Yorktown Trash Piles Up

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 2, 2023

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As Trash Piles Up, Yorktown Slate and Town Residents Again Call for Termination of Competitive Carting Trash Contract.

The Yorktown Democratic Slate - A New Day for Yorktown - joins residents of Yorktown in calling for the termination of Competitive Carting’s contract.

A New Day for Yorktown, including Jann Mirchandani for Town Supervisor and Tom Marron and Steve Shaw for Town Board have joined residents to highlight serious concerns about the feasibility of Competitive Carting, the garbage hauling company hired to collect waste by Town Supervisor Tom Diana and the Yorktown Town Board. Competitive’s dubious finances were highlighted in July, and their history of labor infractions was highlighted in August. In both July and August, the Town Board dismissed these concerns as ‘political’.

On Monday, Tom Diana and the Yorktown Town Board highlighted strategies they were pursuing to reduce fines issued against Competitive Carting. That night, 5 of Competitive’s 10 garbage trucks were repossessed. On Friday, the Teamsters employed by Competitive walked out after Competitive refused to pay them.

Mirchandani said, "Tom Diana and the Town Board hired Competitive Carting, and they’ve been cleaning up after the company for nine months. The Town has called for outside hauling companies to come pick up after Competitive two times in as many days, but hasn’t told residents how much this will cost. It hasn’t talked about how much the two lawsuits against the Town are costing us, either. How much is the Town spending because the company Tom Diana and the Town Board hired can’t do its job? How will this affect the budget? Have reserves been tapped? Enough is enough. From where I’m standing, this contract has been breached over and over again; and it’s time for it to go.”

On Wednesday night, Supervisor Tom Diana told residents he had arranged for 5 additional trucks to finish Competitive Carting’s routes on Thursday and Friday. But on Friday, dozens of residents were left with heaps of garbage heading into Labor Day weekend, after Competitive failed to pay its workers.

Marron said: “As a long time Yorktown resident and Union Representative, what we are seeing is just shocking. The Town Board is propping up a company that can’t pay its bills, and refuses to pay its workers - who do hard work and deserve a fair wage - on Labor Day weekend. Enough is enough. This contract was flawed when Tom Diana and the Town Board voted for it, and it’s flawed now. Tom Diana says he ‘shares our concerns’, but he hasn’t listened to them, or answered one question, in the last nine months. If he had, we might not be where we are today."

This is not the first time Competitive has left Yorktown’s residents with full garbage bins near a holiday. In the days after July 4th, Competitive Carting abruptly refused to collect trash from anything other than 32 gallon bins. Outraged residents flooded Town Hall with calls - the company had missed pickups throughout the Town since January, but this was a fresh low. It seems Competitive’s practices have gotten even worse.

Shaw said: "This is chaos. Residents are looking for answers, and what they get are Facebook posts from the Supervisor at 8, 10, or even 11pm promising things that don’t happen. What we haven’t heard is how much this costs. What we haven’t heard are the names of these companies that are ‘helping’ Competitive with their pickup. What we haven’t heard is an update on either of the lawsuits against the Town over this failed contract. There’s no strategy, no long term plan - and we’re walking into budget season. I understand that things get complicated. But when it does, it is the responsibility of our government to effectively communicate with its residents. That is what leaders do. And I have seen no leadership on this issue from our Town Supervisor or Board.”

Election Day is on Tuesday, November 7th, and Yorktown’s residents are fed up with an unaccountable Town Board that does its work behind closed doors. Residents want open government, new ideas, and solutions - not the same old excuses. Support is growing for the government that will put Yorktown first: A New Day for Yorktown stands ready with solutions.

Learn more about our slate at anewdayforyorktown.com.

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