Bilbray and Trash

I’d like to know exactly what are the intentions of County Supervisor Brian Bilbray. At a recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors on the problem of trash disposal, he was hostile and accusatorial towards the North County cities represented there. It was sad to behold.

North County is not solely responsible for the problem; in the case of Solana Beach and Encinitas, they were not incorporated as cities until long after the problem took root.

Where has the county been for the past 15 or more years when the population of North County exploded? Lighting the fuse, of course, by blithely issuing every permit that came before them. The planning for trash disposal was just about as good as the planning of our water supply in case of drought.

The sad part about some (or most) of the board members’ actions was the misleading inferences planted in the minds of residents of the South Bay that our cities were asking that our trash be unloaded on them. I have never seen such a request generated by our city or our neighbors. John MacDonald was the only supervisor who even considered the regional nature of the problem.

The 4-1 vote to require mandatory recycling only in the North County demonstrated a lack of regional planning. Other parts of the county are not yet in crisis; however, they soon will be.

We have no problem with recycling here in our area, which was the birthplace of recycling in this county.

Maybe the supervisors think that pitting one part of the county against the other will make them look good in the eyes of the voters. I think the voters are too smart for that. I hope they will see this whole trash crisis for the boondoggle the county has made out of it. And please, let’s not let them start an uncivil war between the North and South (county that is).

CELINE OLSON, Solana Beach