Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/15/2012 10:45:10 AM PDT

SAN BERNARDINO – Another potential move forward in the long push to outsource the city’s refuse services was tabled Monday, with battle lines that are largely the reverse of previous discussions of the controversial plan.

Most of the council members previously said they support franchising out the collection of solid waste, recyclables and related jobs, an asset that consultant Sloan Vazquez said could bring $300 million to $600 million over seven to 20 years.

But a number of changes from previous drafts of the Request for Proposal drew criticism from former supporters. The RFP will be the city’s rubric as it chooses from among the companies seeking to run the city’s services, although it gives the City Council the ability to change the weight given to various factors.

“The meat of this proposal is one of the most ridiculous proposals our office has seen in years for outsourcing,” said City Attorney James F. Penman.

Penman said his biggest problem with this draft was that it didn’t guarantee that current employees would keep their jobs, unlike an earlier draft that said employees could only be fired for vehicle accidents, drugs or alcohol, or with the approval of the city’s human resources director. Several other council members also said they had a problem with that absence.

To read entire story, click here.