “I believe we provide a quality city service and that we shouldn’t be sending a message to city workers that their jobs are on the line when they do a great job.”
Mr. Kuhn may be right about the city sending a bad message to its employees. It was only a year ago that former City Councilman Don Nelson wrote that “Under Mayor Bookmeyer… lowest morale of City Staff in 20+ years.”
Kuhn went on to say that “At this point I believe (there) is Council support for this to move forward.”
He would likely be referring to Jean Marinos, Travis Hickey and Janet Solberg, big proponents of anything Bookmeyer brings forward. They let Bookmeyer and City Administrator Brent Trout do the thinking, they simply cast the votes.
It is unclear where John Lee stands on the issue, and Scott Tornquist seems to want it both ways, recently communicating “As the Council, we owe it to the community to ensure that our citizens, the ones footing the bills, are receiving the best service at the best cost. From time to time it makes sense to look closely at our operations to make sure we are doing just that. Many communities have privatized trash collection; many have not. It remains to be seen what the outcome of our RFP process will be.”
This issue will likely become clearer after next Tuesday’s council work session; it’s on the agenda.
when bookmeyer was running for election it was jobs,jobs,jobs, and now get rid of people in your own backyard. don’t fix what isn’t broken.
correct me if i’m wrong but don’t those 12 sanitation guys help with snow removal and fill in other places when other workers are on vacation. get real bookmeier and company.
call me crazy but don’t those 12 sanitation guys help with snow removal and fill in other areas when those workers are sick/vacation? get real bookmeier and company, $9.60 is a bargain
We needs to get sum body else these guys are lazy and dont really work it. Make me sick we can find a company for cheap I bet
Marcus, I don’t think they will be looking for your sorry ass!!
Right Now as in ASAP, we need to contact our city council persons and at large to let them know how we feel!!! Believe me it will be to late if we don’t act NOW!!
if the privitization were to go through, any company could come in and bid as low as they wanted. once the contract is signed they could then add an addendum for extra charges, increase costs, or make it so that those orange tags are an increased cost (but their own way). why would we take a local job and send it out to an outside contractor? if that is the case can we please do that with the mayor and administrator? we pay those salaries and get nothing in return but them outsourcing problems to a lawyer in des moines at the cost of almost $500 per hour.
the city council has some members that seem to stand up for what they believe but i really wish that more people had backbone on there to say what they stand by on the council instead of being the “yes” lackeys (sp?). i can’t say there is anyway that i would want to do the sanitation job. i once seen a worker standing on the back of the truck get hit by a car that wasnt paying attention. those guys dont take breaks during thier work day, they work straight thru, and go home sore and tired. while yes it is their job to do this work, we should keep in “in home” b/c these are guys we all know, some way or another. goes to show you how much local support we have for our town if city jobs are going to be “doled out” to the lowest bidder.
its a shame and it shouldn’t happen. just saying.
I would assume the lowest bidder would hire local people.It would make no sense to bring them in from outside.As for raising rates and or getting extra money, I am sure a multi year contract with pricing called out for all contingencies could be made.
Rate hikes you claim would have to be regulated by a city commission. Example: Natural gas providers recently requested rate hike increases at a time when there is such abundance of natural gas the prices are historically lowest ever.
MediaCon can not raise cable rates without approval.
The only rates that can be increased (or established) without approval of local elected officials is airport landing fees at a “regional” airport with a “regional” airport commission – not like Mason City’s current situation. A regional airport can levy taxes, establish landing fees, etc., all un-checked by elected, local government agencies.
$9 a month is cheap BUT imagine how cheap it would be if these guys actually worked 40 hours a week!
Maybe you should try doing their job. I have no problem paying the rates I pay, and who cares if they are paid a 40 hour week salary? They provide a great service and do a great job. The people of Mason City need to get on board and call their council person to ensure that this does not get privatized.
I am not saying that they don’t do a great job or provide a great service BUT why do you think every time there is an opening in sanitation the workers in all the other departments line up to bid on it?It should be a young mans job but we have 50+ year old guys doing it because of the pay/hours.I am not advocating doing anything different necessarily, but it doesn’t hurt to look at it.
Reggie, You need to get your facts correct usually all the openings in the sanitation dept come off the steet. Its a tough back breaking job just drive around and look at all the yardwaste bags and every 50 pound can or bag would you be able to lift on the upside of 25 thousand pounds a day in every type of weather condition? Do you relize there was a time when alot of other bussinesses includeing city hall closed there doors for a blizzard but yet the sanitation crew was out picking up your can full of empty big mac wrappers. Im Guessing not your problably a 500 pound Whale.. that is a load on society.. If this gets privitized everybody loses except for excutives in other states. Keep it the way it is.
