Alderman Sandy Weidner is pushing forward with her request to hold a referendum this spring on recycling carts in Racine.
In a brief interview, City Attorney Rob Weber laid out a few potential obstacles to the referendum:
1. It would need to be an advisory referendum. State law says a city can't hold a binding referendum to repeal a budget item, Weber said.
2. Any decision to overturn the recycling carts, which were included in the city budget, would require a two-thirds vote by the City Council. That means 10 aldermen would have to oppose the carts. Efforts to pull the carts out of the 2010 city budget attracted three and four votes - not nearly enough to overturn the decision.
3. There's an issue of practicality. The city has issued request-for-proposals to buy the bins, and official are moving forward with the 2010 budget item. Any referendum would require the city to slow its plans to distribute bins this spring.
That said, Weber said it was possible to place the advisory referendum on the spring ballot. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the item at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Feb. 2.
This MUST happen. Govern for the people. Let the people speak! Put it to a referendum! It's the right thing to do! If it cost the city money, so be it, another reason Dickert is a sinking ship!
ReplyDeleteBring on the bins. I for one, can't wait to have mine.
ReplyDeleteWhat should go to referendum? Everything? Any new spending? Just new spending that people get a stick up their butts about?
ReplyDeleteSo-called conservatives made fun of Clinton for governing by the polls. Now, when they don't like something they want the city to govern the same way.
Just how did conservatives (or so-called?)get blamed for this? This is brought about by the people.
ReplyDeleteThe bigger issue from my point of view is how did our system of government get to this stage of its evolution? An advisory referendum after the deal is done seems cadywhompus to me. Understanding that issues can be difficult is one thing, but to have elected officials bypass their constituents to further ANY agenda is wrong, just plain wrong.
ReplyDeleteA pilot program to show the supposed benefits of these carts could have been done. And to say that we are too far along to stop this process is also a crime. A majority of the residents tell their alderman no, ten alderman vote no,(it's happened before, folks) And VIOLA. Now that wasn't so hard, was it?
This article seems to imply the will of the majority is an inconvenience to the governing body. WHAT"S UP WITH THAT?
The issue with the carts is to me what they are not telling us we could have had a company come to Racine do this same effort and pay the home owners a fee to pick up the recycling. I was told no because this would cost city workers jobs. Wow I later found out that the trash routes are going to be reduced costing jobs. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteMight it be the extra 2 million that John gets to play with?
Might it be the bid that yet another crony of the Mayor might get?
The "will of the majority is an inconvenience" to Rick Jones. His Ego can not stand a defeat. He controls the City Council - they are afraid of him and will not vote against something he wants even though the*people" of the City say no. I wonder what kind of PR spin is going to be put on this issue buy the Mayor?
ReplyDeleteA Viola is a musical instrument. I believe the word you were searching for is Voila.
ReplyDelete"The issue with the carts is to me what they are not telling us we could have had a company come to Racine do this same effort and pay the home owners a fee to pick up the recycling. "
ReplyDeleteDo you have details on this?
It's my understanding that the city already had the bins long before it even passed the council...
ReplyDeleteCan anyone check that out...
Talk about putting the cart before the horse.
( sorry couldn't resist )
Maybe that's why they don't want to ask the taxpayers.
7:28
ReplyDeletehttps://www.recyclebank.com/
Other companies too. That however mean the public get then benefit not The City.
Amanda - good for you, but what about individual with disabilities? What about seniors? And add in the snow and ice this will make it vitually impossible for them. This is not about money, it's consideration for those individuals that I cited. They deserve more from the city than this. for some it is difficult enough to use the blue bags. We must stop this plan. Every alderperson in Racine should be called with outrage for this plan.
ReplyDeleteThe issue for me is that many cities are getting serious about budget cuts. They are not purchasing recycle bins. Where in Wisconsin or Illinois are they actually well off enough that they are purchasing recycle bins? The papers and online news stories headlines are all about touch cuts being made. Losing libraries and other more essential already established programs.
ReplyDeleteMaybe someone is cutting their program and we can have their useless bins for free?
so racine brings in viola, cuts back the city trash collection workforce then after a couple years viola complains they are losing money and wants more, the city increases the collection fee, no one looks at the actual cost of using city employees and the public loses again.
ReplyDelete"It's my understanding that the city already had the bins long before it even passed the council..."
ReplyDeleteYeah, the city bought 27,000 carts and has been keeping them where exactly that no one noticed them?
"Amanda - good for you, but what about individual with disabilities? What about seniors?"
ReplyDeleteWho takes out their trash now? It is easier for them to carry bags than to slide a wheeled can down the drive? Come on, get better arguments.
Lying John Dickert and his cronies are scared to death of democracy. Less than 20% of the voters elected him. Letting the people of Racine decide their own fate is the LAST thing that lying John wants.
