Morning News Round-Up -- 5.18.10: Garbage Saga, The Original, Continues...

Ah, we thought the original Garbage Saga had ended and was giving way to the new Garbage Saga II in Pacifica... actually, Menlo Park and Atherton are asking questions about the original Garbage Saga and those two towns are pissed about it. (What aren't they pissed about though...) You see, the current garbage company, Allied Waste, signed a contract with Teamsters that extends beyond Allied Waste's contract with Peninsula cities... and it is pretty generous. Of course, Allied Waste won't be on the hook to pay it, and really, the new company that will take over in January, Recology, won't be on the hook either, garbage customers will be. Which puts the overseer of the garbage companies, Kevin McCarthy in a tough spot explaining things:

"On the face of it, it doesn't seem unreasonable. Certainly, I think we would have liked to have seen a shorter term. To say it's awkward to have a lame-duck service provider negotiating future agreements ... well, it's a very awkward situation."

What?!

There is no way you have forgotten about the series of sexual assaults at the County's psych ward perpetrated by patients on other patients... well, investigators are going to look to see if employees could have done something to prevent these attacks. Y'think? The psych unit isgetting another night nurse and security officer to help make things a bit more secure. Sounds like that move is a bit overdue...

A new housing proposal in San Mateo will be 50 percent affordable housing units developed in partnership between the Mid-Peninsula Housing Coalition and Palo Alto Partners...

SSF Unified may go to the ballot in November for a bond measure... which bucks the trend of school districts going for parcel taxes. Bonds can't be used for operating expenses, just for bricks and mortar...

Dude... the Blue Heaven Collective, a medical-marijuana dispensary, was denied its license by the County. To be continued... no doubt.

Burlingame Voice shows that it knows and cares about something other than High-Speed Rail as they dive into the ongoing negotiations between Burlingame and their Police Department over pension and benefits. The Voice also shows they have a very good sense of humor, calling yesterday's piece: Friends with Benefits... (If you don't know what this funny, you are not hip at all...)

The Tour of California rolls through the Bay Area today and tomorrow... So shave your legs and head out...

Jerry Hill…one last garbage move on his way to Sacramento

Apparently Supervisor-turned-Assemblymember Jerry Hill hasn’t been too busy getting his staff together to continue to dog (or Watch Dog) the local garbage agency.

In a press release, he calls for the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury to investigate the operation contract the South Bayside Waste Management Authority awarded for their Shoreway facility in San Carlos.

Watch Dog readers will remember some of the past highlights of this saga…and for you newbies, check out the timeline here.

But if you don’t have time for the full history, here is a brief. The SBWMA oversees the garbage contracts and they awarded a new contract for pick-up and a new contract for the Shoreway facility that deals with the trash/recycling that is picked up. Seems pretty straightforward…except…

The current contractor, Allied Waste, didn’t get these new contracts and they weren’t going down quietly. In fact, they claimed that the Shoreway facility could be rebuilt for a fraction of the cost the government agency (SBWMA) thought it could be built for. Allied complained loudly to everyone.

When the new contracts came for County approval, Jerry Hill looked into the bid process and didn’t like what he saw. He criticized SBWMA’s chief Kevin McCarthy. Kevin McCarthy fired back by ginning up letters from bidders. The newspaper found out that the letters were solicited by McCarthy, and Hill got really mad.

Fortunately for McCarthy, Hill is headed up to Sacramento shortly to become an Assemblymember. Unfortunately for McCarthy, Hill asking for an investigation will likely lead to one by the Civil Grand Jury. And it is assured that the Civil Grand Jury investigation will be a lot more thorough and a lot less friendly than the internal audit that McCarthy ended up doing on his own organization.

This is the same Civil Grand Jury that continues to haunt the goings on in Atherton Town government. Expect the same of the Civil Grand Jury as they look into McCarthy, his Board, his staff, and the contract process.