I am neither a “500 lb whale” nor a “load on society” but thanks for the rational argument on this subject.And DUH did all the old guys that are working for the sanitation dept. come off the street?I don’t think so and like I said before it doesn’t hurt to explore this angle.
So you dont think we should pay management people on a salary basis either. How do we know how many hours they actually work. I have no problem with the incentive plan that these guys are on and we would not be paying less if they did not have it.Trout should just call around to other cities in similar size to ours and check their rates and if they work on incentive or not. I would be willing to bet there isn’t many paying less then Mason City for the same service. Then if we look at how much rates have gone up over the last 10 years and you are dumb enough to still think a private hauler can accomplish that goal then I have a bridge to sell everyone too.
Anonymous: just saying if the cost per month in Hanlontown for the same service is $25.00 privitized, where the population is about 150, what will the rates in Mason City go up to if your city goes private as well? I bet it will double! There is also the issue of putting a dozen workers out of work so what does that do to the MC economy? Then there is the secondary concern that then MC will no longer be in the 28E with the LNI so any private cleaning up of yards, garages, etc people with a MC address do you will have to haul that to the nearest landfill outside the 28E agreement, which would be Lake Mills as if there is no agreement with the Landfill of North Iowa no Mason City citizen can haul their clean up to that landfill, so add the time to drive to Lake Mills, or any other landfill, then your gas to do so, then the higher tipping fees at those landfills, as the LNI has the lowest tipping rates around. It is all around going to cost the tax paying citizens of Mason City. A private company may agree to lower fees for a short time to get the business, but that won’t last long and then you will all pay higher than you are now. Is it a better economy MC wants? Because I live in such a small town all my shopping, etc is done in Mason City. I am thinking of changing to Albert Lea, MN. Mason City just does not make sense, putting people out of work to privatize hauling of sanitation, won’t save the economy of Mason and won’t save the citizens money. What are the real reasons for wanting to privatize the hauling of sanitation? Cuz so far, it makes no sense. Is it payback for something else that the Mayor and/or council members did not get their way on?
Gail, I do not support privatization unless everyone gets to contract individually with their haul. The city doesn’t need to do it for me. In addition, your information about what would happen with LNI is not correct. We already have private haulers working in town picking up garbage for apartments, businesses and even the public library(city refuses to provide service to the CITY OWNED library!) They are all required to tip at LNI. The agreement with LNI s nt tied to the city providing sanitation services.
Do you know these guys do not take breaks ontill job is completed. That the landfill closes due to high winds all the time, and these trucks go out on time every day no matter weather conditions, there is almost no turn over. Private haulers have huge turn over and high accident rates. Who do you call for a complaint if change is made, city hall? or out side the state as with private hauler. The private hauler hires managers from thru out the country with no trash background. Ask the questions before it’s to late. Also if there was a private hauler now would the city be looking at making it city ran? question the change!
Huge turnover and high accident rates?
PLEASE, back your statements you offer as fact with FACTS.
The DOT tracks and makes public driver and equipment safety data available to anyone. All you need is the DOT carrier number off the side of the truck to view the monthly report:
http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/sms/Data/Search.aspx
As a professional driver, I can tell you with authority there is so much Federal-level pressure on safety that:
#1) Federally regulated trucking firms are EXTREMELY cautious about hiring new drivers. With the new CSA-2010 ratings, trucking firms give potential new hires such a thorough history check, poor drivers can not get hired easily.
#2) CDL drivers with ANY accident – even one in their personal vehicle – can quickly find themselves unemployed for THREE YEARS! Yes, even a fender-bender in the grocery parking lot with the station wagon can get a CDL driver fired!
#3) Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is shutting down regularly and frequently firms that are not safe. They even watch the “principles” involved so they can’t shut down a bad company, change company names, keep the same equipment and re-open next week under a new name.
FAIR AND OPEN – I am a CDL, 18-wheeled truck driver, but am not in any way associated with the garbage industry.
So who started all of this?
If Bookmeyer is behind this and our city council members don’t stand up and tell him to sit down and shut up they should all go. The mayor is nothing more then a figure head he has no power and it is time the real elected leaders stand up and be counted. Hopefully this process will show we get a good deal for the service we recieve and the mayor will be told by the council that they are the ones that make the decisions and he should just sit there and have his picture taken with the chamber.
Bookmeyer definitely needs a coke and a smile. Man i CAN NOT stand his smuck look on his face. I can’t remember the last time I wanted to smack that sort of look off someone’s face so badly. Can’t wait to do my part and vote him out. Ugh! Hope he doesn’t do too much more damage before that time comes. Arrogant prick.
