Shoreview Newspaper Editorials, Press Publications
March 12, 2024
Shocking claims made in recent editorials
Recent editorials have made several shocking claims supporting government-managed trash collection. The first is that elected officials have a responsibility to provide this government service on our collective behalf. The second is that there is a significant cost savings for all. The third is that streets will last longer.
On the first claim, trash collection, tree trimming, plumbing, electrical or lawn care are not government services. Neither is auto repair, grocery delivery or haircutting.
On the second claim, a careful examination of rates in government-managed trash collection cities shows significant property tax subsidies, the addition of government employees to manage the program and forced billing of residents for services they do not want or need.
The public does not benefit from the city signing long-term contracts for trash collection, riddled with property tax subsidies, one-size-fits-all services and a myriad of fees. City staff should not be burdened with the responsibility of providing customer service, collection of bad debt or maintaining carts on behalf of trash haulers. A city contract means the hauler works for the city, when they would prefer to be working for you.
On the third claim, Shoreview’s longtime public works director Mark Maloney completely discredits the statement that fewer garbage trucks make streets last longer. He spells this out in an email to city staff on February 14, 2023.
Maloney states, “My point has always been that you will not find any correlation in Shoreview between the number of garbage trucks encountered on residential streets and the timing/cost of any future pavement rehabilitation projects. The largest factor in the timing and cost of future pavement work is the environment; UV radiation depletes the volatile parts of the asphalt, freeze/thaw causes and exaggerates cracks, moisture in the pavement structure and subgrade compromises the pavement strength, etc. So the statement that having fewer garbage trucks on any given road ‘will save tax dollars’ doesn’t hold water.”
Maloney’s original email and additional information about government-managed trash collection can be found at www.HaulersForChoice.com.
John M. Kysylyczyn, Roseville
Shocking claims made in recent editorials
Recent editorials have made several shocking claims supporting government-managed trash collection. The first is that elected officials have a responsibility to provide this government service on our collective behalf. The second is that there is a significant cost savings for all. The third is that streets will last longer.
On the first claim, trash collection, tree trimming, plumbing, electrical or lawn care are not government services. Neither is auto repair, grocery delivery or haircutting.
On the second claim, a careful examination of rates in government-managed trash collection cities shows significant property tax subsidies, the addition of government employees to manage the program and forced billing of residents for services they do not want or need.
The public does not benefit from the city signing long-term contracts for trash collection, riddled with property tax subsidies, one-size-fits-all services and a myriad of fees. City staff should not be burdened with the responsibility of providing customer service, collection of bad debt or maintaining carts on behalf of trash haulers. A city contract means the hauler works for the city, when they would prefer to be working for you.
On the third claim, Shoreview’s longtime public works director Mark Maloney completely discredits the statement that fewer garbage trucks make streets last longer. He spells this out in an email to city staff on February 14, 2023.
Maloney states, “My point has always been that you will not find any correlation in Shoreview between the number of garbage trucks encountered on residential streets and the timing/cost of any future pavement rehabilitation projects. The largest factor in the timing and cost of future pavement work is the environment; UV radiation depletes the volatile parts of the asphalt, freeze/thaw causes and exaggerates cracks, moisture in the pavement structure and subgrade compromises the pavement strength, etc. So the statement that having fewer garbage trucks on any given road ‘will save tax dollars’ doesn’t hold water.”
Maloney’s original email and additional information about government-managed trash collection can be found at www.HaulersForChoice.com.
John M. Kysylyczyn, Roseville
February 27, 2024
Response to Gardner’s letter
Mr. Gardner’s insinuation (Response on organized garbage collection) that Shoreview residents desire to manage their own service providers as “silly” is troubling. I have successfully negotiated my own collection rates for decades now and can do so again and again — something that the city simply cannot or will not do. His further assertion that consumers don’t have “much purchasing power” alone is just not factual. The removal of free market choice and competition has repeatedly been proven to be detrimental to consumers’ pocketbooks.
