More than just trash collection stinks in Gwinnett County

My interest and knowledge in the new plan for waste and recycling in Gwinnett has grown by leaps and bounds over the last month. My first post only touched on what really appears to be happening. I find it a bit amusing that Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful (GCB) was surprised ...

and is questioning the temporary injunction ordered by Judge Michael Clark yesterday. According to a document named SW_History.pdf, still available on their site, a similar ruling on July 16, 1990. This document states:

By the late 80’s, citizens and businesses were demanding even more convenient collection and recycling systems. The Gwinnett County Board of commissioners took action to meet these needs and updated the solid waste system.

In October, 1989 a new system was put into place. The new system:

* Required all residents to use a private hauler (some minor exceptions)

* Granted 7 year exclusive franchises vs. 1 year to private haulers

* Increased the monthly fees to $12.95/month, payable 3 months in advance with periodic price increases based on the Consumer Pricing Index

* Granted a $8.00/month fee to the disabled and senior citizens

* Provided for Gwinnett County to collect any unpaid fees thru a levy against serviced property

Some members of the private solid waste sector found this system unacceptable. On May 4, 1990, Independent Sanitation, an unauthorized solid waste hauling company, filed a lawsuit against the County to address their concerns.

On July 16, 1990, a judge in the Gwinnett County Superior Court ruled that the County’s 1989 solid waste ordinance was unconstitutional and void for the following reasons:
* No constitutional authority was given to the Board of Commissioners to take the action they did

* No bids were taken and this lessened the competition and encouraged a monopoly

* Citizen were required to use a designated hauler, not select a hauler of their choosing

* The County could not act as a debt collector for a private company

I guess they don't even read their own documents. Of course with all the uproar recently, the GCB site has removed many direct links to articles, like the one I quoted above. They are still there and as of today you can still find them using their own search function.

What adds to this case, and also makes it smell of corruption, is who the GCB is made up of. If you use that same search function and look for “advisory board” you will find many familiar names there. Many members of the board of directors are current county politicians, elected officials and sitting judges. Can you say conflict of interest? How could they not know this would be challenged? Is it any surprise why none of this was announced until 3 days after the election? Also, you should look at the amount of money involved. A portion of that monthly fee goes directly to GCB from the county. This portion alone is several millions of dollars. Then they want to collect fines as well as any revenue from recycling.

I say let's recall those responsible! A good site to keep up on this issue is www.trashgwinnett.com.

Let me know what you think in a comment.

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Superior Court Grants Stay of Execution for Small Businesses

In Gwinnett County this has been a very hot topic since the beginning of November. I briefly introduced my thoughts in a post about Gwinnett County Monopolizing a Utility. Last night this was put on hold.

In short, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners hired a private non-profit organization (Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful) to manage and enforce a new waste disposal plan for the county. Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful split the county in to 2 regions, and awarded each to two trash haulers headquartered in Florida, Waste Pro and Advanced Disposal Services. Payment for these services would be standardized at one fee and added to your property tax bill. They would also enforce recycling by levying a fine of $500 to those who did not recycle.

Two small independent haulers, Southern Sanitation and Sanitation Solutions, filed an injunction against this plan in Gwinnett Superior court stating it would put them out of business. They specifically sited two issues. The first one is the legality of a private non-profit organization doing the county's business by enforcing a solid waste plan. The second, was with the unfair bidding process setup by Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful favoring large companies by requiring large bonds and fees.

Late yesterday, Judge Michael Clark of Gwinnett Superior Court granted a temporary injunction siding with the two smaller companies. Until full hearings are done to settle these issues, things will stay as they are.

The court stated that Gwinnett County did indeed delegate legislative authority to a private corporation by authorizing Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful to implement and enforce its waste plan. The court further stated that this was just unconstitutional. It stated the following about the new plan.

"As a matter of fact, the court finds that Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful Services has the right to set rates for residential customers, to regulate and set fees for commercial customers, to set rates for registration of new customers, to provide enforcement by a sworn deputy sheriff for violation of the ordinances and agreement, and to choose exclusive franchise providers and service areas," "The court finds that all of these are governmental and not merely administrative functions."

Gwinnett County Clean and Beautiful has responded by saying they are still reviewing the ruling and considering legal alternatives. Coincidentally, the services site for Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful today stated “closed until further notice.” This is a relief for many Gwinnett citizens and at least two smaller haulers.

Those are the facts as they stand now. As for me, I totally applaud the ruling of Judge Michael Clark. But, I also just look at it as a stepping stone. In my next post, I will explain why this should not be a surprise to Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful and how this whole deal smells of Corruption.

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Gwinnett County Paying For a Monopolized Utility Through Property Taxes!

About ten days ago, a good friend of mine forwarded me an email informing me Gwinnett County will be going to a mandatory solid waste collection system in January 2009. Evidently, in April 2008, the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners adopted, and approved a new plan that designated Gwinnett Clean and Beautiful (GCB Services, Inc.) to implement, manage and enforce a new enhanced waste and recycling program. This is supposed to increase recycling, reduce pollution and lead to a “clean and beautiful” Gwinnett County. While this should be a good thing, I always have a bit of skepticism and wonder what it will cost.


Currently in Gwinnett County it appears that everybody and their brother collects trash. Right now, in my neighborhood noisy and smelly trash trucks are running about everyday, and on some days, we have multiple companies and trucks coming through. To be honest, I see more trash trucks than school busses. This should indicate something is really wrong. But one could look at this and say, it is “capitalism at its best”. Several companies competing for your hard earned dollars. This competition should imply better service at a lower cost. Believe me, I am one of the largest supporters of capitalism and the free market society; and I love to see it at work. But, in the case of trash pickup where I live, this did not happen; even with so many choices. Without going into many details, it appears that mutual price fixing was the name of the game here. Over the last several years, service and quality have drastically reduced, while prices skyrocketed. The prices were about the same no matter who you called. You would think I would be happy about a change, but guess what?

Starting in January 2009, only 2 companies will be permitted to pickup trash in unincorporated Gwinnett County. Advance Disposal Service Atlanta LLC will cover the northern part of the county, and Waste Pro of Georgia will cover the southern part. Since the service demand for each of these suppliers will increase, the operational costs per pickup should be greatly reduced. As a result, this should be reflected in a better value. One major problem with this is it eliminates competition for the consumer business, even between these two companies. You are assigned your provider with no choice. This tells me that we are being forced to move from free market participation, to a government contracted monopoly. We all know what abuses can arise with monopolies, so I won’t cover that here. If being forced to be serviced by a monopoly isn’t bad enough, just wait it gets even worse. There will be a phase-in period. From January through June, customers will pay a $20.45 monthly fee directly to their new agency. Good enough, I can understand a company wanted to be paid for services rendered. After June a $17.86 monthly service fee will be added to their property tax bill. What? This can only spell trouble.

The only possible benefit this tax item could have would be it might slow those who illegally dump their trash, or use their neighbors’ trash cans, by enforcing trash collection on each county residence. The probability of this is slim at best. What it does do, is collect money for services NOT rendered. Let’s look at it. If I decide to move and still have this house up for sale, I will be charged for picking up trash that I’m not generating. I will be able to stop other utilities like water, power, gas, phone, cable and Internet. The house will be empty and I will not need them. I also will not be generating trash at that residence, so why should I have to pay for that service? What if I own the empty lot next to mine? Like many have done, it may have been purchased because I wanted to give my family more yard space. I will now have to pay twice for the use of one service. The list can be endless.
There are many more ways this form of payment for a utility is bad, let alone being forced into a monopoly. Please let me know some of your thoughts in a comment. I’m looking forward to here what you have to say.

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