Rob Ford's Toronto

[canmark]

Ford better get back to work quick. His privatized garbage pick up plan is running into problems. Perhaps there was a reason why GFL's price undercut all its competitors... ?

Toronto Star: Toronto garbage outsourcing: Friction builds between GFL, Ford administration over delays

Three days after a private company began collecting garbage between Yonge St. and the Humber River, its chief executive clashed with Mayor Rob Ford’s administration and the city’s waste chief over how long it should be forgiven for missing pickup deadlines.

It will take four to six weeks for Green for Life Environmental Corp. to start meeting the 6 p.m. daily deadline in its seven-year contract, said CEO Patrick Dovigi.

Six weeks is unacceptable, responded solid waste general manager Jim Harnum. The city will consider imposing financial penalties after four.
* * *
The friction emerged on GFL’s third day of work west of Yonge and east of Etobicoke. GFL trucks continued to rumble down residential streets past 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In an interview earlier in the day, Dovigi said the city always knew it would take GFL as long as six weeks to get up to speed. “Of course,” he said.

“Privatization is not a new concept. The city of Hamilton, which is larger — 180,000 homes versus 165,000 we’re collecting from here — this is exactly the thing we went through there. In Hamilton we weren’t getting off the street until after 11 . . . and then it becomes really efficient. Our guys are done between 2 and 4.”

Harnum also emphasized that hiccups are normal in the early days of a major transition. But Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, the public works committee chair and Ford’s point man on the garbage file, said he did not expect delays of such length.

“We didn’t hear any of these reasons and any of the excuses — all these things that occurred this week were not presented by GFL. They didn’t tell us that these delays would be occurring,” Minnan-Wong. “So I think the public is being very generous and understanding with a company coming in with new routes, and we all want them to succeed, but the patience and goodwill of the residents in District 2 is not limitless.”

Under the $142 million contract, the city can force GFL to pay $150 per day in damages for each truck that fails to finish on time.

 

[MetroMan]

If there is one thing that pisses people off equally without discrimination for political affiliations, it's not having their garbage picked up. Ask David Miller.

Ford's chances for re-election are pretty dire already but if people have to get angry about their garbage, he might as well not run.

For the record, I think these problems will be sorted out but I am skeptical that GFL will be able to deliver on the agreed price. They've been needing to bring in extra help and if that extra help becomes permanent, the costs go up. GFL will have to eat the cost overruns but expect them to either drop out or raise their prices by the next contract signing.

 

[neubilder]

Looks like the real motivation behind privatizing garbage collection has been revealed - Ford got first dibs on the juicy bits and paid the price.

"He said doctors told him that his illness could have been caused by an old inhaler or by food poisoning."

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

I'm no supporter of privatizing the world but I question the intellect of those at City Hall who actually believed or presumed that everything would go well from the start. All new start-ups take time to workout the bugs and various inefficiencies in the operation. By the time the election comes along this little hiccup will be long forgotten and will be one thing that Ford will firmly have in his cap as being a success in helping to save money for the taxpayer - lost good paying jobs with benefits be damned.

 

[Torontovibe]

I read that Ford has asthma and that was the reason for his hospital stay. Doesn't pollution from cars exacerbate asthma? And yet, Ford seems to promote big cars and suburban sprawl. Does he not realize that thousands of people die from asthma attacks due to that smog? You would think that pollution and car exhaust, would be of great concern to someone who has an asthma issue. I find that incomprehensible. Our mayor astounds me in so many ways.

 

[PinkLucy]

No different than smokers who deny that smoking causes certain illnesses.

 

[DSC]

No different than smokers who deny that smoking causes certain illnesses.

Or, more commonly, accept that some people are affected but think they are invincible!

 

[dt_toronto_geek]

No different than smokers who deny that smoking causes certain illnesses.

No different than people being clinically overweight or obese who deny that their health is in great peril as these conditions are now recognized as being as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than smoking.

 

[Palma]

I By the time the election comes along this little hiccup will be long forgotten and will be one thing that Ford will firmly have in his cap as being a success in helping to save money for the taxpayer - lost good paying jobs with benefits be damned.

If he was saving taxpayers money we would see a reduction in our taxes. Its 165,000 households / 11M annual savings = 66.00 savings per household per year. Where is this reduction in my taxes? Certainly not in my pockets so i wish Ford would stop saying he is saving taxpayers money

 

[allabootmatt]

I'm no supporter of privatizing the world but I question the intellect of those at City Hall who actually believed or presumed that everything would go well from the start. All new start-ups take time to workout the bugs and various inefficiencies in the operation. By the time the election comes along this little hiccup will be long forgotten and will be one thing that Ford will firmly have in his cap as being a success in helping to save money for the taxpayer - lost good paying jobs with benefits be damned.

