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

2. 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

3. 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