Trash Hauler Wins Round in Suit Against City

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge Thursday temporarily prohibited Huntington Park from hiring a new trash hauler until a lawsuit by the city’s current commercial disposal firm is settled.

The ruling stems from a 3-2 vote by the City Council last week to cancel a 10-year, $18-million contract with Consolidated Disposal Services Inc.

The move was supported by Mayor Jessica Maes and council members Tom Jackson and Linda Luz Guevara, who said the trash firm had violated the contract by changing ownership without obtaining permission from the city.

Council members Ric Loya and Rosario Marin voted against the action. Marin has suggested that the council majority wants to cancel the contract so the city can award a new contract to a firm run by a friend of Jackson’s.

Consolidated, which also goes by the name Huntington Park Disposal, sued Huntington Park to force the city to honor the 10-year contract, which took effect two years ago.

Disposal company officials deny that they violated the contract, saying a new company has acquired a majority of trash company stock but the management remains the same.

On Thursday, lawyers for the trash hauler asked a judge to bar the city from seeking bids and entering into a new trash contract until the lawsuit is settled.

The judge allowed the city to seek new trash bids but barred the city from entering into any contracts.