By Mary Souza

Here’s my column that appeared in last Friday’s CdA Press:

It never ceases to amaze me how entertaining city council meetings can be.  Many folks assume they are boring or tedious, and that’s what I expect too, when I get up the gumption to attend. Yet, surprisingly, there’s often something that comes out of nowhere to make the meeting sing.

I attended last week’s council meeting to watch the budget decision, but was blown away by what I learned during comments made by the public.  

Phil Damiano, owner of Coeur d’Alene Garbage Service, gave a passionate and informative presentation on the city’s garbage contract.  I never knew garbage could be so interesting!

Phil documented, in great detail, his background and expertise in the waste collection industry.  He went on to question why the City of CdA has not put their garbage contract out for competitive bid since 1988…that’s nearly 22 years without a bid.  The contract is up for renewal next year, and Phil was quite unhappy that the city’s General Services Committee, made up of three city council members, recently voted to bypass the open bid process.

Does our city not have a Professional Services Policy like other public organizations?  A policy that mandates a competitive bid or other accepted procurement policy for all ongoing contracts and significant purchases?

The savings can be tremendous, Phil informed us.  He regaled the audience with inspiring statistics such as Kootenai County’s $3.5 million dollar savings, over the course of seven years, after they put their garbage contract out for open bid.  Post Falls, likewise, saved a million dollars over four years by opening their bid, even though they stayed with the same company.  Phil explained that the bid process motivates everyone, even the existing contractor, to offer the best possible value.

City Finance Director Troy Tymeson was dancing as fast as he could, in his answer to Mr. Damiano.  Troy said the competitive bid process does not always net the lowest price, which, frankly, I had a hard time believing.  He went on to eventually say the full city council will have a chance to vote on this in the future.  I hope they vote to open the bid process so they can save us all some money.

Another unexpected source of information was Susie Snedaker, who questioned many budget items by page and detail.  Susie asked about the franchise fees that are added to our gas, electric and cable TV bills.  Did you realize that five per cent is added to your bills, which then goes to the city?  This, apparently, started a number of years ago, by voter approval, in order to fund the street improvements on Ramsey Road and NW Blvd.

The street bonds will be paid off this year and Susie asked if the fees will be stopped or if a new vote will be taken to continue them.  No, Troy Tymeson responded, the city will continue to collect the fees, $2,250,000 this year alone, and add them to the general fund.  No new vote?  Seems to me these fees are hidden taxes and will never go away.

Now you can see, dear readers, how fun and interesting representative government can be when you get involved.  Please tune into the council meetings on your TV, channel 19, if you have cable (you can get your 5 percent’s worth!).  Better yet, get out and go to a meeting. You will experience much more in person.  You’ll see the line up of city department heads across the back of the room, the mishmash of citizens sitting in little groups, craning their necks to see who is coming in and who is sitting with whom. And you’ll witness the tantalizing testimony from members of the public, followed by the responses, or lack thereof, from the mayor, council and staff, which are often informative and, even more frequently, entertaining.