What ever department head it was that said that they don’t know what it costs to run the departments needs to be fired for incompetence. That would probably save the city between $60 and $80 thousand or more a year. Every department head turns in a monthly budget sheet, to the finance director every month. The finance director knows how much each department spends every month, so he can balance his books every month. For crying out loud, he has gotten awards for it. The sanitation dept, in a sense, doesn’t have budget, because it isn’t funded by tax money. But it does have a budget according to how much is taken in from garbage fees. Just like now, the fees are possibly going up, because, tipping fees at the landfill are going up, fuel cost is going up, repair parts are going up, etc. $9-$9.60 is a deal people. Does anyone know what dept head or city official made that comment, I’d like to know so I could ask him about it….and give him a piece of my mind. He needs to go….
You might want to go talk to the Finance Director. Your description about the budget resolution process is way off.
Annon – I beg to differ with you, but John’s right on with the budget process.
You will NEVER find a Bookmeyer sign in my front yard, to be sure, but I am strongly in agreement that you CAN NOT MANAGE WHAT YOU DO NOT MEASURE! If the city has no idea how much the sanitation department actually costs to operate, it’s time for change.
Okay, readers, we all agree that $9 per month we PAY in a bill is a good deal, but what if the actual, real-life, true costs come out that the city needs to charge you and me $33 per month (as a hypothetical example) to break-even????
Right now, I can nearly guarantee you the local taxes are subsidizing the sanitation department, because $9 per subscriber is WAY too low. To what level, is what I need to know… it’s what YOU should want to know also, so you can make an informed judgement.
Trucker Dave, the charge the city charges is the break even point. they dont lose money or make money off sanitation service.
One more time, read this slowly so you understand: if the city doesn’t know how much trash and recycle collection _ACTUALLY COSTS_, comparing the city’s monthly charge of $9.whatever to anything is pointless.
I took a look-see at rates around the country. It was interesting to note the extreme costs on the West Coast. In the Mid-West, rates were between free and $20 per month, when the municipality operated it. When a private company was involved, the cost to the residents doubled.
Many municipal operations bill one of three ways, either on your tax bill, monthly, or quarterly. The most innovative was the City of San Antonio, who has the electric/gas utility (CPS) do the billing for them.
Considering the size and scope of Mason City, we get good service at what appears to be a fair price. So why change? Why waste the time and money?
The city admits it doesn’t really know how much it costs to run their department(s)? I have served on a city commission in another Iowa town – the commissioners in that town had a specific budget for their department, and had to approve each and every expense.
Is this how our city works? Well, we got this pile of money over here… lets spend it until it’s gone, plus some, then we’ll raise the taxes, so next year we have a bigger pile of money to spend on who knows what??
The city knows what it costs them. They have to put in a competitive bid. Here is where Bookmeyer will get his way, the city will offer yard waste, trash, recycle, large item pick up and christmas tree pick up, for $9.60 per month. What we have now. Waste management comes in with trash, and recycle weekly for $8.25 per month. That is cheaper than the city, so thats a better deal right. Bookmeyer gets rid of city workers so he Wins. So does Janet, Travis, and Scott. Thats the whole point is to get rid of city workers. They could save money by getting rid of one of the two assistance Trout has.
It was free in omaha, ne. Plus i could put out as many bags w/o them stupid oranage stickers!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nothing is free and I guarantee that your garbage service in Omaha wasn’t. The City just hid the cost in you property tax bill. At least in Mason City the sanitation fee is set separately and all of the expenses are paid out of a separate account and not the general fund.
I have heard that some of the RFP’s have came back and they are not cheaper. But our great mayor says “I don’t lose!!” What a 3rd grade mentality. Mr. Trout is just doing what the mayor demands of him to save his ass. So I am sure you are about to see some financial numbers twisted like never before. Because remember what Eric said, “I don’t lose!!”. Bend over M.C. taxpayers and grab your ankles because you are about to get screwed!!
Holt started all of this. Now the loonies at city hall are wasting our resources trying to join in the “privatization” concept.
Here is the SCOOP!!
We are going to be paying much larger garbage fees to get our trash hauled if Holt or any private carrier gets the duty.
Privatization always ends up costing the taxpayers more money. The money the city saves in the budget will be spent somewhere else in the budget and we taxpayers have yet another increase in our monthly bills by having to pay a private garbage firm.
I hope the city council don’t fall for this BS.
