Bid to Dump Trash Contract Qualifies for the Ballot

Community activists and a local trash hauler have collected enough signatures on a referendum to force the City Council to rescind a controversial trash contract or put it to a public vote, according to election officials.

The council sparked protests in March with a 3-2 vote to award a 10-year, residential trash pickup contract for about $7.2 million without competitive bidding.

Mayor Tom Jackson, who voted for the contract, argued that there was no need to put the contract out to bid because he is certain the new trash hauler can provide the best service.

The contract was awarded to System Disposal, a company headed by John Marderosian, a longtime friend of Jackson.

The contract is scheduled to begin in 2004, after the current trash contract with Waste Management Inc. expires.

Opponents of the new contract, including Waste Management Inc. and the two council members who voted against it, helped collect 1,850 signatures.

Election officials for Los Angeles County and Huntington Park confirmed that 1,261 of those signatures were valid, surpassing the 1,125 signatures needed to qualify for the ballot.

The Huntington Park City Council is scheduled to decide Monday whether to rescind the contract or put it to a vote, either in a special election or the next regular election in November.