Mayor Dewey Bartlett addressed the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery on Energy (TARE) on issues related to the passage of ordinances governing the new cart-based refuse service. His statement is below:
What the board has achieved is phenomenal. The time and energy and research that you all have put into this project is beyond the call. I for one, and I hope I can speak for all of us when I tell you today we are incredibly grateful to you.
We didn’t just change the refuse service in Tulsa, we changed a culture. That is a very difficult thing to do. It takes a long time to accomplish.
It is because of this incredible challenge that I come to you today to make my suggestions to you. We need an ordinance on which we can all agree.
With great respect for what you have accomplished, I want to ask you to consider two important aspects of what is now, standing in the way of coming to agreement.
It appears these two issues are about rules:
- That green waste must be limited to 50 percent of total content inside the refuse container.
- That all refuse must be bagged or substantially bagged.
My suggestions are these:
Please consider removing these limits on green waste in the carts. We’re asking citizens to make a subjective determination to match the subjective opinions of refuse haulers. That is a very difficult thing to do.
If the customers are putting refuse in the carts for hauling, those carts need to be hauled. Notwithstanding that, garbage produced in the household should be bagged to protect public health. It is however I believe, reasonable NOT to bag other items.
We’ve come a very long way. Let’s not make this any more complicated than it needs to be. Let’s give us all the help we need to come to agreement in order to successfully produce an ordinance.