Will the Voters Remember in November?
By Dan Murphy
The problems that residents in the Town of Yorktown are having with their garbage removal has now reached epic proportions. After the July 4, Holiday weekend, Competitive Carting, the company hired by the Town Board last year under former Supervisor Matt Slater, has now decided only to pick up 32 Gallon Trash Cans, instead of the 64 Gallon Trash Cans that most residents now use.
About half of Yorktown residents did not have their trash collected on July 2-5. And residents are OUTRAGED, with a doubling of members to the Facebook page Yorktown Trash Talk from 400 to more than 850.
Garbage experts we spoke to said that while what Competitive Carting is doing is legal because it is in the contract, “nobody does this. Everyone has been picking up 64-gallon cans for a long time.” Why did Competitive do this now, six months after removing garbage with larger cans? “Because they can’t get to every resident and they wanted to reduce the number of stops and amount of trash they bring to the dump,”
Members of Yorktown Trash Talk are so enraged that the issue may become a campaign problem for the all republican Town Board, and Assemblyman Matt Slater. “Of all times to do this -on July 4th weekend, when we all have BBQ’s and have lots of trash? Whoever made this decision should pay at the polls. This can’t continue,” said one Yorktown Trash member.
Two Town Board members, Sergio Esposito and Luciana Haughwout, made comments on Yorktown Trash Talk saying that they will look into the matter. But what about the other Town Board members, specifically Town Supervisor Tom Diana?
“Where is Tom Diana? I want an answer from him about why my garbage is still at the top of my driveway three days later? Either this garbage company goes, or he goes in November,” said another Yorktown Trash Talk member.
Diana was appointed Supervisor when Slater moved up to the Assembly last year. But every Town Board member, (Esposito, Diana, Haughwout, and Ed Lachterman) voted with Slater to hire Competitive Carting over AAA Carting, who was the previous garbage company in Yorktown, and has dozens of other garbage contracts in Westchester and the Hudson Valley.
One member of Yorktown Trash Talk has been examining Competitive Carting’s financial submissions, which they are required to file. “For the month of May, after paying employees, Competitive had $70,000 left to pay fuel, insurance and repairs. It’s clear to me that they are losing money. They have asked for help from other garbage companies, but nobody wants to do it for free. He can’t pay anyone else.”
Competitive agreed to a 5-year contract with the Town that pays them $3.5 Million per year over 5 years, i with increases every year. But at a recent Westchester Solid Waste Commission meeting where Competitive was fined again, the Commission also found the 5-year contract invalid, based on the guideline that the Commission only approves 2-year contracts, unless requested by Competitive or any garbage company to approve a longer term.
This was the opportunity for Yorktown to void the contract with Competitive and return to normal garbage removal. One 89-year-old resident who has her neighbors help her get the trash to the driveway, doesn’t understand what the problem is. “Are you telling me that our Town government can’t make sure my trash is collected? I don’t have any 32-gallon trashcans. Are they the old ones with no wheels on it?” (name withheld)
Residents are now delving into how this mess all happened. “Was it really worth it, to save $300,000 over five years, for this crappy service? Is it that much to ask for my garbage to be removed in a timely manner, in exchange for my $22,000 property tax bill?”
One Yorktown Trash Talker said, “Before he left for the Assembly, Slater wanted to stay under the property tax cap. Some are saying that the way he did that was by saving money with Competitive. What a horrible decision. I wonder if his trash is being removed?”
More comments on Yorktown Trash Talk include: “To all of a sudden stop picking up because the cans are to large after you’ve been doing it for 6 months is absurd,” and “If they want a change to the situation they need to give notice to all customers of the change and at least 30 days for the rule to become in affect. You excepted all of the pails to this point. Can’t just stop picking up.”
