More than 100 angry White Rock residents gathered on the lawn of city hall this week to call on the city to rescind its decision to halt to garbage pickup for multifamily homes and businesses.
Signs reading ‘Don’t dump us!’ and ‘White Rock Council No Ethics,’ were scattered throughout the enthusiastic crowd that gathered at noon Monday to call for “transparency, truthfulness and equality for all citizens.”
“Today we’re here because city hall does not communicate with the people, they show us no respect and they’re stripping us of our dignity,” rally MC Bill Vigars said. “Today we’re here because city hall is trying to shut down the voices of democracy.”
The rally was spearheaded by a group of condominium residents who were unhappy with the way city council chose to make changes to the garbage-pickup services. The decision was made at an in-camera meeting in December; the public was informed of the changes – set to take effect July 1 – by a news release the city issued the following month.
Theresa Reilkoff, whose letter to the editor published March 3 in Peace Arch News is credited with galvanizing fellow residents into action, told the crowd she was “alarmed” when she first saw the news about changes to garbage pickup.
She said she called Mayor Wayne Baldwin with her concerns and was told the reason for the change was because some stratas were paying for both public and private garbage collection.
“Being the snoopy person that I am, I tried to find these people that have private contracts,” Reilkoff said.
“I was able to locate maybe two. Other than that, I could find no other stratas that had private contractors. So how could this be? How could the city make this change without consulting us?”
Officials defend the city’s decision and how it came about, noting it was made in line with the Community Charter. City manager Dan Bottrill told PAN last week that it’s not unusual to hold in-camera discussions when making decisions that would result in “some negotiations.”
However, the city’s reasoning did little to quell the emotions of those at yesterday’s rally, as shouts of “No more secrecy!” and “It’s time to join Surrey” could be heard throughout the demonstration.
“Eleven thousand citizens have been abandoned to find their own way,” Reilkoff said.
“Mayor Baldwin and councillors, it is not too late to modify this decision.”
The city is holding a public-information meeting April 1 that will, according to the city’s website, give residents “the opportunity to ask questions to understand privatization.”
A request for proposals, closing today (Tuesday) has also been issued on contracting out single-family home collection.
Friday, the city announced property taxes are proposed to drop this year.
It was unclear at PAN press time, however, if the projected 1.6 per cent dip, combined with changes to solid-waste collection, means taxpayers will ultimately be paying more or less.
Above video by Kelly Breaks; photo by Melissa Smalley
