Roseville
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice has been actively involved in supporting Roseville residents' right to choose their hauler since 2010.
In 2013, the Roseville's Public Works, Transportation, & Environment Commission recommended government managed waste collection. The recommendation was forwarded to the City Council.
The Roseville City Council discussed government managed waste collection at their meeting on November 18, 2013. See city council packet. The council chambers were packed with citizens concerned about the issue. Citizens testified 2 to 1 against government managed waste collection. After two hours of testimony, the council voted 4-1 to place questions about government managed waste collection on a citizen survey to be conducted sometime in 2014. The council member who voted NO opposed any efforts to impose government managed waste collection upon the citizens of the city.
In 2014, the city council placed a question about government managed waste collection into a larger citizen survey. They received the survey results in May, but did not discuss them until July.
The questions and responses were as follows:
In an open collection system, like the City of Roseville currently has, residents choose their hauler from several different companies serving the community. Other cities use an organized collection system, where the City contracts with a hauler for collection throughout the city.
82. Would you favor or oppose the City of Roseville changing from the current system in which residents may choose from several different haulers to a system where the City chooses a specific hauler for the whole community?
STRONGLY FAVOR..........6%
FAVOR..................30%
OPPOSE.................33%
STRONGLY OPPOSE........13%
DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....19%
(WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Do you feel strongly that way?
IF A RESPONSE IS GIVEN, ASK:
83. Could you tell me one or two reasons for your decision?
DON’T KNOW/REFUSED......0%
WANT CHOICE............52%
OPEN/LOWER COST.........9%
ORGANIZED/LOWER COST...13%
ORGANIZED/LESS TRAFFIC.21%
ORGANIZED/SAFER.........3%
LIKE CURRENT HAULER.....1%
The presenter from the survey company pointed out to the city council that the number strongly opposed to government managed trash collection was twice the number as those who supported it.
As the survey results show, only 36% of the residents surveyed supported government managed trash collection.
The number one reason residents were opposed to government involvement in trash collection was because they "wanted choice".
Survey results, and resident's opposition to government managed trash collection was consistent with other communities that have been surveyed by government or Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice.
The local League of Women Voters chapter lobbied the council to ignore the survey results and to institute government managed trash collection over the objections of the people. They even falsely accused the council of not taking public comment on the issue, even though they attended and testified at a previous public hearing on the issue. A handful of members led by a retired state legislature attempted to browbeat members with talk about upcoming elections.
To make it clear to the public and city staff that government managed collection was not on the city's agenda, on a 3-2 vote led by Mayor Roe, the council voted to permanently stop any discussion of government managed collection, and prohibited any expenditure of city funds or staff time on the issue.
The Roseville City Council has taken no further action on this issue.
In the 2016 City Council elections, the candidate who most strongly advocated for government managed trash collection came in a distant last place.
The city's public works department has stated on several occasions that they do not support taking over management of trash hauling. The department has also stated that a reduction in the number of garbage trucks in the city will not improve the quality of roads and modify their maintenance budget.
Pavement issues in the city are primarily related to an issue called "delamination". This has been experienced by many communities and is related to resurfacing mix issues and bad advice given to many communities several years ago by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Star Tribune has covered this issue extensively, focusing their article on several cities including Woodbury.
Updated 1/13/20
Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice has been actively involved in supporting Roseville residents' right to choose their hauler since 2010.
In 2013, the Roseville's Public Works, Transportation, & Environment Commission recommended government managed waste collection. The recommendation was forwarded to the City Council.
The Roseville City Council discussed government managed waste collection at their meeting on November 18, 2013. See city council packet. The council chambers were packed with citizens concerned about the issue. Citizens testified 2 to 1 against government managed waste collection. After two hours of testimony, the council voted 4-1 to place questions about government managed waste collection on a citizen survey to be conducted sometime in 2014. The council member who voted NO opposed any efforts to impose government managed waste collection upon the citizens of the city.
In 2014, the city council placed a question about government managed waste collection into a larger citizen survey. They received the survey results in May, but did not discuss them until July.
The questions and responses were as follows:
In an open collection system, like the City of Roseville currently has, residents choose their hauler from several different companies serving the community. Other cities use an organized collection system, where the City contracts with a hauler for collection throughout the city.
82. Would you favor or oppose the City of Roseville changing from the current system in which residents may choose from several different haulers to a system where the City chooses a specific hauler for the whole community?
STRONGLY FAVOR..........6%
FAVOR..................30%
OPPOSE.................33%
STRONGLY OPPOSE........13%
DON’T KNOW/REFUSED.....19%
(WAIT FOR RESPONSE) Do you feel strongly that way?
IF A RESPONSE IS GIVEN, ASK:
83. Could you tell me one or two reasons for your decision?
DON’T KNOW/REFUSED......0%
WANT CHOICE............52%
OPEN/LOWER COST.........9%
ORGANIZED/LOWER COST...13%
ORGANIZED/LESS TRAFFIC.21%
ORGANIZED/SAFER.........3%
LIKE CURRENT HAULER.....1%
The presenter from the survey company pointed out to the city council that the number strongly opposed to government managed trash collection was twice the number as those who supported it.
As the survey results show, only 36% of the residents surveyed supported government managed trash collection.
The number one reason residents were opposed to government involvement in trash collection was because they "wanted choice".
Survey results, and resident's opposition to government managed trash collection was consistent with other communities that have been surveyed by government or Garbage Haulers for Citizen Choice.
The local League of Women Voters chapter lobbied the council to ignore the survey results and to institute government managed trash collection over the objections of the people. They even falsely accused the council of not taking public comment on the issue, even though they attended and testified at a previous public hearing on the issue. A handful of members led by a retired state legislature attempted to browbeat members with talk about upcoming elections.
To make it clear to the public and city staff that government managed collection was not on the city's agenda, on a 3-2 vote led by Mayor Roe, the council voted to permanently stop any discussion of government managed collection, and prohibited any expenditure of city funds or staff time on the issue.
The Roseville City Council has taken no further action on this issue.
In the 2016 City Council elections, the candidate who most strongly advocated for government managed trash collection came in a distant last place.
The city's public works department has stated on several occasions that they do not support taking over management of trash hauling. The department has also stated that a reduction in the number of garbage trucks in the city will not improve the quality of roads and modify their maintenance budget.
Pavement issues in the city are primarily related to an issue called "delamination". This has been experienced by many communities and is related to resurfacing mix issues and bad advice given to many communities several years ago by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Star Tribune has covered this issue extensively, focusing their article on several cities including Woodbury.
Updated 1/13/20