Want to Know About ALL City Actions on Solid Waste As Early as Possible?

If your job is solid waste and recycling, you want to know what cities and counties in your area are doing as soon as possible. We know that there can be a delay in months or even years between when a city council starts talking about taking action, and when the media actually reports it (check out our blog post: on the scene before reporters). That lost time represents lost opportunity to affect the council’s decision, to avoid the negative consequences of the decision, or to take advantage of opportunities. Time, as they say, is money.

Here are some ways you can stay on top of local government action that affects your business:

1. Attend City Council and County Commission meetings.

Pluses: If you can stay awake during the meetings, you will know everything you need to know as soon as humanly possible. Attending the meetings helps the Councilors and staff get to recognize and know you.

Minuses: If you have more than a couple cities in your area of responsibility, it can be difficult if not impossible to attend all of the meetings. Similarly, it can be very expensive to hire people – especially knowledgeable people who know what to look for – to attend the meetings. Did I mention these meetings are frequently in the evening and can be loooooong?

2. Review the agendas and minutes of the meetings.

(Agendas are published before the meetings and generally tell you what the main topics of the meeting are; minutes are the written record of what actually happened at the meeting).

Pluses: If you can keep track of all the agendas and minutes, and when they’re published, you’ll have a comprehensive knowledge of what’s going on with the cities and counties in your area. You’ll also know this stuff well before any media coverage.

Minuses: If there are more than a few cities or counties in your area, it can be difficult to keep track of all the agendas and minutes being produced. It also can take a very, very long time to slog through these documents searching for solid waste issues.

3. Hire Waste Alert to Keep you Informed.

Pluses: Once you tell us the cities or counties you’re interested in, you do nothing. We send you weekly reports with information about only the solid waste and recycling activity in only the cities or counties you care about. We give you the maximum value information and nothing more.

Minuses: You have to pay us, but it’s not that much when you consider the importance of the information to your business, and the time (yours or staff) that you’re saving.

Whichever route you take, I cannot stress how important it is to keep track of what cities and counties are doing in your area. If you’re interested in learning more about Waste Alert, click here to request a free sample report. Or feel free to email me or call me (541-848-7144) with any questions.

Jeff Eager is the founder and CEO of Waste Alert. He is a practicing attorney specializing in solid waste franchise issues for private waste companies, and is the former mayor of Bend, Oregon.