South Gate : City May Make Exceptions for Excluded Trash Haulers

Some longtime South Gate trash haulers may be allowed to continue operating despite the city’s decision to award Western Waste Industries an exclusive franchise to collect commercial and industrial rubbish after July 1.

City Manager Todd Argow said city officials will meet with the 13 other haulers who are concerned about the exclusive contract.

Saying the agreement is not “cast in concrete,” Argow said the effective date of the agreement might be postponed, or haulers facing hardships without their South Gate business may be allowed to go on serving their customers.

According to the city, Western Waste already has 80% of the commercial business in South Gate and has been the exclusive residential hauler for 23 years.

Argow spoke following a City Hall meeting called after some haulers criticized the city for negotiating with Western instead of calling for bids. “We were surprised that they had granted a franchise without at least opening it up for bid,” said Mary Arsenian, owner of SavWay Disposal, which has hauled off and on in South Gate for 50 years.