Is Local Self-Reliance Illegal? The Story of Waste Management, Inc. in California

Claims and counter-claims are being aired about the right of a city to choose a local hauler over Waste Management Inc., which has held the contract for the past 15 years in Carson, California. Waste Management, Inc. is in classic “sore loser” mode and challenging the bidding process for the award of a multi-million dollar waste collection contract to a local competitor.

According to the complaint by Waste Management, Inc. the city wrongly determined the winning bid because it valued bringing jobs to the city through job preferences for residents and a donation to a charitable foundation.

The process, the company claims, was “baseless,” “desperate” and “frivolous,” and has taken legal action to stop the process. The city responded to this legal challenge by stating that the legal challenge was frivolous, unseemly and the result of a temper tantrum over losing the bid. The city is calling for the lawsuit to be dismissed.

Read the full article, Lawsuit alleges Carson broke law selecting new garbage hauler by Nick Green, Southern California News Group.

Photo Credit: Christian Holland via Flickr (CC 2.0).

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Neil Seldman

Neil Seldman, Ph.D, directs the Waste to Wealth Initiative. He specializes in helping cities and businesses recover increasing amounts of materials from the waste stream and add value to the local economy through new processing and manufacturing facilities. He is a co-founder of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance.