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Milpitas Post Article: Republic Services to put landfill change to voters

Republic Services is quick to respin its story (see link below) for the referendum.

January’s article  clearly stated RS had legal troubles which prevented them from bidding.

Republic Services General Manager Evan Boyd told the council that although the company only submitted a proposal for collecting garbage it would like to be considered for disposal service as well if legal issues involving odor complaints are ironed out.

“Given the legal proceedings surrounding the project we believed that in order for the city to contemplate using the Newby Island landfill there would need to be a number of issues resolved before that step could be taken,” Boyd said.

Now Republic is saying “City’s longtime waste hauler believes process used to select new waste disposer was not fair, competitive.” See article below.

Source: Milpitas:Republic Services to put landfill change to voters – San Jose Mercury News

Call to Action: 3 Major Decisions

Dear neighbors and friends,

We have reached a very critical juncture where 3 major decisions will be made on Republic Services’ Newby Island that affects your living environment. We call for your individual action to ensure citizen’s interest is not compromised. Show up & Speak Out!

If we don’t represent our concern in our own voice, then capitalists and lawyers will manipulate the legal and bureaucratic system to get a favorable decision that serves their interest without our voice being counted. Tell the decision makers your concerns are real and though you are represented at times by your city, community leaders or lawyers, that should not dilute your self-representation or be exploited.

Email your concerns to decision makers and show up at the following hearings:

  1. Newby Island Class Action Settlement (1-12-CV-228591)
    Decision Maker: Judge Peter H Kirwan, pkirwan@scscourt.org
    Key Date: May 6, 2016 Fairness Hearing @ 9am, Superior Court, 191 N 1st St, San Jose
  1. Newby Island Expansion Permit (PD14-014)
    Decision Maker: San Jose Planning Commission
    msyesney@gmail.com, ballardshiloh@gmail.com, nick@nickpham.com, Ed@Abelite.com, brian.ohalloran@att.net, sylvia.do@sanjoseca.gov, rebecca.bustos@sanjoseca.gov
    Key Date: Aug 24th 2016 @ 6:30pm, San Jose City Hall, 200 E Santa Clara St, San Jose
  1. Milpitas City Long Term Garbage Contract Selection
    Decision Maker: Milpitas City Council
    jesteves@ci.milpitas.ca.gov, cmontano@ci.milpitas.ca.gov, dgiordano@ci.milpitas.ca.gov, gbarbadillo@ci.milpitas.ca.gov, mgrilli@ci.milpitas.ca.gov
    Key Date: Collections Bid presentation (April/May TBD), Contract Selection (June TBD)

It is only through residents’ collective voices that we can win the war against the environmental injustice inflicted on our community. Time is now to act to be heard individually and show up to bring the citizen power to action!

Recent developments are appended for your reference. Thank You for your support.

Background Info:

If you are new to this issue, Newby Island has impacted the quality of life in Milpitas, Fremont and San Jose for decades. 23,000+ residents have signed the “Stop Newby Island Landfill Expansion” petition. In 2015, Newby received 19 regulatory violations (9 for public nuisance) and accounted for 90% of confirmed odor complaints. In the first 3 months of 2016, Newby received 4 regulatory violations and 800+ complaints were logged. Despite recurring violations and public objections, Republic Services continue to pursue Newby Island expansion to an unprecedented height, solicit new long term garbage contracts and deny any wrongdoing (class action settlement). For more information, visit milpitas-odor.info or like us on Facebook.

Recent Developments:

Class Action Lawsuit Settlement

  • 600+ opt-out vs 200+ opt-in claims out of 6,800 households by 2/9/16 deadline signified strong dissent over settlement terms and inadequate representation of class members
  • 90+ letters from residents outside “1.5 miles radius” objected to the arbitrary class definition
  • Suspicious addition of “Dawn Lepik” as a new named plaintiff on 3/16/16 “to protect the interest of the settlement class” after Dolly Wu (original plaintiff) confided to “not spend enough time to understand the facts and situation about the settlement”
  • Deadline extension for claims only and denying absent class members’ rights to object or opt-out constitutes bad faith and conflict of interest
  • Attorneys attempt to discredit high opt-outs as being influenced by misinformation

Newby Island Expansion Permit

  • Recurring regulatory violations and odor complaints in 2015/16 signify on-going problems. It is against San Jose Municipal Code Section 20.100.940 to issue permit that has unacceptable negative effect on adjacent property or properties
  • New odor study results will be revealed – Don’t miss it!
  • Bylaws is being amended on 4/13/16 where only 3 affirmative votes are needed pass a motion for the permit hearing (compared to 4 in the original bylaws)

Milpitas City Long Term Garbage Contracts

  • City is finalizing 2 separate new contracts: 20-year disposal contract (Part 1) and 10-year collection contract (Part 2)
  • Part 1: On 3/15/16, City Council awarded the 20-year disposal contract to Guadalupe Landfill in San Jose based on the lowest competitive bid. For the 1st time in Milpitas’ history, its waste will not be disposed at Newby Island. However, Allied Waste (a subsidiary of Republic Services) has sponsored a referendum to overturn Milpitas City Council’s selection of Guadalupe Landfill
  • Part 2: Republic Services are among 6 bidders for the collections contract worth $10+ million/year. Bids will be revealed and finalized by June 2016

Beware new referendum gathering signatures

Milpitas Residents,
Please beware of paid petition gatherers trying to overturn city council disposal contract decision. They’re using scare tactics (such as garbage rate hike) to solicit signature. In reality, the city council already selected the lowest bid.

Please alert your friends and neighbors to not sign this referendum.

It appears that the person collecting signatures is spreading false information. Please note that the city has not released any change to garbage fees since only the disposal contract was finalized (20% of cost) while collection contract (80% of cost) is still pending.

Specifically for disposal contract, the city council selected the lowest bid at $42.78/ton (i.e. Guadalupe Landfill in San Jose). City staff estimated that we are currently paying between $43-$50/ton to Newby. The consultant also revealed that San Jose City currently pays Newby $44.96/ton.

We are appalled that we have been paying higher than our neighboring cities all this while to smell their trash. We should support city council decision to go with the lowest bid and send our garbage to San Jose for a change.

Unfortunately Allied Waste is using paid signature gathers to acquiring enough votes to place a referendum on the ballot to allow the voters to overturn the City Council’s unanimous decision. Allied Waste has the ability to run an expensive campaign with misleading scare tactic messages. Allied Waste is a subsidiary of Republic Services.

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waste_referendum

Newby's Referendum Flyer
Newby’s Referendum Flyer