Reader refutes garbage service column

Dear Red Oak Express

I would like to give a rebuttal to the guest editorial in the May 22 issue, written by Jennifer Horner.

Ms. Horner, I certainly understand your frustration. I do not agree with having the city “contract” garbage service for us, though. First of all, it appears that your frustration was more toward a truck and trailer that sat on the street without being moved for a long enough time that they got towed.

Garbage collection would not solve that issue. At least the garbage was in a trailer and not being scattered over their yard. That's not much different from an apartment house that has a dumpster (a perfectly legal solution) that may only get emptied once a month.

In your circumstance, perhaps a better solution would've been to have a friendly word with the neighbor about their truck/trailer on the street. A lot of people (perhaps the neighbor) are really hurting financially and adding a forced trash bill to their debts would only compound their problem. I  know some single, older people on fixed incomes who can't afford “another” bill. If they only generate one bag of garbage every week or two, they can put theirs with mine and why should they have to pay for a service?

I see two big problems with your proposal and they have to do with the competition and freedom of choice and control. First of all is the control issue. Our government is in control of way too much already; why do we need to add “one more” thing to that? The other is freedom of choice and competition. Right now, we have two collection services in Red Oak.

We also have the availability of taking our own trash to the dump. So, we currently have at least three choices. Having at least two garbage collectors means that competition will keep the “paid for” services both efficient and affordable.

I can relate firsthand what government control can do for you in this area. I moved to a town outside of St. Louis in 2008. At the time, we had five different garbage collection services to choose from. We chose the one that seemed to have not only the lowest price, but also gave the best service.

They would pick up “extras” like pieces of furniture at no extra charge. Approximately, a year after moving there, the city council (without a vote of the citizens) decided to assign garbage collection to one service. They said that having so many garbage services caused too many garbage trucks to be on our roads. The garbage service that was awarded the contract was more expensive than the one we already had.

They required that you have one of the big square garbage cans on wheels that their trucks could pick up with its mechanical arm. If you didn't have one, you could rent one of theirs (additional charge). They also charged extra for “big” items, which they only picked up on one day each month. And you were required by local law to have garbage collection using this one service.

No ma'am! I don't believe I want the city making the decision on my garbage disposal for me.

Sincerely
David Thornton
Red Oak