ReplyDeleteNo level of government has yet to understand the TEA party movement or the reecent elections out east. The majority of this country is tired of the run away government spending, debt that will take generations to pay back of the borrowing stopped today and the out of touch elected officials. I hope the November elections knock out a lot of the out of touch elected around the US.
ReplyDeleteThis story is just another example of out of touch elected and appointed officials.
9:59 - let's see you do this using a cane or in a wheel chair. Or one of many other disabilities - you are an idiot.
ReplyDeleteI went back and read the story in the JT about these carts (from October http://www.journaltimes.com/news/local/article_80366508-bd1b-11de-96f1-001cc4c002e0.html)
ReplyDeleteIt says in there that the fee from the State went up $7 per ton. One of the letters in the JT said that Racine dumps 30,000 tons per year of trash. So, the state is going to charge us $210,000 more.
I don't think this is about tree hugging. It is about saving tax dollars. If the state raises the fee for dumping again next year, how much more will our taxes have to go up? My sister in Milwaukee says the carts work well and that they saw an increase in recycling when they started using them. If we also see an increase in recycling, isn't it logical that our trash volume will go down by an equal amount?
We all just read about the LED lights around the city. Those cost a lot of money, but it was done to bring our electrical costs down. Are you all against that up-front investment? Sure the carts have to cost something, but they will create savings somewhere else.
I like the cart idea. It will save money in the long run.
11:44 - apparently you are not a senior or an individual with a disability - nice of you to think about yourself.
ReplyDelete11:50 - Seniors and people with disabilities pay taxes too. My uncle lost both legs and still is able to wheel his trash container out to the curb, and he lives in Green Bay! The person above just said it was about taxes not about whiny old folks that can't get past "what ifs"!
ReplyDeleteWindmills would save us all money too. I don't see them giving us all a windmill.
ReplyDelete12:31 - Your post makes absolutely no sense at all.
ReplyDeleteI'm not disabled and I don't want the carts. More crap littering the curb after pick up. More bins blowing into the street. More notification to criminals that I'm not home from work yet by having this sit on the curb.
ReplyDeleteI've used blue bags religiously since their inception. All my recyclables have stayed out of the landfill. It should be a choice, not mandated. Blue bags work if you use them.
Anon 3:42 hit it: it should be a choice not a mandate. No property owners should be taxed for these carts. If someone wants one, they should be made available for purchase and the city workers ( or Voila, Inc.) should be instructed to empty them, along with picking up the blue bags.
ReplyDeleteAnyone who thinks this is all complaints from conservatives has their head where the sun don't shine. This is a public issue, not a political one. There are just as many lefties and centrists complaining about this as there are those on the right. I have no place to store this huge bin. It will have to sit outside, and then UNIT will probably cite me for not keeping it out of sight.
I, for one, will stop recycling altogether if this is shoved down our throats. Let the city pay for that.
I, too will simply put everything in black plastic bags many of my neighbors plan on joining me. Some of us use the Blue Plastic Bags and would continue to do so, that ends with the carts
ReplyDeleteI'm an independent, neither Rep nor Dem. I do NOT want these carts. These are NOT gonna get people to recycle more. I agree it will be less and I will leave mine blow down the street when they drop it off by my house. Screw Dickert, all his ideas are failures!
ReplyDeleteDICKERT=FAILURE....party on lying john!
ReplyDelete"These are NOT gonna get people to recycle more. "
ReplyDeleteWhy? Because you say so? Do you have any proof?
"I, too will simply put everything in black plastic bags many of my neighbors plan on joining me. Some of us use the Blue Plastic Bags and would continue to do so, that ends with the carts"
ReplyDeleteWell, aren't you a bunch of whiny little brats. What the hell is wrong with you people?
So the city has already sent out an RFP? I wonder which of Dickert's friends is going to get this city contract?
ReplyDelete7:14
ReplyDeleteIts called civil disobedience. Note its going to get worse.
So, civil disobedience in order to piss away tax dollars. Way to stick it to the man... I mean, the tax payer.
ReplyDeleteGood work people. Thanks for doing the right thing. How many times does the city have to explain the honest financial facts to you before you get it?
Well done Graham. You are NOT the people's hero. You are NOT Paul Revere. You are Aaron Burr.
Tell that to Dr King how dare he ever cost any money to protest, God what's wrong with the back of the bus anyway?
ReplyDeleteThinking be a lot of fun the next time big shot visitors come to town and we dump a few cans full of recycling at City Hall. Maybe Mr. Racine will put a good spin on that
Civil disobedience - finally the TEA partiers have hit on it. We're not going to participate in your BS anymore.
ReplyDeleteCivil disobedience? You people really have lost it. We are talking about recycling. Just put your cans in the right bin and shut the hell up.
