SAN JUAN ISLANDER EDITORIAL March 14, 2002

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How not to make changes

posted 03/14/02
Was the county's approval of the Waste Management Inc. contract to handle garbage and recycling a mistake? Time will tell. Did the process used to arrive at the decision stink? Yes.

Months of meandering discussions at the county Solid Waste Advisory Committee, a bid process supposedly designed just to gather information and operational changes prior to the signing of the contract left many residents with an uneasy feeling. Choosing to move forward without a public hearing also sent the wrong message.

The process used was unnecessarily long, painful and created a lot of ill will. Much of the time at the SWAC meetings was spent on debating whether switching to a comingled process was an operational or policy issue. A policy change required a public hearing. County residents would have been better served if the BOCC just went ahead and scheduled a public hearing. SWAC members could have then spent their time focusing on comparisons of different proposals to handle the county's recycling.

Listening to County Commissioner Darcie Nielsen tell residents the 1,052 signatures on a petition asking for a public hearing didn't matter was a low point in a long process which had many low points. She said there were 13,000 people who didn't sign the petition and she represented the whole community. In the past, Nielsen has been responsive to small groups of islanders. The fifty people who objected to the town and county's proposed land swap were listened to and that idea was shelved. San Juan Valley residents were listened to. The county spent $50,000 on a consultant to develop a plan just for them. The petitioners were just asking for a public hearing.

The bid process used was disingenuous at best. In September the idea of going out to bid was presented by county staff as a way to gather information. No commitments. The process morphed into a competitive bid process mandating the county accept the lowest bidder. The way it was handled leaves the distinct impression the decision to switch to comingled recycling was made months before the March 13, 2002 vote.

No one denies changes were needed in the way the county handles solid waste. Maybe switching to comingled recycling is the right decision. But the rotten way the decision was made is inexcusable.

--San Juan Islander Editorial