The Rockville Gazette reports that after impassioned testimony in a December 18th Citizens’ Forum by several Rockville citizens regarding that lack of process concerning a reduction in refuse services, Mayor Larry Giammo and Councilmember Susan Hoffman pushed for an opaque process to keep meddling citizens out-of-the-loop and in the dark.
Both [Giammo and Hoffman] abstained from a vote in which the remaining three council members [Dorsey, Marcuccio and Robbins] directed staff to schedule a public hearing on the matter before any changes are made.
Rockshire resident Charles Goldstein criticized some council members [Giammo and Hoffman] who ‘‘rushed to judgment” given the pilot program, designed to study the changes, is not yet completed.
‘‘I think it speaks volumes about how you want to move things along so quickly that you want to leave the people in the city of Rockville out of it,” agreed Irwin Charles Cohen, also of Rockshire, directing his comments at Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann and Mayor Larry Giammo.
Both [Giammo and Hoffman] abstained from a vote in which the remaining three council members [Dorsey, Marcuccio and Robbins] directed staff to schedule a public hearing on the matter before any changes are made.
Rockshire resident Charles Goldstein criticized some council members [Giammo and Hoffman] who ‘‘rushed to judgment” given the pilot program, designed to study the changes, is not yet completed.
‘‘I think it speaks volumes about how you want to move things along so quickly that you want to leave the people in the city of Rockville out of it,” agreed Irwin Charles Cohen, also of Rockshire, directing his comments at Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann and Mayor Larry Giammo.
Add to that Mayor Giammo’s stand-alone vote against all four councilmembers in a subsequent Citizens’ Forum to railroad the public hearing to a date just three days after the holiday season, making it impossible for many citizens to prepare and/or participate.
Above right: Mayor Giammo is featured in his upcoming film. Click on image for larger size.
Council postpones vote on changes to trash pickup
Opponents of once-weekly collection urge leaders not to be hasty
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006
by Warren Parish
Staff Writer
A public hearing on proposed changes to the city’s refuse and recycling program was pushed into February after opponents of service cutbacks voiced their concerns during Monday’s City Council meeting.
Several residents spoke out against the proposed change from twice-weekly trash pickup to once a week, complaining about a loss in service and potential odor and rodent problems.
While some defended the proposed changes, most speakers called for a public hearing later than the one scheduled for Jan. 8, just days after the holiday season and the scheduled close of the refuse collection pilot program.
Rockshire resident Charles Goldstein criticized some council members who ‘‘rushed to judgment” given the pilot program, designed to study the changes, is not yet completed.
‘‘I think it speaks volumes about how you want to move things along so quickly that you want to leave the people in the city of Rockville out of it,” agreed Irwin Charles Cohen, also of Rockshire, directing his comments at Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann and Mayor Larry Giammo.
Last week, the councilwoman and the mayor pushed unsuccessfully to approve proposed changes that would cut twice-weekly trash service and end side-yard and back-yard pickups. Both abstained from a vote in which the remaining three council members directed staff to schedule a public hearing on the matter before any changes are made.
Responding to criticism, Giammo said the city has been working on the proposed changes to the refuse collection program for more than two years. The changes have been publicly discussed and widely reported, he added.
‘‘Let’s not anybody pretend that this has been a rush to judgment in a opaque process, because it’s been exactly the opposite,” Giammo said.
Giammo and Hoffmann pointed to the results of an ongoing nine-month, 780-household pilot program that tested once-a-week curbside garbage collection and other changes to the recycling program in the Monument and Hungerford neighborhoods.
Both Hoffmann and Giammo live in the area served by the pilot pickup program. Goldstein and Cohen do not live in those communities.
Out of more than 350 surveys returned from the pilot area, 82 percent support citywide implementation, with just 6 percent opposed.
However, Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio has questioned the survey results, saying the question of once-a-week service was not put to residents directly, but was an inference extrapolated from related questions.
