Parkersburg residents submit petition to repeal Waste Management sanitation contract

PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (WTAP) — A committee seeking to repeal the City of Parkersburg’s sanitation contract with Waste Management presented its petition to the city clerk Friday afternoon.

Committee members Karen Rile and LaDonna Reid said they gathered 3,100 signatures from Parkersburg residents who hope to put the issue before voters. Rile and Reid said their effort was motivated by the sense that there was insufficient public input in the decision to contract out the city’s trash services.

“We just didn’t think it was fair to the people to have all the extra charges,” Rile said.

“It effects everybody,” Reid said. “Not just the council members and mayor. It effects everybody, and everybody needs to have a vote in on it.”

The committee members said they believe the city could have made better efforts to address staffing issues within the city sanitation department before opting to bring in a private company. Reid suggested they could expand employment by not requiring all sanitation employees have a CDL.

“You can resolve this,” Reid said. “Don’t go the easy way out.”

“And pay them a decent wage that they can take care of their families,” Rile said.

Reid said the public was broadly supportive when presented with the petition.

“It was just a whole, everybody, we all came together. So, it was bipartisan, and everybody was happy about doing it. There was only a couple of people who said no, and that was it,” Reid said.

In a statement, Parkersburg City Council President Andrew Borkowski said he supports citizens’ rights to petition their government. He cautioned, however, that nullifying the contract with Waste Management does not guarantee a better outcome for the public. “By nullifying the contract it could result in higher prices and worst terms for the citizens of Parkersburg,” Borkowski wrote.

Borkowski added that “the petition to repeal the contract with Waste Management in no way means the city trash service will continue.”

The petition will still have to be reviewed by the city of Parkersburg’s legal counsel.

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