Public Outcry Forces City to Renegotiate Trash-Fee Hike : Contracts: Officials will try to reduce the 34% rate increase. Residents object to awarding of collection rights to Western Waste Industries without outside bids or input from citizens.

Three weeks after a new automated trash collection and recycling system got under way in South Gate, the city and the trash company are negotiating a reduction in rates, which were attacked by residents during an emotional four-hour public hearing last week.

Charges went up 34% on May 4 when Western Waste Industries, which has been South Gate’s exclusive residential trash hauler for 26 years, began collecting trash and recyclable materials under a new franchise agreement that runs through 1998.

The agreement, which was approved by the City Council in December after two years of staff negotiations, also gives Western Waste the exclusive right to collect commercial trash. Several waste haulers now handle commercial waste.

During the hearing, attended by several hundred people at the city Sports Center, more than 30 speakers denounced the council for negotiating the franchise rather than calling for bids. They objected to the rate increase and the size of the 100-gallon trash bins, and some threatened to overturn the franchise through a ballot initiative and work to defeat incumbent council members in the next election.

“The big issue is that the people were not consulted and no real effort was made to inform them honestly,” said Nelson Dasa, a teacher at South Gate Junior High School. “We are told ‘This is what you are going to do.’ ”

Henry Gonzalez, another former councilman, said people can’t pay the new rates because of the poor economy.

Basic charges for monthly service went from $7.60 to $11.68, with reduced charges for low-income senior citizens.

After the hearing, the council asked Western Waste to reopen negotiations to lower the residential collection rate.

But City Manager Todd W. Argow, who has been meeting with Western Waste representatives this week, said he doubts whether much of a reduction is possible. He said that during negotiations for the franchise, the rate was “hammered down quite a bit.”

A progress report on negotiations will be given to the council on Tuesday.

Western Waste representatives were not available for comment.

Despite the public outcry, Argow said the rate is reasonable for the level of service that South Gate is getting. According to officials, the biggest advantage for the city over its old trash collection system is recycling, including Western Waste’s willingness to assume full responsibility and liability for reductions in the amount of trash hauled to landfills, which is required by the state.

The staff and Western Waste attribute the rate increase to sharp hikes in dumping fees and costs of the new automated system and recycling.

In addition to the furor over the residential program, several commercial haulers facing loss of their South Gate business also attacked the Western Waste franchise at the hearing. They called it an unfair monopoly and argued that limiting the city to a single hauler is not necessary to meet state requirements for trash reduction.

The council asked its staff and Western Waste to discuss changes in the franchise that would permit some haulers to continue to operate n the city. At the same time, it set aside a resolution that would have given current haulers a year to wind up their South Gate business.

Councilman Larry Leonard said that if Western Waste is not willing to give the city the concessions, the council will have to decide what to do next.

“I voted for it. I still think it’s the best deal for South Gate, but it needs to be altered,” he said.