Thank you KUHN! I’m happy to more leadership out of my At-Large Council Member Alex Kuhn. He is the only one willing to step up and do something on issues even if unpopular with other council members. After the murders he has been working with PD and now he is willing to stand up and say NO, I am going to go against this and stand up for our working class. GOOD JOB KUHN!
There are so many things that need to be said about this…I hardly know where to begin. I’ll speak to one issue at this time.
Twelve city employees would be affected by this privatization. If the City of Mason City is so keen on keeping jobs and bringing new jobs in – like the 5 jobs at ViCor, how on earth can they justify privatizing the sanitation department and losing those 12 jobs. Those individuals are doing a good job. Leave the sanitation department alone. They also are not breaking the law as ViCor is!
If it isn’t broke, it doesn’t need to be fixed. Leave things as they are!!
$9 a month. Com on no private company will be able to match this. They will start low and every six months to every year it will go up. How can they think anyone will be able to match this. Hey mayor stop looking for problems where there are none!. Don’t forget alcohol kills brain cells. -perfect example.
Just because they charge $10 a month doesn’t mean that’s what it actually costs. Wait for the city’s rfp before assuming it is the real expense.
Let me say this the City Sanitation Guys do a great job better than any private company ever will. Many of these men are hard working men who love their jobs and if you don’t believe me look in the mirror and tell me that you would ride around on the back of a truck all day and pick up your garbage and that of the guy who lives next door you that you may or may not like.
The only reason I can see for wanting to get a private company in here is to provide a source of kickbacks for many of the sitting politicians. Especially for the ones who get the measure passed. Private companies will put profit first. They are unconcerned with the people they serve especially if they have a long term contract. They will use their legal department like a 2×4 to beat down any issues that come up. Here is where the bribery comes in if they can’t have their own way.They will run their own candidate and all of us will be ass out. I don’t have a problem with politicians getting some grease for their palms cause well know that they don’t make a lot. But they need to keeps their hands off the basic services that such as water service, sanitation service and service that makes life easier for the core taxpayers in this town. GO monetize some where else.
I live in Hanlontown and we have a private sanitation company picking up our garbage at a cost of $25.00 per month (this does include water as well which I think is included in the cost per month of the current $9.00 in Mason?) , which is slightly more than the folks of Mason City will pay at 9.60 per month increased rate and I would guess that the population of Hanlontown is somewhat less then Mason City. Oh, the wonders of privatizing. Can I get the Mason City sanitation to pick up my garbage and reduce my rates by $15.00 per month? I thought Mason City city council wanted to create jobs? Won’t privatizing this put a dozen Mason City city workers OUT of a job? Just curious! I love this NIT site and the comments folks write! Thank Matt!
Gail, the $9.00/$9.60 includes on can or bag of garbage per week, unlimited curbside recycling with once a week puck up and unlimited yard waste bags, also with one pick up per week. Water, sewer and storm water are additional charges. My bill ranges from about $45 to $55 per month.
We shouldn’t be talking about the garbage rates BUT se should be talking abut the HIGH WATER RATES! Mine is close to $100 per month and we just had another increase…
Joe, the size of your water bill is under your control. If it’s that high, you should look at your lifestyle to see if there are some common sense ways to reduce your water consumption. If you choose not to conserve water, you’ll need to pay for it. I like the challenge of finding ways to conserve lots of things (I’m cheap) while still living the lifestyle I want. Of course, I don’t know anything about your household. Maybe you have bunch of hygiene-obsessed teenagers at your house taking multiple showers a day.
I don’t care if the sanitation workers work 6 hours a day and get paid for 10. What we pay for garbage service is so reasonable and I have watched these gentlemen on many occasions as they drive down my street and they do a fantastic job, at a job that a lot of people wouldn’t want to do. We are so lucky to have this service for our garbage and recycling for such a cheap rate. What is wrong with Bookmeyer and the others on the council who think this needs to be changed????? Do they have their heads up their butts? I am so sick of Eric Bookmeyer. I think if he wants this changed maybe as a protest we should take our garbage down to city hall, drop it on his and Trout’s doorstep and let them get their private company to come clean up the mess, and then maybe they will see how expensive private companies are. I for one will be calling every council member and letting them know my feelings on this. Next election, it’s time to get Bookmeyer out!
I dont care how many hours a day these guys work as long as when I get home from work my trash is picked up. I dont know how we are going to get a better deal then 9.60 a month for 50lbs of trash all our recycling and as many yard and leaf bags as we want picked up every week. I think some people on our council need to look into things before they are brought up.
If the price we pay and the service we get is just as good as other cities our size then what are we doing talking about this. Trout should be able to get these numbers in a day and if Mason City sanitation service comes out on top then let this issue die and move on to something important.
