Quote Originally Posted by 313WX View Post
Safety, eh? Interesting argument...

My biggest fear with privatization is the price gauging. Once Detroit dismantles its sanitation department, it'll be at the complete whim of the contractors when it comes to the fees and payments [[and if the city misses a bill, we're SOL).

As long as the current sanitation workers are rehired by the contractors, I'm not as tiffed about the loss of union jobs [[granted this isn't the preferred option).

The cutting of corners would be a fear too. But that's something Orr should work out before getting us stuck in these contracts [[I.E. if the contractor fails to service a certain area, we wil withhold payments).
There are enough competitors in the biz to ho;d the prices down. Just make sure there are no loop holes in the contract. I have lived in quite a few places with contract garbage and trash pickup and it seems to work real well. I get garbage and trash twice a week, yard waste and bulk items twice a week, and recycling one a week. If they leave a mess, I call the city, and within a couple of hours some guy from the contractor shows up in a pickup tuck and cleans up.