On Tuesday, October 22, the County Board of Commissioners (BOC) will hold a work session to review proposed new bylaws for the County's Solid Waste Advisory Committee (SWAC). SWAC, a citizens' committee mandated by state law, advises the BOC about waste hauling and disposal rates and other matters related to solid waste collection and disposal.
Currently, SWAC operates under provisions in state and County law. The new bylaws are expected to "fill in the gaps" between those statutory requirements and operational practice, such as filling vacancies. In the past, the County has often filled SWAC vacancies by soliciting recommendations from industry members on the committee. This has led to a committee weighted in favor of industry interests.
By local ordinance, industry representatives fill two voting positions on the committee. The other five positions are reserved for citizens, who must fit into one of several broadly described slots, such as "local organizations" whose members are electors or property owners in the County or "residents residing near or adjacent to a regional disposal site." Nothing in the ordinance requires citizens to have demonstrated any knowledge of or interest in solid waste issues.
In fact, when members of Stop the Dump Coalition, a local organization whose members are County electors who own property in the County, applied to fill SWAC vacancies, industry representatives led a move to reject their applications precisely because they know a lot about solid waste issues.
Other membership issues that bylaws could address are holding over and attendance at meetings. County ordinance calls for three-year terms, but members are often allowed to remain in office for many years beyond that. And members who seldom show up for SWAC meetings (only four a year, one of which traditionally is a tour of Riverbend Landfill or other waste-related facility) are not called to task for their absences.
Adopting bylaws could encourage SWAC to move more aggressively to recruit candidates with a demonstrated interest in SWAC's agenda and to populate the committee with citizens who oppose as well as support industry measures. The BOC could also be asked to amend the ordinance to make industry representatives ex officio rather than voting members.
With changes like these, SWAC could become the serious, thoughtful review board that state law contemplates.
The work session on the proposed bylaws will be held Tuesday, October 22, at 1:30 in Room 32 of the County Courthouse at the corner of 5th and Evans in McMinnville. Note: This is a discussion session only, and public testimony is not normally allowed.
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