The sanitation dept works on the incentive program, which most don’t know was set up by the city over 50 years ago. The elite in this town, and probably most people don’t want to see their garbage setting in front of their house when they come home from work. One reason for that is the stray dogs, cats and the crows, they have a tendency to tear open the bags and spread garbage all over. Nothing like coming home from work, tired, and have to resack your garbage. Ofcourse there are some that would just leave it. Another reason is that the city doesn’t want to see garbage setting out along the streets all day presenting a bad image to people passing through or visiting. Other then vacations and holidays, there are only a few days a year that they don’t work, and that is mostly weather related, to much snow, icey, if you get my drift. Besides, who wouldn’t work with an incentive like this if they could. It’s too bad that the complainers can’t try it for a week and see how pleasent the job really is. I say keep it the way it is, we are getting a good deal for what we pay. One more thing, if you don’t have city garbage pick up, how can you complain about something you don’t pay for….or is it just blowing off hot air…
Well said John. If anyone rode on the back of one of those trucks when it’s 20 below zero or 95 above they’d whistle a different tune! Walk in their shoes before you spout off.
I can’t wait for two years when this mayor is voted out. I am sick of him wanting to make changes when things are working fine. Not everything is perfect but we don’t live in a perfect world. Why mess with something that is working? Let him go back and dream about the new office he wants to re-do. He won’t be in it long enough to really enjoy it. I have lived in towns where you pay your own garbage it starts out cheap and then they just keep going up and up.
Even though I have been known to bitch about our sanitation department from time to time they really do a decent job for a decent rate that holds pretty firm from year to year. My concern about a private vendor would be they give a cheap bid to get the business and then after a year or so they raise the rates after the city has lost all of the resources tp do the task. It’s been done before and it will again if we don’t watch it.
One way to control cost would be to pay the sanitation workers for hours worked. Most people don’t know this. Sanitation workers work six hours a day and get paid for Ten hours of work. That right there would be a 40 percent savings. How many jobs can you name that pay a worker for 10 hours of work and let them quit after six hours. The answer is none.
Apparently you are clueless. Have you ever worked in that department? Or have you ever done a similar job? I am quite certain you have not. Those guys work on an incentive plan, and they work more than 6 hours at a shot, and yes they get paid for 10 hours, as they work 4 days a week. They get paid for 40 hours, and they are all worth every dime. It is hard work, you have no idea. And the dangers, broken glass, needles, all kinds of things, including disease. Not to mention the smell. It is a back breaking work. Why dont you look at it as they are working on a salary, and not hourly, would that make it any better? And if you think for a minute that privatizing this out will be better, think again. You are getting an incredibly efficient and dependable service for the money you spend. Outside contractors could care less, and you will pay dearly, maybe not right away, but you will pay.
I remember a few years back when old Charlie Hammond and Dirk Jablonski wanted to change up the hours at the sanitation dept, and the workers asked them to come down and do a route for a morning. Both of them took the challenge and neither one could do the job for more than an hour. And that ended that. Maybe bookmeyer and trout should give it a whirl?
Working with garbage is garbage.
I too remember when the City tried to get them to work 40 hours. The workers went on slow down.Driving up one side of the street then back down the other.It took twice as long.Now they zig zag down the streets,which I think is dangerous, to get their route done quicker. I am NOT saying we should replace/privatize the sanitation department but it doesn’t hurt to look at it.
I think you are correct on this. Perhaps there is some room here to save a few dollars BUT privitization is NOT the answer. Our rates would definitely go way up. WHY are they even looking at this? I am sure it is the Mayor’s idea and the Lean program.
I think it is time to start getting votes lined up for people that will work for the people of Mason Ciy, instead of the selected few
Sounds like a good idea to me.
Our city crew does a great job in regards to garbage pick up…..Our cul de sac thinks they are great and we appreciate all their work…..do not change to a private company…..
I know one thing for sure is when the next election for mayor and some of his cronnies they are not getting my vote and I sure hope my fellow voters look long and hard at these guys.
Cheaper for WHO ??? The sanitation dept is self funded, supposedly through a non-profit organization, the city. The fees we pay on our garbage bill supports the dept. I have always heard that NO taxes are used to support this dept. What we pay for garbage pickup is nothing to what it will be if a private, (profit motivated) company gets it. There is no private company out there that can do what our sanitation workers do for $9.00 a month, and make a profit to sustain operation for a long period of time. I hope we get to vote on this, (lean) idea, and if we do, don’t kid yourself, it can’t be done for this kind of money.