Windsor ballot measure would trash competitive bidding for garbage contract

Supporters of Measure Q, backed by current hauler, suggest comparing bids may actually be more pricey.

photo credit: Courtesy GoogleMaps
Cans out for trash day in Windsor.

In November, voters in Windsor will be asked to get rid of a local law passed by Windsor voters in 1996.

That gave ordinary residents more say in local garbage service.

Measure is Q on the ballot in Windsor only. It would officially eliminate competitive bidding from the town's waste hauler selection process,

and dump a ten-year limit on those contacts.

Why change now?

Alissa Johnson is on the board of directors of Windsor's Chamber of Commerce. She also works for Windsor's current trash hauler, Sonoma County Resource Recovery....one of the main drivers behind the ballot measure.

"All it does is repeal that measure from 1996. and gives the town the option to enter into garbage contracts for a term of longer than ten years. And it also allows the town to enter into negotiations for contract extensions without having to put the entire contract out for bid," Johnson said.

Approval of Measure Q would likely give Sonoma County Resource Recovery a better chance of securing a future contract, though Johnson said the company will submit a bid regardless of the outcome in November.

The measure's text refers to changing state regulations adding costs that haulers have had to absorb until being recouped. The measure says limiting waste-hauling contracts to a decade could shut out smaller, less capitalized competitors.

Deborah Fudge, who sits on the town council, said she hasn't really taken a position, though she said Sonoma County Resource Recovery's reasoning makes sense on one level.

"They have told me that they need more certainty in terms of how much to invest in a community. If they are trying to go for zero-emissions vehicles, those are very, very expensive, and they need to know, they've got a length of time in a community to be able to buy those vehicles and be able to pay them off," Fudge said.

In addition to trashing the split-recycling can, a 90s relic that had customers separating recyclable items, Fudge says the company is also considering building a local recycling transfer station.

That could potentially cut costs and emissions by enabling Sonoma County Resource Recovery to ship glass, plastic and paper to a recycling plant in Ukiah on fewer, larger trucks.

At the same time, scrapping competitive bidding also has a downside, "If a contract didn't go out to bid, then Windsor residents wouldn't know if another hauler would come in with a lower bid," Fudge said.

Nevertheless, she sees merit in claims that competitive bidding may not bring about the intended results--lower rates.

"It does cost Windsor and other communities, $500,000 to go out to bid...That $500,000 the hauler does pay for in the end, but, you know that gets rolled back into rates."

Sonoma County Resource Recovery is fairly well liked in the community, and little opposition has emerged.

Johnson rejects the idea that Measure Q's approval gives the private company an unfair advantage.

As a Windsor resident, she argued, if bills go up, she'd have to pay them too.

"It's not self-serving. It's, we are a good company, we treat our customers very well and we try to provide excellent service. You know, when people call our office, they are getting somebody right here in Windsor. We are a smaller company, we are able to accommodate our customers a lot easier than a larger company.

Aside from Windsor and Sonoma, served by Sonoma Garbage Collectors, the rest of the county is served by Recology Sonoma-Marin.

As to who charges less---much of that is set by disposal fees and operational costs, according to Johnson, with some wiggle room in negotiations.

Currently, rates in Windsor are fairly similar to those charged by Recology in Santa Rosa.

Having weekly pickup of a 20 gallon can in Windsor is about five dollars less than in Santa Rosa, while a 96 gallon can costs about two dollars more in Windsor than Santa Rosa.