Council takes the lazy way out on trash decision

Anyone who reads this column with any regularity knows I fully supported the City Council’s efforts to mandate garbage pickup for Red Oak residents.
So needless to say, I’m more than a little disappointed in the Council’s decision to seemingly abandon that proposal at its meeting last week.
Waffling to public opinion, the Council decided what was a great idea several months ago was now a toxic one, with all but Ivan Craig voting to discontinue pursuit of any proposals.
Some of the Council, specifically Mark Gregg and Tom Pratt, cited public disdain for the proposal as their reason for no longer supporting it. Some of those opposing residents spoke at the meeting, and previous ones as well.
But as Craig pointed out, they weren’t really speaking out against a proposal, because there was no proposal.
It’s important to look at the chronological events that led us to where we are today.
Back in May, a local realtor came to the Council complaining about the town’s appearance.
A committee was assigned to assess the problem, and that committee recommended one of many solutions to the problem was mandatory garbage pickup.
The Council agreed this was an idea worth looking into, and solicited bids from consultants to conduct a study. After deciding those bids were too expensive, and that City staff could do the study internally, the Council assigned the project to City Administrator Brad Wright.
Wright assembled his facts, and the Council agreed to create a separate committee to work with the haulers in town to draft a specific proposal for consideration.
That proposal was never created.
In the meantime, the public grew more and more disenfranchised with the idea of mandatory trash pickup.
But more importantly, in the interim, more and more disinformation permeated throughout the community, fueling this opposition.
Some of that disinformation was even repeated at last week’s meeting when Pratt commented he had heard the trash hauling costs would increase to $20-$60 a month.
Really? Considering the committee charged with drafting this proposal has never once mentioned costs, I have to question the accuracy and reliability of that figure.
But it’s that kind of misinformation that has the public worked into a frenzy, and whey Craig was so frustrated during the meeting, accusing some of the Council of basing their decision on “untruths.”
There were several other objections raised at meetings, but again, with no proposal, no one knows if those objections are valid or not.
I can respect the Council for wanting to represent their constituents desires, and voting accordingly.
But in this instance, the decision was reached far too early. The committee should have been allowed to finish the task assigned and come up with a proposal for the Council to review.
It might have been perfect. It might have been terrible. Who knows. But at least then you would have had something other than innuendo, misinformation, and as Council member Craig stated, “untruths,” to base an opinion on.
Gregory Orear is the General Manager/Editor of the Red Oak Express and he can be contacted at publisher@redoakexpress.com.