The main supporter and main opponent of a vote that would end the free garbage collection from single-family homes in San Diego clashed Friday on how the measure is described and how it could affect low-income families.
At a forum hosted by the San Diego Union-Tribune, they also disagreed on the possible benefits of using measure B to block garbage collection in single-family homes by private hauliers, and whether a city with so many prior financial scandals should trust to collect millions of rubbish charges. .
The measure, which could result in around $ 25 a month in fees for single-family homes that previously benefited from free garbage disposal, comes at a time when many households are shaken by higher gas and food costs, said Haney Hong, chief executive of the San County Taxpayers Association Diego.
“It’s a hard time,” he said. “It is the duty of our public leaders to be sensitive to the daily trials and tribulations of the average San Diegan.”
Council member Joe LaCava, who along with Council President Sean Elo-Rivera led Center B, stressed that the fees would not be collected until 2024 at the earliest. He also suggested that the council could delay any increase if inflation did not subside by then.
The measure would also generate at least $ 50 million a year in new income for San Diego that could be allocated to programs to support low-income families and neighborhoods, LaCava said.
Hong said another downside to Measure B is that it will shut down city crews as exclusive trash carriers for single-family homes, preventing San Diego from potentially transferring this work to private carriers in the future without another public vote.
“I’m not saying the public is better and the private is better, but I will say that competition makes everyone better,” Hong said.
Providing city crews with the necessary monopoly, he said, eliminates the pressure that would come with competition to cut trash bills.
LaCava noted that state law requires the city to charge no more than it costs to provide garbage services, while private hauliers have the right to charge more – which will be allowed by the market.
“Competition doesn’t always play out the way people think,” he said.
He also said that replacing city crews with private carriers would be a pain, noting that San Diego had recently bought dozens of new garbage trucks and hired many new drivers to comply with the state’s new organic waste recycling law.
“I am convinced that they provide the best service and the best price in the future, and therefore I believe that competition is not the right answer to good management,” said LaCava.
Hong said it was hard to trust San Diego to start collecting millions for garbage collection after years of city water bill problems and several other scandals.
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These include the city’s under-funding of occupational pensions 20 years ago, which earned San Diego the nickname “Enron by the Sea,” and the troublesome 2016 acquisition of an office building at 101 Ash St. as part of a contract that has been entered into in court disputes since.
LaCava said city leaders learned from past mistakes and that officials responsible for the scandals are gone.
“The people who made these decisions are no longer involved in the decision-making processes,” he said. “We have a whole new generation of people who are extremely sensitive to what the past looks like and how we are still burdened with it.”
Hong and LaCava also disagreed on whether measure B is accurately described by supporters and whether the description on the ballot paper is clear enough.
The language on the ballot paper does not mention the fees, instead it asks if the city should be able to recoup its rubbish and recycling costs so that all city residents can receive a comparable service.
Critics say the language is deliberately obscuring the price hike for single-family homes, which is virtual certainty if the measure passes so as not to lose support from them.
LaCava said news reports helped people understand that Measure B will mean new garbage collection fees for single-family homes.
“The word is definitely there,” he said. “The average voter understands exactly what this means and what is the purpose of it.”
Hong said supporters also exaggerate how special it is for the city to provide a free garbage service, pointing to other major cities such as New York that picks up garbage from all homes across the city.
LaCava said San Diego is unique in providing free garbage service to one group – single-family homes – but charges almost everyone else.