‘‘While my colleagues seem to think the citizens of the city are well informed, I do not share that view,” Marcuccio said. ‘‘I think they can’t be well enough informed.”
In a citywide survey conducted in December 2004, before the pilot program started three months later, 55 percent of the respondents said they would support once-a-week service if they were provided with a cart that could hold a week’s worth of garbage.
The council voted to hold a public hearing on the matter during its scheduled Feb. 20 meeting. Giammo abstained from the vote, saying he did not want to drag out the process.
Staff has recommended the changes to refuse and recycling collection policy in order to bring the city’s refuse fund into the black, reversing a negative cash flow trend that began in 1998.
Other recommendations include converting to a semi-automated collection system, implementing a variable fee structure based on consumption rates and providing residents with new recycling carts for all of their recyclables.
Opponents of once-weekly collection urge leaders not to be hasty
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006
by Warren Parish
Staff Writer
A public hearing on proposed changes to the city’s refuse and recycling program was pushed into February after opponents of service cutbacks voiced their concerns during Monday’s City Council meeting.
Several residents spoke out against the proposed change from twice-weekly trash pickup to once a week, complaining about a loss in service and potential odor and rodent problems.
While some defended the proposed changes, most speakers called for a public hearing later than the one scheduled for Jan. 8, just days after the holiday season and the scheduled close of the refuse collection pilot program.
Rockshire resident Charles Goldstein criticized some council members who ‘‘rushed to judgment” given the pilot program, designed to study the changes, is not yet completed.
‘‘I think it speaks volumes about how you want to move things along so quickly that you want to leave the people in the city of Rockville out of it,” agreed Irwin Charles Cohen, also of Rockshire, directing his comments at Councilwoman Susan R. Hoffmann and Mayor Larry Giammo.
Last week, the councilwoman and the mayor pushed unsuccessfully to approve proposed changes that would cut twice-weekly trash service and end side-yard and back-yard pickups. Both abstained from a vote in which the remaining three council members directed staff to schedule a public hearing on the matter before any changes are made.
Responding to criticism, Giammo said the city has been working on the proposed changes to the refuse collection program for more than two years. The changes have been publicly discussed and widely reported, he added.
‘‘Let’s not anybody pretend that this has been a rush to judgment in a opaque process, because it’s been exactly the opposite,” Giammo said.
Giammo and Hoffmann pointed to the results of an ongoing nine-month, 780-household pilot program that tested once-a-week curbside garbage collection and other changes to the recycling program in the Monument and Hungerford neighborhoods.
Both Hoffmann and Giammo live in the area served by the pilot pickup program. Goldstein and Cohen do not live in those communities.
Out of more than 350 surveys returned from the pilot area, 82 percent support citywide implementation, with just 6 percent opposed.
However, Councilwoman Phyllis R. Marcuccio has questioned the survey results, saying the question of once-a-week service was not put to residents directly, but was an inference extrapolated from related questions.
‘‘While my colleagues seem to think the citizens of the city are well informed, I do not share that view,” Marcuccio said. ‘‘I think they can’t be well enough informed.”
In a citywide survey conducted in December 2004, before the pilot program started three months later, 55 percent of the respondents said they would support once-a-week service if they were provided with a cart that could hold a week’s worth of garbage.
The council voted to hold a public hearing on the matter during its scheduled Feb. 20 meeting. Giammo abstained from the vote, saying he did not want to drag out the process.
Staff has recommended the changes to refuse and recycling collection policy in order to bring the city’s refuse fund into the black, reversing a negative cash flow trend that began in 1998.
Other recommendations include converting to a semi-automated collection system, implementing a variable fee structure based on consumption rates and providing residents with new recycling carts for all of their recyclables.
Copyright © 2006 The Gazette
1 comment:
I was at this citizens forum and was appalled that Mayor Giammo voted against free speach. I used to like Larry. What the heck happened to him?
Post a Comment