Scheduling changes for trash pick-up in Dallas causing issues for Oak Cliff neighborhood
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – In the 30 years Susan Blackburn has lived in Oak Cliff, she's never had issues with trash pickup.
"This is new.. which is why I guess we were so surprised by it," she said.
For more than two weeks, garbage has been piling up in her neighborhood.
"It needs to be fixed before it becomes a health problem," she said. "We're fortunate it is cold. If it were warm and we had two week old trash out there, we could have rats. We could have all sorts of problems."
At the request of multiple Dallas City Council members, city staff addressed all of this in a special meeting Thursday.
A route efficiency evaluation recently led to scheduling changes for more than half of its customers.
They say several factors are to blame for the issues, including the recent extreme cold, a shortage of trucks and workers and drivers who are not familiar with their new routes.
"It was a lot of different excuses, but it all boiled down to me as a real problem with planning for a rollout," Dallas City Council Member Chad West said.
"I don't think they were really ready for it and the proof is here," resident Eliseo Ruiz said. "It didn't work and they need to be more transparent."
Moving forward, the city says they'll make sure crews become more familiar with the routes and trucks may be leased, when available in the region.
"We've got to fix this rollout for the future and any new programs the city is going to roll out," West said. "I'm going to ask 10 times the questions I've asked before because my trust level is low right now."
"They need to give us good information and an excuse after two weeks is just an excuse," Blackburn said.
West said he asked city staff if they think residents should get refunds on their sanitation fees for the missed pickups and their response was they're open to conversation.
