Altes, Sanitation Department trash fight could get ugly (Updated)

Using survey results from the city of Fort Smith, Bobby Altes is ready to defend a residential trash collection contract of which the Fort Smith Department of Sanitation wants to end in July 2010.

The Fort Smith Board of Directors, at the urging of City Director Bill Maddox, will hear from both sides during a Tuesday (Sept. 8) study session. The session is scheduled for Noon in the Community Room of the main building of the Fort Smith Public Library. (A statement on this issue from Maddox is at the end of this story.)

At issue is about 4,600 residential trash accounts in the southern area of Fort Smith around Fianna Hills. The contract Altes had to provide the service expires July 2010, and Fort Smith Department of Sanitation Director Baridi Nkokheli has asked the board to end the contract and allow the department to handle all residential trash collection in the city.

CLEAR SIGNAL
Altes, operations manager at Fort Smith-based Altes Sanitation, told The City Wire he is “eager” to rebut allegations by Nkokheli and others that Altes provides inferior service. Altes said he has a 10-15 minute presentation ready that will focus on the positive results of what he called a “slanted” January 2008 survey of the Fort Smith residents in the contract area.

That survey found that 71.9% of the more than 1,200 responses preferred Altes, with just 17.5% preferring service with the Fort Smith Department of Sanitation.

“To me, it’s just pretty straightforward. … On this issue, the people have spoken,” Altes said. Pushing the point, Altes said he would have to “question the signal” it would send to city residents if the city directors rejected the wishes of 72% of citizens.

Altes also said Nkokheli has spent a lot of time trying to convince the directors that Altes Sanitation is not living up to the terms of the contract. For example, Altes noted, the sanitation department has used photos of Altes workers dumping contents from a blue (recycling) container into a regular trash truck. What the directors need to know is that some customers use their recycling can for regular trash. Also, Altes said he intends to show photos of Department of Sanitation trucks and workers doing the same things of which Altes Sanitation is accused.

Altes said losing the contract would mean the company might cut up to 12 of its 30 employees.

“I would hate to see the city of Fort Smith … directly competing with private enterprise,” Altes said.

PUBLIC-PRIVATE INTERACTION
The private enterprise analogy, however, is problematic. The city of Fort Smith Department of Sanitation, which already provides residential sanitation services in most parts of the city, is established as a private enterprise fund separate from the city’s general budget. It has to operate as any business would, including generating revenue to cover its costs.

Furthermore, the department is solely responsible for the operation of a large landfill — more than 550 acres available with an expected service life to 2065 — that supports to some extent the business model of companies like Altes Sanitation. To that pure business end, Altes becomes somewhat of an unnecessary middle man in the perspective of the Department of Sanitation. And legally, a city that owns a landfill has the right to control the flow of waste in city limits to support the operational costs — present and future — of the landfill.

Also, the Department of Sanitation, which competes with the private businesses, is the only entity asked by the board to reduce its fee or provide free services. For example, the events for which the department has reduced its charges include the Fort Smith Classic, Riverfront Blues Festival, Fort Smith Air Show, Air National Guard and Kay Rodgers Park. The cost of reduced services and landfill fee reductions in the past two years totals more than $545,000. Private sector businesses like Altes are not asked by the board to offer reduced fees.

While no analogy is perfect, ensuring the capacity and funding of the landfill is similar to doing the same for the city’s water supply.

CITIZEN REACTION
Lea Taylor, a Fort Smith resident who is one of about 4,800 of the residential users under the Altes contract, has launched an Internet campaign to urge the city board to professionally review the contract. The campaign also seeks city residents to encourage the board to thoroughly review the facts of the case before making a decision. She told The City Wire she fears that the push by Maddox to protect Altes irrespective of the quality of service, the true cost to the landfill operations, or the ultimate goals of the the department will result in a contract being renewed with little to no analysis.

Taylor, whose advertising company once provided consulting services to the Department of Sanitation, argues that the quality of service provided by Altes is not as good as that provided by the Department of Sanitation. The quality of containers provided by the Department of Sanitation, assurance of recycling services, and professional appearance of all sanitation workers as a few of the reasons cited by Taylor Altes is inferior.

“I pay the same amount for the Altes service as the citizens of Fort Smith but do not have that same service. It’s not apples to apples,” Taylor explained in an e-mail interview with The City Wire. “Our neighborhood (serviced by Altes) does not put out trash cans anymore because they would end up tossed in yards and the street. So we just put out our trash bags on collection days to minimize the aftermath.”

The 71.9% Altes satisfaction sentiment does have a caveat. The satisfaction level with Altes in 1999 was 90.5%, meaning a growing number of citizens in the service area are finding fault with Altes.

“We have to be mindful of where that trend is (heading),” Ray Gosack, Fort Smith deputy city administrator, noted in a recent interview.

Taylor said her past work for the department and her problems with Altes provide her insight into the issue that many citizens don’t have.

“The relationship is however a reason that I have more knowledge about the capabilities of the (department) than most residents. This information coupled with my poor Altes service and aggravation of Maddox’s close-minded, questionable and disrespectful approach drove me to take action,” Taylor said.

Most of the route under review is in Ward 3. Several attempts to contact Ward 3 Director Don Hutchings were unsuccessful.

Updated info:
Following is the complete response from City Director Bill Maddox: “I am all for free enterprise. I believe that private business should be allowed to operate in any form and manner that they can. If this means in competition with government then so be it.

“By the way the Altes area being mostly in Ward 3 should not have anything to do with my job as a City Director. We all represent one city, Ward Directors votes count just as much as any other vote.”