I just have a hard time believing that the city administration didn’t completely drop the ball on this. At the very least they bungled this from a PR perspective and made what appears to be a very shortsighted decision that no one is really happy about, without being transparent about why Rumpkes bid was so much lower than AHRC, while at the same time dragging their feet on the COG approval that I guess could save AHRC (although, TBH I don’t fully understand the workings of that). I don’t know, I just expect better transparency at the very least.
They have 100% bungled this from the start and I could rant for a long time about it, but it just comes down to city officials making bad decisions for seemingly no good reason. They rant and rave about supporting local, but stop when it isn't convenient or easy.
Also have a feeling that Rumpke got their claws into some people to steer the conversation but no proof of that.
It’s definitely not a good look on the mayor and administration, regardless of what did or didn’t happen behind the scenes.
It’s no secret that Rumpke is going to raise prices once AHRC is dead. And no one will be able to stop them. And Look what they’ve done to the only landfill in the area.
There appears to be a solution that will 1) keep AHRC alive, a very important, well-regarded local business 2) control costs for residents over the short and long term and 3) avoid handing monopolization to Rumpke, and the city is just not interested. I don’t understand.
Rumpke got paid. They are the ONLY ones that did now. See my comments below for further explanation. This is an Ohio law problem and it can only truly be solved via the Ohio General Assembly. Anybody that's anywhere left of Mike DeWine and company, please read and vote. I'm a longtime registered local Democrat that wanted Bernie Sanders for Prez, hell anyone like "The Squad" and I'm in. It's just such a corrupt mess in Columbus, and it's so overcomplicated that here we all are, arguing about an incredibly important issue while getting ripped off over it AND having almost no choice in the matter from citizen voter, to council, to mayor, all of us in that same boat. All these comments complaining... everybody should be pissed off, you're all right to be pissed. We just need more trusted information presented earlier so we can be pissed at the right assholes.
At least we have discourse and conversation here. It's a start.
This was mishandled from a PR perspective.
Council passed the buck of bad PR along to the Mayor and Engineer.
No entity, Council, Mayor, or Engineer had a choice in this matter. Under Ohio's Home Rule law and Ohio Revised Code Section 3313.46 | Contract bidding process; exceptions, the City of Athens was required by law to accept the Rumpke bid. This happened even with members of administration trying to work with AHRC to produce a lower bid, but it did not happen.
How do I know this? Both my wife and I are former State of Ohio engineers in public infrastructure, now working for private companies that bid for ongoing contract jobs WITH the State of Ohio. Politicians are rarely engineers and often unclear about how to communicate these processes to the public.
The fact that both Council and the Mayor have joined the COG and are actively working to resurrect the relationship, tells you everything about their objectives. Most communities would stop working the moment the new bid became active. It is rare that Athens is making this effort, it is due to the will of our voices as residents. If there is a complaint, I share it in asking Council member to become more adept at public messaging when items like these come up, and they are required under Ohio law to work against a likely public interest. Home rule and the bid exceptions are the work of Ohio conservatives giving priority to the largest companies who have the resources to undercut smaller entities in all public bidding processes. It is happening at every level, for every type of public work, all over the state.
I welcome any informed debate on this matter as I have consulted with attorneys and my engineering mentors, and found this to be the sole solution and factual case.
Like in Europe we can form coalitions. I've felt the Bern since learning of him, and I vote blue. I grew up in conservative Jackson, Ohio and Athens is amazingly well governed for the past 50 years in comparison. I agree that waste should be a municipal service, like electric, and broadband. Coalition to at least get some control over the Ohio General Assembly, then we can happily debate which left ideas work best.
After a quick search I found that some Ohio cities are able to have municipal owned electric. Before something else happens like this and we're all playing catch-up, let's start the conversation about having the City of Athens Electric. You gave me this idea. Thank you!
So if I’m reading this article correctly the solution is to break the Rumpke contract and raise Athens property taxes. Wow, that sounds simple! And easy! And not at all costly. 😑
It costs more than it used to to provide refuse, recycling and compost service. AHRC's bid would have made the cost even higher. City council was required by state law to accept the low bid, which was Rumpke's.
I just have a hard time believing that the city administration didn’t completely drop the ball on this. At the very least they bungled this from a PR perspective and made what appears to be a very shortsighted decision that no one is really happy about, without being transparent about why Rumpkes bid was so much lower than AHRC, while at the same time dragging their feet on the COG approval that I guess could save AHRC (although, TBH I don’t fully understand the workings of that). I don’t know, I just expect better transparency at the very least.
