Adrian Martinez, Staff Attorney, Environmental Justice, Santa Monica, California
After a 4 ½ hour hearing, including strong testimony from members of Don’t Waste LA coalition, the LA City Energy & Environment Committee and the Ad Hoc Committee on Waste Reduction & Recycling unanimously approved pushing a policy framework for an exclusive franchise system with strong standards. Yesterday, I posted the testimony I provided at the hearing.
This is a big moment for LA waste policy because at the conclusion of the hearing, these committee members determined that an exclusive franchise model has the best likelihood of success to achieve environmental objectives. Despite claims otherwise, after careful deliberation, the committees decided that they want to create a national model for sustainability in its waste collection for multi-family and commercial properties.
Overall, I was happy these councilmembers were not duped by proposals of opponents of strong reform who promised benefits overnight. Deliberating in front of a packed house that was listening intently, the councilmembers realized that fixing this broken system will take time and careful planning, and efforts to derail this strong policy framework should be deflected.
From here, the proposal will go to the full city council where the strong environmental/community/labor coalition will have lots of momentum. It will be nice to testify in City Council that the exclusive franchise model with strong environmental and accountability standards came out ahead with a landslide victory.
Photo from LAANE