'Let's stick together,' Elyria sanitation coordinator argues against privatizing trash pickup

ELYRIA – City sanitation workers came to City Council's meeting in force on Monday to make the case that their work was invaluable to Elyria and any attempt to replace them would end up costing the city and the residents. Purvie Smallwood, Project Works Coordinator for the Sanitation Department, showed up because the city had sought bids from several private waste collection companies on what they would charge to do Elyria's trash pickup. "Let's stick together," Smallwood said to Council. "We'll do what we have got to do on our end, do what you have to do on your end to help us stay here. I know there's some of you that want to get rid of us, I'm not pointing any fingers, that's where you're at with it. But I know these men do a hell of a job, and I make sure my men do what we have to do. I put my heart into my job, just like these guys do. So don't take away from this, please." Smallwood was met with applause by the more than a dozen sanitation workers in attendance, as well as most of the other residents sitting in the audience. Safety Service Director Chris Pyanowski said that the bids were sought as part of a larger review of the Sanitation Department's finances and future. He said that there was no immediate plan to privatize the department, but doing so was one of many options. Smallwood said that after Pyanowski presented the bid results to himself and Public Works Supervisor Rick Boone, he decided to speak with Council to tell the body that the city running its own sanitation had myriad benefits, even if it may cost more in the short run. "I'm here tonight to represent my guys in sanitation," Smallwood said. "There's a group of them back here right now, here to sit in front of you guys and hear what you've got to say about getting rid of us. I know each and every one of you (on Council) has given me a call before, 'Purvie can you help this woman, Purvie can you go do that for me.' When you call me, I call upon them, and they do a hell of a job. These (companies) you're trying to push us onto, they are not going to do what we do." Pyanowski said that the city had received the results of a study from Rea Business Advisors last week — an update of a study from 2018 — as well as bids from private sanitation companies Republic, Kimble and Rumpke. "Ultimately it's up to Council to make the decision of whether we maintain the department or not," Pyanowski said. "Obviously, if we don't, we would go with a private entity, that's why we got the bids, but more so to compare pricing, what would it cost? That was part of the entire process of exploring what our costs are, what the rates would need to be in the future, which was (the purpose of) the financial study." Council President Vic Stewart, D-at-Large, said that there was currently no proposal to privatize sanitation, but now that the city had received the study and the bids the question of how the department should proceed into the future would likely go before the Strategic Planning Committee for discussion. "I don't think anybody is questioning whether our sanitation workers do a great job, they're fantastic and we all agree on that," Stewart said. "But it is our responsibility as council members to look at the feasibility of privatizing sanitation and if that would be more beneficial for our finances and the residents' finances. That's our obligation to the citizens." The Rea study found that Elyria residents pay substantially more for sanitation services than residents of other municipalities in the area that use private companies for regular trash pickup. Elyrians pay $33.38 per resident monthly for sanitation services, while Lorain pays $20.75, North Ridgeville pays $24.47 and Avon pays $21.85, according to the study. These are the rates paid by the city to run sanitation services, not the rates paid by residents. The study recommended that Elyria increase its sanitation rate by "at least" 5 percent in 2026 and 2027 in order to keep the department in the black, but this suggestion included no job loses. Under current rates, Rea predicted that the sanitation department would be more than $5 million in the hole by 2031. Smallwood argued that no private company could match the service that sanitation currently provides; he cited Elyria's unlimited brush and bulk pickup, work his crews had done helping to clean up backyards and the fact that Elyria sanitation workers bring out trash cans for residents who are old, disabled or even just not home. Councilman Brad Armstrong, I-5th Ward, repeated Smallwood's argument that such personalized service would not be gotten from a private company. "Nobody else around is going to have these guys go get my granny's garbage and pull it back and forth... because she's disabled," Armstrong said. "... Nobody does garbage like Elyria. I'll say it right now, I back these guys. If that's your choice to not back them, that's on you. But I do." Several other Council members and three members of the public also expressed gratitude to Smallwood and the rest of the sanitation staff. After Smallwood spoke, several members of the public rose to speak in support. Larry Klipstein, who has been a vocal opponent of privatizing sanitation and wrote a letter to the editor in The Chronicle last week, said that he had spoken with residents of other cities that privatized sanitation whom he said now receive much worse service than Elyria does. "They complained about rates going up every year, and they wished their cities had never done it," Klipstein said. "They hold their city councils responsible for this change. So I back all these people in the sanitation department 100 percent, as do 300 responses on Facebook (to a post Klipstein made arguing against the change)." Pyanowski said he agreed that the current Sanitation Department was beneficial both to the city and its residents, but that reviewing its finances still needed to be done. "It is a very important service and they do an exceptional job at it," Pyanowski said. "We had a huge storm a couple of months back, and the Sanitation Department individuals were largely responsible for cleaning that up. Having them to help us is extremely important, but (the study) is looking at the cost to do it ourselves or the cost to hire it out, and recognizing that if we do hire it out, we do lose a little bit of control." Smallwood said that Council could review the results of the study and the bids, but argued that privatizing city sanitation would eventually leave the city hurting financially and residents wanting for service. "Look at these numbers, the numbers might be a little bit (better) here or there, but once it (the contract) comes up, they're going to start going up past that," he said. "You're going to see — if you do it. I'm begging you not to do it. And I'm not the type of man to beg for anything, but I'm begging you to look out for these men and myself." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.