Good letter today in the Coloradoan from Eric Paul on the trash study issue.
We're seeing more and more of these letters as citizens begin to push back against spending $75,000 in tax dollars to study new and innovative ways to have the city tell them who they can do business with.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Question.... and an Answer
Let's clear this up once and for all (thanks go out to commenter "Jack"):
State law makes it illegal to limit the commercial customers for a trash hauler. In other words, no matter what the city does with residential trash hauling, they can't tell a corner store in your neighborhood which hauler to use.
Trash haulers will be driving throughout the city of Fort Collins even if council creates districts, essentially rendering the whole "environment" and "roadway maintenance" arguments meaningless.
State law makes it illegal to limit the commercial customers for a trash hauler. In other words, no matter what the city does with residential trash hauling, they can't tell a corner store in your neighborhood which hauler to use.
Trash haulers will be driving throughout the city of Fort Collins even if council creates districts, essentially rendering the whole "environment" and "roadway maintenance" arguments meaningless.
"Trash Districting" Intro
One of the biggest Choice issues right now in Fort Collins is this bizarre push to either create "trash districts" or form a municipal utility to collect household garbage.
Basically, there are a group of busybodies who want to tell you which trash company you have to hire. They've got their organized operation, orchestrating pre-written letters-to-the-editor. They've created this perception that they speak for a large base of support (yet it always seems to be the same names on the letters). The City Council has given in to their noise campaign and set aside $75,000 in the new budget to "study" trash districting.
Unfortunately, their arguments rest on taking away our freedom as consumers to choose which companies we hire.
Unfortunately, their arguments rest on some distortions, fallacies and scare tactics.
Hopefully, this little blog will be a voice in the wilderness.
Basically, there are a group of busybodies who want to tell you which trash company you have to hire. They've got their organized operation, orchestrating pre-written letters-to-the-editor. They've created this perception that they speak for a large base of support (yet it always seems to be the same names on the letters). The City Council has given in to their noise campaign and set aside $75,000 in the new budget to "study" trash districting.
Unfortunately, their arguments rest on taking away our freedom as consumers to choose which companies we hire.
Unfortunately, their arguments rest on some distortions, fallacies and scare tactics.
Hopefully, this little blog will be a voice in the wilderness.
Introduction
Welcome to the Choice City, Fort Collins, Colorado.
Unfortunately, for some, the idea of "Choice" is meaningless.
In Fort Collins today, some of your basic freedoms are constantly under assault.
Busybodies on City Council and among some of the activist groups would just as soon dictate to you just about every aspect of how you live your life - how often you paint the house, how often you mow your lawn, even what foods you eat.
Hopefully, this blog will be something of a counter-point.
Over the next few months, you'll see quite a bit about the whole "trash districting" controversy here, and maybe that was one of the prime inspirations for this project. But the problem is much larger than a bunch of activists who want to tell you which trash hauler to hire.
So stay tuned.
Unfortunately, for some, the idea of "Choice" is meaningless.
In Fort Collins today, some of your basic freedoms are constantly under assault.
Busybodies on City Council and among some of the activist groups would just as soon dictate to you just about every aspect of how you live your life - how often you paint the house, how often you mow your lawn, even what foods you eat.
Hopefully, this blog will be something of a counter-point.
Over the next few months, you'll see quite a bit about the whole "trash districting" controversy here, and maybe that was one of the prime inspirations for this project. But the problem is much larger than a bunch of activists who want to tell you which trash hauler to hire.
So stay tuned.
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