Yes, garbage collection in Shoreview does all go to the same place. As do packages delivered by UPS, FedEx and Amazon to our homes when we order goods. Will edicts from the city apply to them next?
While a single collection service would result in fewer trucks navigating city streets (one day a week, mind you), I can promise you the city cannot or will not be able to achieve similar service quality nor better pricing for residents. I have 30 years of negotiation experience with my collection provider of choice to tell you that this proposition is just silly.
Shoreview’s trend of dipping into our financial lives is further troubling. Street lighting fees and city taxation on our utility bills as examples are part of a trend by the city. Organized garbage collection on the surface may sound appealing, but I fail to see a scenario where I can call the city to renegotiate my garbage collection bill when the city fails to negotiate a rate that I could have secured on my own.
Hans Molenaar, Shoreview
Response to Gardner’s letter
Mr. Gardner’s insinuation (Response on organized garbage collection) that Shoreview residents desire to manage their own service providers as “silly” is troubling. I have successfully negotiated my own collection rates for decades now and can do so again and again — something that the city simply cannot or will not do. His further assertion that consumers don’t have “much purchasing power” alone is just not factual. The removal of free market choice and competition has repeatedly been proven to be detrimental to consumers’ pocketbooks.
Yes, garbage collection in Shoreview does all go to the same place. As do packages delivered by UPS, FedEx and Amazon to our homes when we order goods. Will edicts from the city apply to them next?
While a single collection service would result in fewer trucks navigating city streets (one day a week, mind you), I can promise you the city cannot or will not be able to achieve similar service quality nor better pricing for residents. I have 30 years of negotiation experience with my collection provider of choice to tell you that this proposition is just silly.
Shoreview’s trend of dipping into our financial lives is further troubling. Street lighting fees and city taxation on our utility bills as examples are part of a trend by the city. Organized garbage collection on the surface may sound appealing, but I fail to see a scenario where I can call the city to renegotiate my garbage collection bill when the city fails to negotiate a rate that I could have secured on my own.
Hans Molenaar, Shoreview
February 27, 2024
Garbage collection in Shoreview
Paul Gardner in the February 13th issue of the Shoreview Press stated that the city, on behalf of our individual residents, could make trash collection more efficient and cost-effective if the city negotiated as a large volume customer instead of each of us as individuals. I support this citizen-proposed idea.
Our government is an elected group of citizens voted in to provide government services on our collective behalf. Many of us give ideas on what they should do, and I like the idea of cost-effective and efficient trash services. This is a worthy pursuit of our city-elected representatives.
Trash trucks are the biggest and heaviest vehicles regularly going down our city streets and they directly impact the longevity of the street structure. Reducing the number of trips and maybe the size and weight are in each of our interests and those of our city staff and elected officials.
I live in a town home association, and I hope the city might include townhome associations that have access to city-run recycling services.
It is no different from joining Sam’s Club or Costco, where we pay a fee to lower our costs and the seller gains market share by having a large group of purchases in one place. Here, the city charges citizens one fee and the trash hauler gets a large volume of costumers in one location. A win-win!
Steve Petersen, Shoreview
Garbage collection in Shoreview
Paul Gardner in the February 13th issue of the Shoreview Press stated that the city, on behalf of our individual residents, could make trash collection more efficient and cost-effective if the city negotiated as a large volume customer instead of each of us as individuals. I support this citizen-proposed idea.
Our government is an elected group of citizens voted in to provide government services on our collective behalf. Many of us give ideas on what they should do, and I like the idea of cost-effective and efficient trash services. This is a worthy pursuit of our city-elected representatives.
Trash trucks are the biggest and heaviest vehicles regularly going down our city streets and they directly impact the longevity of the street structure. Reducing the number of trips and maybe the size and weight are in each of our interests and those of our city staff and elected officials.
I live in a town home association, and I hope the city might include townhome associations that have access to city-run recycling services.
It is no different from joining Sam’s Club or Costco, where we pay a fee to lower our costs and the seller gains market share by having a large group of purchases in one place. Here, the city charges citizens one fee and the trash hauler gets a large volume of costumers in one location. A win-win!
