Solid waste challenges explained

I would like to respond to Mr. Anderson on fixing the solid waste woes article. He called it bureaucratic nincompoopery. It would be that if we followed his direction and simply threw money at it. I wish it were that simple.

How do I know this? I was one of the people who started the Solid Waste Department in 1986. I worked there for 28 years, so I do have some knowledge on the subject.

Instead of berating and making fun, Mr. Anderson should maybe gain some knowledge of the situation.

The Solid Waste Department receives no tax money. It only gets fee money, part of which is collected on the tax bill, but it is not a tax. That is because it is an enterprise fund and it has to be competitive. The department has to be run like a business, which it is. Yes, competitive.

The Solid Waste Department operates a state-of-the-art landfill, transfer stations, and the rural sites, along with hazardous waste collection and recycling.

Why must it be competitive with the private sector? Imagine if one company operated all of the aforementioned services. There would be no cost control and services like garbage collection would rise. The Solid Waste Department has worked with these companies for decades and it has been a good partnership.

In regard to the overall solid waste system, it is not as easy as it sounds. More pickups? That gets very expensive as some of these sites are miles away from the transfer stations and landfill. More dumpsters? I have seen summers where it took two garbage trucks to keep up with the dumping at a single site, and then when they became full and had to dump the trucks, the dumpsters were again full.

Have Sheriff Bob write tickets? He doesn't have the resources now to keep up with the bad guys, and believe me, tickets are not a deterrent. We once hired a full-time deputy to patrol these sites. It didn't work.

Have the prosecutor prosecute? Been there, done that. The fines don't bother these abusers. The court system also does not have the resources to go after these folks. Do you want the bad guys in jail or garbage offenders fined? Yes people will fight the ticket so it has to go to court. The department also has a full-time employee who tries to enforce the rules, but with limited success.

The real problem? Ignorance and arrogance is the problem. That is one reason for the stickers: Education, as we have many new people in our area.

The employees on the staffed rural sites are threatened daily when they try to enforce rules. One of my employees was actually beat up when trying to enforce the rules. One customer, when told he couldn't dump paint at one of the sites, popped the lids off the cans and poured the paint on the ground, just to show us he could do what he wanted.

The solution? Eliminate the sites, ha, ha. I would never advocate for that. Then we could go back to the old days when we had illegal dumps all over our beautiful county.

These sites provide a safe, clean method of disposal for our rural citizens. Boise, until recently, required you to go to the landfill to dump. We decided a better service should be provided. Is it perfect? What is perfect?

Instead of making so-called funny remarks, thank your folks at the Solid Waste Department for the system that's the envy of the state and much of the nation. You won't find many places where a system like ours is so affordable and easily accessible.

Oh, did you notice the increase in solid waste fees? Didn't think so. After years of no increases, they actually went down.

I could go on and on with stories and tried solutions of 28 years. It is not an easy fix. You're welcome for the safe and secure site you probably use at Athol. It did not come easily.

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Roger Saterfiel is a Hayden resident.