ReplyDeleteNo! The fight might have been sparked over the recycling bs, but this fight been brewing for sometime.
ReplyDeleteLet the great Garbage War begin!
Why can't we stick to the bags. We were quiet then.
ReplyDeleteThere should be choice, not mandates. The bins should be available to those who choose to purchase them instead of the bags. It was my understanding that there was some sort of punishment: ie, your garbage would not be picked up if you didn't recycle. What ever happened to that? We now have to give people bins, at taxpayer expense, to get them to comply with regulations? B-S..
ReplyDeleteI just ran out of blue bags, and will not go and buy a huge new roll. My recyclables are currently being dumped into the landfill, the first for me, ever. I feel terrible, but I will not comply with the bins either.
Burr was a traitor to his country, he did not commit civil disobedience; that is exactly what is being proposed here.
8:37 -
ReplyDeletePeople are paying for the bins through the $10 fee that they are all bitching about. You don't even understand the details and you are complaining? I hope the city inspects your garbage and tickets the hell out of all you loud mouthed, pea brained, tea bagger sons of bitches.
9:21 Wake up, It's about choices not $10. The cans are a monstrosity. This is just a dumb mayoral move plain and simple. If you would just educate people on the recycling process, ask people to really take part via web and channel25 and print ads, people will respond. But this is aload of crap and should not be forced and should not be 55 gallon behemoths!
ReplyDeleteI think YOU don't get it. The bins cost way more than $10.00. Your taxes will reflect the other percentage. Your intelligence level is showing in your choice of language usage and skills. Being a sheep is not an option to those with a functioning brain.
ReplyDeleteIt has nothing to do with the $10 - it is in consideration for seniors and individuals with disabilities.
ReplyDeletemonstrosity: an object of great and often frightening size, force, or complexity
ReplyDeleteYou find a 3ft tall plastic cart to be of frightening size and complexity, but we should take your comments seriously?
No one has mentioned it, but the break even point for these carts is around 10-12 years!
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:30, another brain dead lefty, thinks civil disobedience is a way to "piss away tax dollars." What a dolt! It isn't we that are retaliating that are pissing the tax dollars away, it's YOUR stupid pseudo-mayor and city council that are doing that! Two million bucks on a project the vast majority of the citizens don't want. And who are the ones getting stuck with the bill? The property owners, again! Make this an optional bin program and only tax those that use them. Or let them purchase them outright. The rest of us are happy with the blue bags. But, no, these Marxist overlords at city hall shove these things down our throats whether we want them or not. You probably think that's representative government, but then your head probably hasn't seen the sunshine since birth.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I don't give a rat's patoot about being anyone's "hero." And if you want to point fingers and call someone Aaron Burr, you'd better do it at the pseudo-mayor and his trolls (like you).
It's not really so much the money, though it is another tax added to property owners that they had no input or vote on (i.e. taxation without representation), but it's really about forcing a specific section of the population to comply and pay for it, and that’s discrimination. What about all of the renters in this town that produce just as much trash as us property owners? Why aren't they being forced to participate in this program like us property owners? What about the seniors that are already worried about how they're going to hold on to their homes because they already can't pay their property taxes? Now they have to pay more and deal with a 55 gallon drum? What about the people (like me) that don't have a place to store this oversized garbage can? I'll tell you where the pseudo-mayor and his city council minions belong: we should dump them in the trash containers!
I think there's enough government wrong-doing to warrant a TEA party EVERY WEEKEND!!!
ReplyDeletePerfectly said Graham...
ReplyDeleteI don't think the Govt should be forcing people against their will to BUY a product and force us to use it. I am a huge supporter of Voluntary Recycling. If given the oppurtunity I would go to store and will buy this 35 65 or 95 Gallon container. BUT I do not wish to have it forced on me as a resident in Racine. I believe we should take a vote..and hold off on purchasing these items. I called my Alderman and I urge you to call yours and ask for a vote!
ReplyDeleteI just want to jump in here and make sure everyone saw this follow-up story on the recycling bins. This is an economic issue. The city pays $43 for every ton of garbage it dumps in a landfill. It pays $9 for every ton of recycling it dumps.
ReplyDeleteDustin, Correct, but how do the carts mean the amount of recyclables will increase? This is just a dumb idea all around. Keep the bags, educate the public....DONE
ReplyDeleteDustin, I've noticed that you've made not response to the Anonymous post of 1/28/2010 9:52 PM under the "City ready to purchase recycling carts; Bid comes in $400,000 under budget" headline. In that post, Anon says, "...the city does not pay out $9/ton for recyclables, it receives $9/ton for recyclables."
ReplyDeleteIs this person right? Have you, as a responsible journalist should, investigated that?