Steve Petersen, Shoreview
February 13, 2024
Response on organized garbage collection
There have been four letters in recent editions opposed to organized collection of garbage collection in Shoreview, including three responding to my letter advocating for the merits of this policy.
These letters were all very interesting, and I welcome the public debate. However, these letters seem to be counterarguments against arguments that I have not made and skirt the question I posed. That question is, "Could Shoreview residents get the same or better garbage service at a lower price and remove a few trucks from our neighborhoods at the same time?" If the answer is yes, it is an idea worth pursuing.
Instead, the letters suggest that having the city negotiate service on our behalf will lead to the end of the free enterprise and perhaps a slippery slope to authoritarianism. There are a lot of freedoms we enjoy in America that I will defend, but having the choice to pay more for garbage service because individual households don't have that much purchasing power isn't one of them.
An additional point: Did you know that all garbage collected in Shoreview goes to the same place? Ramsey and Washington counties own a facility in Newport that processes the waste. (It's a great place to tour, by the way.) Yet, we have multiple garbage haulers picking up garbage on our streets. How silly.
Paul Gardner, Shoreview
Response on organized garbage collection
There have been four letters in recent editions opposed to organized collection of garbage collection in Shoreview, including three responding to my letter advocating for the merits of this policy.
These letters were all very interesting, and I welcome the public debate. However, these letters seem to be counterarguments against arguments that I have not made and skirt the question I posed. That question is, "Could Shoreview residents get the same or better garbage service at a lower price and remove a few trucks from our neighborhoods at the same time?" If the answer is yes, it is an idea worth pursuing.
Instead, the letters suggest that having the city negotiate service on our behalf will lead to the end of the free enterprise and perhaps a slippery slope to authoritarianism. There are a lot of freedoms we enjoy in America that I will defend, but having the choice to pay more for garbage service because individual households don't have that much purchasing power isn't one of them.
An additional point: Did you know that all garbage collected in Shoreview goes to the same place? Ramsey and Washington counties own a facility in Newport that processes the waste. (It's a great place to tour, by the way.) Yet, we have multiple garbage haulers picking up garbage on our streets. How silly.
Paul Gardner, Shoreview
January 16, 2024
Garbage service
All those, including the letter writer published in the Dec. 20 issue, who are interested in forced collective garbage service should canvass their own neighborhood and convince their neighbors all to hire the same service provider. If they succeed, they’ve solved their own concern. If they don’t, maybe they will better understand why the city should not enforce everyone to use the same provider.
April King, Shoreview
Garbage service
All those, including the letter writer published in the Dec. 20 issue, who are interested in forced collective garbage service should canvass their own neighborhood and convince their neighbors all to hire the same service provider. If they succeed, they’ve solved their own concern. If they don’t, maybe they will better understand why the city should not enforce everyone to use the same provider.
April King, Shoreview
January 16, 2024
“Organized” garbage collection
A recent letter advocating for so-called “organized” garbage collection in Shoreview begs for rebuttal.
The writer asserts that only through government meddling can customers be assured of pricing equal to that of their neighbors. I have a different suggestion: Do what adults do or at least used to do before COVID-19. Talk to your neighbors. If you discover that they are paying significantly less than you, or that they have better service, switch haulers. That’s the benefit of competition.
I work from home, so no one, not even the writer, is home more than myself. Seven days a week, from sunup to sundown and beyond, loud, occasionally recklessly driven trucks circle my house. They are emblazoned with the logos Fed Ex, UPS, USPS, Amazon et al. By comparison, the Republic Services truck that slowly makes the rounds on my street once a week at about noon on Thursday does nothing to detract from my neighborhood’s tranquility. I very much doubt that the three haulers on the writer’s street “sound like a freight train.”
The writer asserts that cities with organized collections enjoy lower prices. He cites nothing supporting that assertion.
The comparison to single-hauler recycling is specious. Recycling is economically dicey at best. Multiple haulers aren’t feasible. And does the writer actually know that the current recycling collection is delivered at the best price possible?
