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Saturday, November 22, 2008
New program a dirty way to treat garbage haulers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Buddy Johnson was about to step into a meeting when I reached him on his cellphone.
I wanted to talk about Gwinnett’s new waste disposal and recycling program. Johnson was scheduled to meet with his attorney to talk about that same subject — about the program, how it stinks.
In 1988, Johnson started Southern Sanitation Inc., in his words to get a piece of the American Dream. He epitomizes the small-time business owner. He works alongside 14 employees including his wife, collecting and hauling garbage for about 5,000 residential customers in unincorporated Snellville, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn and Loganville, his hometown.
“I wear many hats,” he told me. “There is no regional manager over me and all that.”
If everything unfolds as scripted, Johnson will lose his business and more than likely be bankrupt, for reasons beyond his control. In January, Gwinnett County will take over waste collection from private haulers in an attempt to streamline and standardize the handling of garbage and recyclables. Under the new plan, two firms — Advanced Disposal Services of Atlanta and Waste Pro Georgia — will serve the county’s 180,000 unincorporated residences.
Contracts for the six collection zones run through 2015. Residents will pay $20.45 per month through June, then the charge drops to $17.86. Yard waste removal will be $10 extra.
The county says standardization will stop illegal dumping, reduce the number of garbage trucks that barrel down the roads and make the removal of garbage more efficient. Gwinnett Clean & Beautiful, the nonprofit agency that will run the new program, even has a slogan: “A Greener Tomorrow Begins Today.”
Perhaps. But some garbage haulers see crimson.
The change means the end of business in Gwinnett for seven hauling companies, including Southern Sanitation. For Johnson, who borrowed and used his own money to launch the business, it’s especially hard. He could end up losing the house he’s shared with his wife and two kids for 15 years.
“In the garbage business, you are constantly buying trash cans and buying trucks,” he said. “You got a three-year note on the [trash] cans. Go buy a truck and it’s a five-year note. So I got a lot of debt. Without operating, I won’t be able to pay my debt.”
Johnson tried to qualify as a county contractor, but his proposal didn’t pass scrutiny. Contract consideration required a $2 million performance bond, something he didn’t have in hand, although he said backers were lined up.
Setting such a high performance bond has led Johnson to speculate that the county wasn’t interested in doing business with bit players. “Basically, this forced the small man out of business,” he said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. They designed this thing so that only the larger companies could compete. My employees are upset. They are mad. I’ve got one employee who has been with me since I started, and he says he’ll stay with me until the end. What’s worse is that it’s right here at the holidays.
“Ain’t that some perfect timing?”
So Johnson has secured a lawyer, who on his behalf has researched government-run garbage programs across the Southeast.
“They have me in a corner,” Johnson said before going in to meet his lawyer. “I have to fight. Something just doesn’t smell right. I don’t know how to show it or prove it, but this doesn’t pass the smell test.”
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