Newport to dump its beloved ‘trash men’ and personalized pickups

For decades, Newport Beach residents have taken deep pride in their personalized trash service in which city waste haulers don’t quibble over color coordinated bins, happily pick up oversized discards and even help homeowners lug items to the curb.

But in a cost-cutting move, the beach city has decided to do what other cities began doing long ago – hire a private firm to take over the job of picking up the trash.

Newport Beach had been one of the few municipalities where trash pickup was still handled by city employees, who walked house to house to pick up the trash, many of whom had been on the job so long that residents knew them by name.

In a split vote this week, the City Council agreed to hire CR&R Waste Services to take over the job, effective next spring. The city has been touting a savings of at least $15.8 million over seven years by outsourcing trash pickup.

Residents will still be able to leave their trash for pickup in their own disposable bags or boxes, but they will also be provided carts. And and those hard-to-get-rid-of items such as mattresses, chairs and water heaters will be still be collected, though the hauler may request that customers call beforehand.

Council members conceded that as much financial sense as the change meant, getting rid of the city’s “trash men” – as longtime residents called them – was a break with tradition.

“I half expected to see my 90-year-old father wheeled through the door to make the case here,” Mayor Keith Curry said.

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emily.foxhall@latimes.com

Emily Foxhall writes for Times Community News.