All four Council Members voting Aye take money from Rainbow Disposal
Last weekend, we wrote that the Fountain Valley City Council had an opportunity to put the city trash disposal and recycling contract out to bid. All 34 Orange County cities contract out their refuse and recycling services, and per a city staff report, FV would rank 12th highest in per household monthly rate.
Rainbow Environmental Services (aka Rainbow Disposal, based in Huntington Beach) services nine other OC cities, sharing the market with five other companies per the OC Register. Last November, the Reg’s OC Watchdog reported:
Orange County governments have awarded more than 40 exclusive contracts worth some $4.5 billion to private trash haulers – most without ever opening the process to competitive bidding – even though local experience and scholarly studies show that competition can dramatically slash rates. The overwhelming majority of that trash business – some $3 billion worth – is tied up in what’s poetically termed “evergreen” agreements. These agreements never really expire and can renew into perpetuity, guaranteeing haulers a constant flow of dollars and millions in profits, virtually worry-free. There are exceptions, but generally speaking, the highest residential trash rates in Orange County are paid by folks in cities with those long-term evergreen contracts that have never been put to bid, including Placentia ($22.66 per month), Stanton ($21.09), Anaheim ($19.90), Yorba Linda ($19.56) and Huntington Beach ($19.39). Continue reading
Last May, the Fountain Valley City Council did the right thing by notifying city residents of an upcoming increase in trash hauling fees, partly by long-time provider 