In principle I don't have a big problem with private pickup, but if I remember correctly, wasn't the GFL bid way, way lower than the others? That can be a red flag. I understand they do some of the pickup in Hamilton, so it's not like this is some unknown company. Though I wonder if Toronto's high density might present different challenges. Time will tell I guess.

What I am sceptical of is this notion that private delivery is forever and always more efficient/superior only by dint of being private. The UK, for example, has gone further down the road to privatising basic services than most places, and it's not by any means an entirely happy story. Google 'Metronet Rail' for an example of how such a contract can go horribly wrong, culminating in the private-sector partner just walking away from its obligations and leaving the taxpayer with the bill.

 

[W. K. Lis]

GFL came down my street street yesterday, Friday. By about 7 PM vs. 11 AM using city crews.

I had expected that to save money, they would use a crew of one. Yesterday, it was a crew of three.

The city crews, last month, were generally middle-aged. The GFL crew were young in their 20's. That's where they saved, inexperienced people low on the pay scale. By the time they get to middle-aged, if they stay that is, the pay scales would be going up, again. Maybe by then they'll be using a crew of two. The trucks they used yesterday could not be operated by one.

 

[Palma]

GFL came down my street street yesterday, Friday. By about 7 PM vs. 11 AM using city crews.

I had expected that to save money, they would use a crew of one. Yesterday, it was a crew of three.

The city crews, last month, were generally middle-aged. The GFL crew were young in their 20's. That's where they saved, inexperienced people low on the pay scale. By the time they get to middle-aged, if they stay that is, the pay scales would be going up, again. Maybe by then they'll be using a crew of two. The trucks they used yesterday could not be operated by one.

Well if they are in their 20's probably people that cannot get jobs in their chosen field and once they do they will leave. Which means could be a revolving door of people doing the work and learning curve over and over again

 

[W. K. Lis]

Well if they are in their 20's probably people that cannot get jobs in their chosen field and once they do they will leave. Which means could be a revolving door of people doing the work and learning curve over and over again

It would be the kind of job that Rob Ford would have done if his father did not give him a job at the family business.

 

[Automation Gallery]

It would be the kind of job that Rob Ford would have done if his father did not give him a job at the family business.

Yeah, Rob Ford and the other 80% of the population

 

[sarnya]

From The Globe & Mail:

Despite complaints, Ford praises garbage collection

Mayor Rob Ford is pleased with the performance of Toronto’s new private garbage collector, despite more than 1,000 complaints about missed or late trash pickups during the company’s first week on the job.

Mr. Ford praised Green For Life Environmental Corp.’s work as “great” and “fantastic” on Monday as he left a news conference to mark the opening of Ryerson University’s new athletic centre. inside the old Maple Leaf Gardens.

The mayor ignored a followup question and his office declined to elaborate on the mayor’s comments.

If Toronto’s mayor does believe GFL’s debut week was “fantastic,” he’s out of step with his own point man on garbage. , who has expressed disappointment with GFL’s slow start.

On Friday, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, chair of the public works committee, said that if GFL doesn’t get its crews up to speed by the end of the month, the slow start could make it difficult to contract out more of the city’s curbside collection.

GFL started collecting garbage, recycling and organics from 165,000 homes between Yonge Street and the Humber River last Tuesday.

The company’s contract with the city requires it to finish pickup by 6 p.m., but last week GFL’s lime-green trucks were still rolling through city streets after 9:30 p.m., according to the city’s solid waste department.

Contracting out trash pickup in another part of Toronto – GFL already handles curbside collection in Etobicoke – was a major victory for Mr. Ford, who in 2010 campaigned on outsourcing garbage.

He promised at the time to privatize trash collection citywide, but has since said he won’t push for privatization east of Yonge Street unless he wins a second term in 2014.

Nearly all of the garbage that had been left on curbsides as of the end of day Friday was picked up over the weekend, said Jim Harnum, general manager of the city’s solid waste department.

“We think we got the majority of the garbage off,” he said Monday. “We still [had] a few outstanding calls, probably 15 or 20 calls today. To our knowledge, that’s been picked up.”

When pickup resumes Tuesday – there’s no residential collection on Mondays – Mr. Harnum said he’s expecting GFL’s performance to improve, as it started to toward the end of last week. He said the company is tweaking routes and increasing the number of trucks it runs at the beginning of the day to 95 from its original plan of 80.

When the city ran the service with in-house employees, it used 107 trucks, Mr. Harnum said.

I find it interesting that with 1000+ complaints, Ford will still call something great or fantastic. It's funny that when it's something he likes, he won't acknowledge complaints. Yet if a dozen people complain about something, then the taxpayers must certainly be outraged.