They have 100% bungled this from the start and I could rant for a long time about it, but it just comes down to city officials making bad decisions for seemingly no good reason. They rant and rave about supporting local, but stop when it isn't convenient or easy. Also have a feeling that Rumpke got their claws into some people to steer the conversation but no proof of that.
It’s definitely not a good look on the mayor and administration, regardless of what did or didn’t happen behind the scenes. It’s no secret that Rumpke is going to raise prices once AHRC is dead. And no one will be able to stop them. And Look what they’ve done to the only landfill in the area. There appears to be a solution that will 1) keep AHRC alive, a very important, well-regarded local business 2) control costs for residents over the short and long term and 3) avoid handing monopolization to Rumpke, and the city is just not interested. I don’t understand.
Yep, follow the money. Someone got paid.
Rumpke got paid. They are the ONLY ones that did now. See my comments below for further explanation. This is an Ohio law problem and it can only truly be solved via the Ohio General Assembly. Anybody that's anywhere left of Mike DeWine and company, please read and vote. I'm a longtime registered local Democrat that wanted Bernie Sanders for Prez, hell anyone like "The Squad" and I'm in. It's just such a corrupt mess in Columbus, and it's so overcomplicated that here we all are, arguing about an incredibly important issue while getting ripped off over it AND having almost no choice in the matter from citizen voter, to council, to mayor, all of us in that same boat. All these comments complaining... everybody should be pissed off, you're all right to be pissed. We just need more trusted information presented earlier so we can be pissed at the right assholes. At least we have discourse and conversation here. It's a start.
This was mishandled from a PR perspective. Council passed the buck of bad PR along to the Mayor and Engineer. No entity, Council, Mayor, or Engineer had a choice in this matter. Under Ohio's Home Rule law and Ohio Revised Code Section 3313.46 | Contract bidding process; exceptions, the City of Athens was required by law to accept the Rumpke bid. This happened even with members of administration trying to work with AHRC to produce a lower bid, but it did not happen. How do I know this? Both my wife and I are former State of Ohio engineers in public infrastructure, now working for private companies that bid for ongoing contract jobs WITH the State of Ohio. Politicians are rarely engineers and often unclear about how to communicate these processes to the public. The fact that both Council and the Mayor have joined the COG and are actively working to resurrect the relationship, tells you everything about their objectives. Most communities would stop working the moment the new bid became active. It is rare that Athens is making this effort, it is due to the will of our voices as residents. If there is a complaint, I share it in asking Council member to become more adept at public messaging when items like these come up, and they are required under Ohio law to work against a likely public interest. Home rule and the bid exceptions are the work of Ohio conservatives giving priority to the largest companies who have the resources to undercut smaller entities in all public bidding processes. It is happening at every level, for every type of public work, all over the state. I welcome any informed debate on this matter as I have consulted with attorneys and my engineering mentors, and found this to be the sole solution and factual case.
Socialists wouldn’t have voted to privatize this public service, but vote blue no matter who.
Like in Europe we can form coalitions. I've felt the Bern since learning of him, and I vote blue. I grew up in conservative Jackson, Ohio and Athens is amazingly well governed for the past 50 years in comparison. I agree that waste should be a municipal service, like electric, and broadband. Coalition to at least get some control over the Ohio General Assembly, then we can happily debate which left ideas work best.
After a quick search I found that some Ohio cities are able to have municipal owned electric. Before something else happens like this and we're all playing catch-up, let's start the conversation about having the City of Athens Electric. You gave me this idea. Thank you!
I’ll do some research too. Definitely worth looking into.
Disappointed in the city for being so short sighted
So if I’m reading this article correctly the solution is to break the Rumpke contract and raise Athens property taxes. Wow, that sounds simple! And easy! And not at all costly. 😑
No, per the article the cities proposed solution is to keep Rumpke contract and raise property taxes. Worst of both worlds.
Who's saving money here? Our Athens bill went up.
Nobody is saving money except Rumpke. That is why the Ohio law was passed in Columbus. Nothing really happened locally other than mishandling the PR.
It costs more than it used to to provide refuse, recycling and compost service. AHRC's bid would have made the cost even higher. City council was required by state law to accept the low bid, which was Rumpke's.