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Rockville activist fired up about trash
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Art Stigile takes the trash out to his curb. The Rockville community activist is offering a $100 reward to the person who offers the most persuasive justification for what he calls Rockville's "trash subsidy policy."
Washington DC (Map, News) - Art Stigile wants to talk trash. The Rockville community activist, who launched Rocktrash, a grassroots movement seeking to change the frequency of trash collection from twice-weekly to once a week in the area, says he’s prepared to offer a $100 reward to the person who offers the most persuasive justification for what he calls Rockville’s “trash subsidy policy.”
The Rockville City Council voted earlier this month to continue a policy of twice-weekly trash collection service to all single family homes and townhouses.
Curently, Rockville area residents pay $31 per month for trash pickup, which includes about $8 monthly to cover the second collection. Some area residents, such as Stigile, oppose the twice-weekly pickups saying it is unfair to charge them for a service they don’t need. They contend that the extra $8 charge for hauling trash is really a tax that the city uses to subsidize for residents who want twice-weekly service. Rockville currently provides trash service to about 14,000 single family and townhouses.
Stigile, who works as a budget analyst for the Federal Office of Management and Budget in Washington, says anyone who wants to dig into the contest must answer two questions:
* Why should the city subsidize the trash service of any resident who wants twice-weekly pick-up?
* Why the subsidy be paid by residents who want the cheapest trash service?
Submissions may be made online at rocktrash.org no later than Sep. 1. A winner will be announced at the first-ever Rockville Citizens Forum, in the works for September.
Rocktrash currently has 67 members, according to Stigile. The issue becomes significant as the city’s mayor and all four council member seats are up for election. Susan Hoffman, a incumbent Council member who supports the optional once-weekly service is running for mayor. Three others -- Bob Dorsey, Anne Robbins, and Phyllis Marcuccio – who have voted for twice-weekly service are also running for re-election.
Comments from Examiner Readers
9:51 AM MST on Wed., Aug. 1, 2007 re: "Rockville activist fired up about trash"
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8:15 PM MST on Tue., Jul. 31, 2007
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Gillian Austin said:
Thanks for writing the piece in the Examiner. I absolutely agree with the one pick up a week position. I understand the City of Rockville already purchased the larger bins! This will save money, it will save on the pollution from those huge trucks. When I mentioned that we have twice a week pick-up for trash, people told me that was very unusual. Let's be practical and make the correct choice.
115 agree | 89 disagree
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LonnieRichard said:
I agree with the trash policy he's talking about.
114 agree | 114 disagree
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