Share This On FacebookValley Views: Finally, problems at RRA taken seriously
SANDY GOLDBERG * SEPTEMBER 14, 2010
[Sandy Goldberg is the minority leader of the Dutchess County Legislature.]
The Democratic caucus would like to commend the Republican majority on the Dutchess County Legislature for finally understanding that there are serious problems at the Resource Recovery Agency.
The legislative Democrats have been talking about this for several years; however, what we were saying was ignored at best and at worst denied. Recent articles in the Poughkeepsie Journal make the current findings sound like new information.
In a Poughkeepsie Journal article by Mary Beth Pfeiffer, “Resource Recovery Agency: Padded budgets or solid plans?,” May 31, 2009, it was pointed out that our trash plant was the most expensive to operate on a per-ton basis, among 14 such plants in two states, and its debt extended years beyond all of them.
The same article stated that then-County Comptroller Diane Jablonski questioned the financial management of the agency. It went on to quote Roger Higgins, the chairman of the Legislature at the time, saying the Democratic majority had proposed to cut the subsidy during the budget review, but were heavily criticized by the agency and the administration. Based on previous performance, the Democrats knew that the RRA did not need the funds it requested.
The Democratic majority pushed for the state Authorities Budget Office do an audit, which it completed in 2009. The RRA board became defensive and thought the Authorities Budget Office review was overblown. Yet, the results line up closely with the recent audit done by the current comptroller, James Coughlan.
In 2008, the Democratic majority tried to place the net service fee for the RRA into the contingency fund during the annual budget process, hoping to exert more oversight and control over RRA operations. The county executive vetoed this action and the Republicans would not support an override. This is typical of William Steinhaus’ handling of the RRA – he throws up his hands and claims it is not his problem, while spending millions of taxpayer dollars to keep the Resource Recovery Agency solvent.
In 2007, the Republican majority and the administration voted to extend the disposal agreement with the RRA from the year 2014 to 2027. The Democrats opposed this as it committed the county to years of indebtedness to an agency in which technology is rapidly changing. We were ignored.
Steve Lynch, an appointment to the RRA board by the Democratic majority in 2008, raised the alarm of mismanagement and misdirection at least a year before his appointment and has continued to raise these issues as a member. Until recently, he was the sole independent voice on the board but now has been joined by a more recent appointee with the courage to call it like he sees it.
In the past, the county executive appointed a commissioner to be a liaison to the RRA. This year, upon the retirement of the last commissioner of planning and development, no new appointment has been made. Instead, the administration, the Republican majority, and the executive director of the RRA are saying the county needs to have a solid waste commissioner. We all know that means additional staffing and costs. This is not the time to grow county government or to add a department. What is needed is to confront the mismanagement at the agency. The problems cited could be addressed by the executive director, his staff, and the board of directors. It never was the intention for the county to run this agency.
The Democratic caucus is also concerned that the consulting firm the agency hired last year to do a needs analysis is the same company now hired to draft the agency’s 20-year waste management plan. The draft plan merely supports the original report instead of taking a fresh “from the ground up” look at what is possible. We think that many of the recommendations that came out of a previous legislative study stressing more aggressive recycling and a directive to reduce the waste stream is the better direction for the county. The recommendation to increase plant capacity will only lead to more costly capital expenditures on outmoded technology.
Had the administration and Republican legislators taken action when alarms were first raised several years ago, instead of blindly supporting the agency board, we would be well on our way to creating a more financially and environmentally responsible agency.
We cannot regain the lost time, but now we applaud the Republican majority for recognizing the problems that have existed for so long, and being willing to discuss appropriate solutions.
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