City officials should be having serious conversations with residents about upcoming challenges facing local government in his high-tax, low-delivery-of-service state. Organized garbage collection, a solution in search of a problem, should occupy exactly none of their time.
David Fuith, Shoreview
“Organized” garbage collection
A recent letter advocating for so-called “organized” garbage collection in Shoreview begs for rebuttal.
The writer asserts that only through government meddling can customers be assured of pricing equal to that of their neighbors. I have a different suggestion: Do what adults do or at least used to do before COVID-19. Talk to your neighbors. If you discover that they are paying significantly less than you, or that they have better service, switch haulers. That’s the benefit of competition.
I work from home, so no one, not even the writer, is home more than myself. Seven days a week, from sunup to sundown and beyond, loud, occasionally recklessly driven trucks circle my house. They are emblazoned with the logos Fed Ex, UPS, USPS, Amazon et al. By comparison, the Republic Services truck that slowly makes the rounds on my street once a week at about noon on Thursday does nothing to detract from my neighborhood’s tranquility. I very much doubt that the three haulers on the writer’s street “sound like a freight train.”
The writer asserts that cities with organized collections enjoy lower prices. He cites nothing supporting that assertion.
The comparison to single-hauler recycling is specious. Recycling is economically dicey at best. Multiple haulers aren’t feasible. And does the writer actually know that the current recycling collection is delivered at the best price possible?
City officials should be having serious conversations with residents about upcoming challenges facing local government in his high-tax, low-delivery-of-service state. Organized garbage collection, a solution in search of a problem, should occupy exactly none of their time.
David Fuith, Shoreview
December 19, 2023
Why we’re interested in organized collection in Shoreview
A recent letter opposes the idea of organized garbage collection in Shoreview. I’d like to outline some reasons by some of us support it. It is just an idea now, since the City Council has just surveyed residents online to hear what people think.
Every Thursday on our cul-de-sac of 13 homes, there are three garbage trucks that run down our street. During the growing season, there are three more trucks for yard waste. Then, there is one for recycling. Those are 20-ton vehicles. I would like fewer of them on our street. In the summer with the windows open, it sounds like a freight train. At 7 a.m., kids are walking to the bus stop.
One argument against organized collection is that we have competition. Some of us have compared our garbage bills with a few dozen friends and neighbors. The price people pay varies wildly, even when we have the same hauler. Virtually none of those prices are as low as cities with organized collections. What we have now is thousands of households in town with a tiny bit of purchasing power. When a city sets the terms of service and seeks bids from haulers, THEN we have competition.
This isn’t a new idea. We have organized a collection for recycling.
I look forward to the city’s survey results on this question, and I hope that residents will keep an open mind. The result could be a quality service at a lower price with fewer trucks in our neighborhood.
Paul Gardner, Shoreview
Why we’re interested in organized collection in Shoreview
A recent letter opposes the idea of organized garbage collection in Shoreview. I’d like to outline some reasons by some of us support it. It is just an idea now, since the City Council has just surveyed residents online to hear what people think.
Every Thursday on our cul-de-sac of 13 homes, there are three garbage trucks that run down our street. During the growing season, there are three more trucks for yard waste. Then, there is one for recycling. Those are 20-ton vehicles. I would like fewer of them on our street. In the summer with the windows open, it sounds like a freight train. At 7 a.m., kids are walking to the bus stop.
One argument against organized collection is that we have competition. Some of us have compared our garbage bills with a few dozen friends and neighbors. The price people pay varies wildly, even when we have the same hauler. Virtually none of those prices are as low as cities with organized collections. What we have now is thousands of households in town with a tiny bit of purchasing power. When a city sets the terms of service and seeks bids from haulers, THEN we have competition.
This isn’t a new idea. We have organized a collection for recycling.
I look forward to the city’s survey results on this question, and I hope that residents will keep an open mind. The result could be a quality service at a lower price with fewer trucks in our neighborhood.
Paul Gardner, Shoreview