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Grex > Agora56 > #110: Fire crew sits idly by as resident faces blaze | |
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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 42 responses total. |
jadecat
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response 9 of 42:
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Feb 17 21:08 UTC 2006 |
resp:8 Did you see the bit in the article about how the rep said they
would make more of an effort to make sure Hispanic newcomers to the area
knew of the membership fee?
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nharmon
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response 10 of 42:
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Feb 17 22:07 UTC 2006 |
Yes :(
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kingjon
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response 11 of 42:
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Feb 17 22:22 UTC 2006 |
Re #9: That sounds like their information is all in English, and the Hispanics
aren't likely to have a sufficient grasp on the English language to understand
things of that complexity.
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scholar
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response 12 of 42:
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Feb 18 00:18 UTC 2006 |
yet the guy offered to pay the fee on the spot? (!!!)
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jadecat
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response 13 of 42:
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Feb 18 02:14 UTC 2006 |
resp:11 That's possibly the best way to look at it. Perhaps the most
naive as well.
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fitz
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response 14 of 42:
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Feb 20 14:21 UTC 2006 |
There exist other communities with similar schemes for homeowners to opt out
of fire protection. I can't remember the location of a previous municipality
with contracted fire protection, but it was before the age of computer data
bases. The fire department hammered medallions into the utitlity poles to
determine if a homeowner had paid his fee or not.
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keesan
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response 15 of 42:
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Feb 20 17:06 UTC 2006 |
There are also communities where you can dispose of your own trash instead
of having to pay taxes for it, but this tends to encourage littering.
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aruba
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response 16 of 42:
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Feb 23 04:59 UTC 2006 |
That's messed up.
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gull
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response 17 of 42:
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Feb 24 07:37 UTC 2006 |
Re resp:14: That used to be a common system of private fire protection
in some cities, before public fire departments. If you hadn't payed
for the proper medallion, that department wouldn't respond. Other
systems involved insurance companies contracting with fire departments,
or fire departments competing and the one that got "first water" on the
fire getting paid. That last system tended to encourage departments to
sabotage each other.
Re resp:15: When my parents lived in rural Saginaw County they had to
contract with a private company for trash pickup. There was a strict
limit on the number of bags you were allowed to put out, to discourage
neighbors from pooling their trash to try to get away with only paying
one fee. We had a big family, so we burned our garbage and paper waste
to keep under the limit.
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klg
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response 18 of 42:
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Feb 24 11:56 UTC 2006 |
In W Blmfld Twp MI we have to buy our trash service from a private
company. No limit on bags, though. But whereas my neighbors put out
2 - 4 garbage cans a wk, I generally have 1 plastic bag (+ recycling
bin once every 2 - 3 wks) All for only about 4 bucks a week.
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keesan
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response 19 of 42:
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Feb 24 15:58 UTC 2006 |
4 bucks a week is an awful lot to pay for trash pickup. I calculated once
it was $2/month in Ann Arbor. I put out a canful once every few months,
mostly with plastic parts of computers that we can't recycle here. We manage
to fill the paper recycling bin about once a month because of things like the
Observer, and getting 4 phone books every year. Maybe it is once in 2 months.
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klg
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response 20 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:13 UTC 2006 |
The government picks the contractor, so, of course, it is more
expensive than it ought to be.
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marcvh
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response 21 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:21 UTC 2006 |
Seattle's garbage rate for one standard-sized can (32 gallons) is also
about $4/week; extra garbage that won't fit into your can is $5.60/bag
for cubside pickup or $14/carload at the transfer station. Service is
compulsory, as is recycling.
It seems self-evident that in a crowded city there's less room for
people to do their own thing with respect to rubbish disposal and fire
protection than in a rural environment.
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tod
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response 22 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:24 UTC 2006 |
Out in unincorporated King County, we pay about $32/mo for collection. I
think the rate is about the same but we also have a yardwaste bin.
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marcvh
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response 23 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:26 UTC 2006 |
Curbside yard waste is an extra $1/week, but you have to make a long-term
commitment because they don't want people signing up for it for just a
couple weeks when they catch up on their gardening and then dropping it.
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tod
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response 24 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:37 UTC 2006 |
These are our rates up in Fairwood..
One 32-gal customer garbage can weekly $18.05
Clean recyclables in blue All-in-One recycling cart - Every Other Week (Free)
One 96-gal. Waste Management yard waste cart
Weekly Mar. through Nov., every other week Dec. through Feb. $9.85
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happyboy
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response 25 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:44 UTC 2006 |
wmi is eeeevil.
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tod
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response 26 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:48 UTC 2006 |
The gypsy neighbors shoved all their garbage in their recycle bins and would
put out one lil garbage bag.
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marcvh
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response 27 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:50 UTC 2006 |
Your weekly rate is higher than my monthly rate for the same thing.
Huh. Mine is a municipal city service; is your rate set by the market?
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happyboy
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response 28 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:54 UTC 2006 |
I BOW AT THE FREE MARKET LIBERTARIAN WMI ALTAR!
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klg
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response 29 of 42:
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Feb 24 17:58 UTC 2006 |
My "city" is hardly so "crowded" that it could not accomodate a few
more trucks.
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happyboy
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response 30 of 42:
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Feb 24 18:02 UTC 2006 |
i must be nice to be so white and so wealthy!
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tod
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response 31 of 42:
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Feb 24 18:03 UTC 2006 |
re #27
My understanding is that Rabanco used to get subsidies from County to defray
residential costs. There was a lawsuit over it because Rabanco was using a
landfill in Klicktat County and King County wanted "jurisdiction" over the
tonnage of refuse. WMI avoided the whole mess by "easing out" of the subidies
from King County thus putting the cost on each residential owner. There's
something to be said about Human Services Division at County but ethics
dictates that I keep my mouth shut as a county employee.
(I'm sure you can google it)
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tod
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response 32 of 42:
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Feb 24 18:04 UTC 2006 |
re #31
We're WMI customers.
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jep
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response 33 of 42:
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Feb 24 19:49 UTC 2006 |
My garbage service is free (and so is recycling, in which I
participate). They pick up 4 500-lb bags per week. If I have more, I
am supposed to buy tags. I haven't bought any tags and so don't know
how much they cost.
I have received notices that I wasn't recycling right, and also that I
had too many bags for them to pick up. In such cases, my wife loads up
her car and dumps the extra in her employer's dumpster.
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