Leader of Elsmere Landfill Opposition Quits City Post

Deputy City Manager Jeff Kolin, who has been organizing opposition to a proposed 190-million-ton dump in Elsmere Canyon, has resigned, sending civic leaders scrambling to fill the critical job.

Kolin, nicknamed “the Elsmere czar,” has long been the city’s point man in efforts to stop Torrance-based BKK Corp. from creating the landfill on the city’s outskirts. He will leave May 6 to take the city manager’s job in Pittsburg, a northern California community of 50,000, he said Thursday.

Although he worked for four years on the high-profile Elsmere issue, Kolin said that had no bearing on his decision.

“I had a great opportunity,” he said. “I accepted.”

Kolin’s departure is expected to have little impact on the city’s opposition to the dump, which involves several city departments.

Community opposition to the dump has been extensive. At one key public hearing, 3,000 people showed up to protest the creation of the 720-acre landfill. U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon (R--Santa Clarita) proposed a bill that could severely hamper the dump plan.

City Manager George Caravalho said Kolin’s expertise will be hard to replace, but the city “will be steady on course” in fighting the landfill proposal.

When BKK indicated last year that it was planning on selling its interest in the facility to a rival waste-disposal firm, Browning-Ferris Industries, Kolin spearheaded the city’s efforts to discern BFI’s plans for the canyon. He coordinated the work of environmental organizations, business leaders and volunteers into a coalition that has been successful in stalling the project.

“He was very good in doing whatever it took to let Los Angeles County and BFI and BKK understand this community will not accept the dump,” said Marsha McLean of the Santa Clarita Valley Canyons Preservation Committee.

Pittsburg, a bedroom suburb of San Francisco, also was involved in an extended battle with BFI over the creation of a landfill just outside the city boundaries, Pittsburg City Atty. Michael Woods said Thursday. BFI won and the dump is in place.