Staff Left Council In Lurch On Garbage: BENN
Bulldog Saturday columnist Ron Benn takes on the recent Trail Waste Facility Landfill Lifespan report. A copy of the report is at the bottom of this post.
The multi-page document that is euphemistically being referred to as a “report” is a classic case of spending more time writing than thinking. Two items stood out.
First, staff refer to Dillon Consulting, the environmental consultant retained by the City, as being responsible for producing Annual Monitoring Reports and corresponding site life estimates. NO. NO. NO. Dillon Consulting has been retained to perform the calculations. Dillon Consulting is not RESPONSIBLE for producing the reports. That responsibility resides on the shoulders of city staff. Organizational Behaviour 101: You can delegate authority. You can delegate a task. You CANNOT delegate responsibility.
Second, the majority of the wasted electrons describe the multitude of variables that go into the equation used to estimate the remaining life of the landfill. A department manager that was prepared to live up to the terms of his/her/their job description would understand that all that was required was to hold all but one or two of the variables constant. The analysis would focus on the expected reduction in the volume (# of bags?) of solid waste that the Tag a Bag program would divert. Something to the effect of “By implementing the Tag a Bag program the city can expect the expected life of the Trail Road landfill site by X years.” The rest of the report could be filled with the endless caveats about other variables set out in the document and how a material change in any of those variables could render the conclusion useless.
What’s City Staff Hiding On Tag-A-Bag Program?
Why didn’t the department manager produce that type of analysis? It is unlikely that they are incapable of the arithmetic. No. The cynic in me points at the distinct possibility that that analysis was done, and the answer is so small, perhaps measured in single digit months, that it would be apparent to even the most limited of councillors that the entire Tag a Bag program would be a waste of money. That it wouldn’t accomplish anything meaningful.
So, council is where it should have been a decade or two ago. What is the long term plan?
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How is that Staff spent 2 years and “engaged” the public during the second year of the Pandemic and in the middle of that oh-so-fun “exercise,” the new Official Plan (now pretty much scuppered by Ford), on a proposal that was soundly defeated in about a month after it was leaked to the press. Is it because Watson is gone? Is it because the public didn’t really express their opposition in 2021? Is it because of a new Council? Is it because the proposal was not so great? Is it because it is a particularly tone deaf proposal in the face of single family and townhome owners (still no mention of what is to be done with multi-unit residences) paying more for everything in the midst of inflation and economic uncertainty? All of the above?
My husband saw Shelley McDonald, Director, Solid Waste Services, Public Works Department, interviewed after the proposal was leaked. She said Pay as You Throw was a done deal. Maybe there needs to be a Staff shakeup starting at the top? I’d also like to know how much all this cost the City for an unacceptable proposal.
There is no question that a better plan for solid waste management must be tabled. Ottawa can’t continue to rely on 19th century technology (landfill). There are 21st Century solutions in use elsewhere. Not the bleeding-edge tech that Plasco tried to use, but acceptable, “clean”, real world solutions, and stuff that can be used now.
With Pay as You Throw off the table everyone has an opportunity to set aside their preconceived answers and to follow a different path to “Yes” that will ultimately benefit Ottawa’s residents. Are they willing and open to do this? That is the first question that must be asked. I know there are well-intentioned people who really care out there. Are they willing to set their feelings aside and direct their energy to a new plan ? We’re all after the same goal – a sustainable Ottawa. How we get there has many paths, and we need all the good minds working on this together.