The jailed garbageman case is NOT racism

[Wella]

It's not about race: it's about punishing the wrong entity, and, possibly about a corporation that does what it pleases regardless of its customer's wishes.

Over the past few days, there have been a number of posts about this story from the Daily Mail:

Garbage man jailed for 30 days because he came to work too EARLY and annoyed residents of wealthy Atlanta suburb
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2984054/Garbage-man-thrown-jail-30-days-getting-work-early-annoying-residents-wealthy-Atlanta-suburb-houses-professional-athletes-rap-star.html#ixzz3TuFHJLuJ

The headline screams classicism, and it's very easy to take the emotional bait, especially since the garbage man is black, the city is in the South, and the central problem seems to be a noise ordinance. Those of us who live in big cities know that the trash people often wake us up before the alarm goes off, an there's a certain amount of jealousy of wealthy people who can sleep without the same annoyance.

However, this is actually a more complicated case and requires a little logic to understand.

PLEASE READ my argument below BEFORE you start commenting:

The garbageman, Kevin McGill, works for a company, Waste Management Inc, which accompanied him to the courthouse:

A representative for the company went to the courthouse with McGill, who expected to be ordered to pay up to a $1000 fine, Ms Bandoh said.

...Ms Prince added that Waste Management, which operates throughout the US and reported $14billion in revenue in 2014, would coordinate with its employee about his work schedule and jail time.

Waste Management is responsible for the employee's behavior and the company had ALREADY racked up a lot of fines with this city:

Sharon Kraun, a spokesman for Sandy Springs, told Daily Mail Online that McGill's citation stemmed from an incident where his truck had been photographed by a resident.

The city had seen a previous case where a garbage man was given jail time several years ago and that while no similar cases had happened since, the collectors had 'fair warning', Ms Kraun said.

She said that Waste Management, which had amassed thousands of dollars in fines with the municipality in the last year, suspended McGill for violating its policies before he went to court.

Waste Management could not answer questions about McGill's employment history with the company as of Saturday morning and said it was 'currently still investigating all the facts in the case'.

So what is the real story?

You have an employee who either (a) ignored his employer's order to start work at 8:00am (the time the city desired garbage pick-up) or (b) was following his employer's order to start at 5:00 am (a time the city did NOT want their garbage picked up.)

These are the only two logical choices. Either McGill started at 5:00am against his employer's instructions or he started at 5:00 am with their approval.

In the first case, an employee going against his employer's instructions should have been fired or moved to another job (he was not). In the second case, the company was deliberately ignoring the city's noise ordinances. In either case, the company is taking the city's money but not giving them the service they want. The city should break their contract with Waste Management, Inc and find another company.

Now to the court case:

We don't know if McGill was acting against his employer's instructions or on their orders when he broke the city's noise ordinances. However, the fact that MANY noise violations were piling up and Waste Management, Inc, was prepared to pay yet another such violation at $1000 tells me that McGill had some kind of approval from the company to keep doing what he did. In other words, it's not the employee who is breaking the noise ordinance but the COMPANY, Waste Management, Inc.

So why did the garbage man get prison time?

Probably because you can't jail a company.

The garbage man's (ludicrous) punishment seems to be the result of a "privatized" local court system that was insufficient to handle a large recalcitrant corporation. We know from the article that the company was fined again and again by this city, to no avail. The fines had ZERO effect. The corporation seemed to just accept them as the price of doing business.

In other words, the corporation had no intention of changing its pickup time and considered itself above the city government and its laws.

Against this backdrop, the privatized court--lacking any means to get this company to change its ways--lashes out at the employee, the only person who could be jailed. The corporate "person" could not.

It was flagrantly wrong for the court to put the employee in jail for his employer's contempt of their laws and continued violation of them.

However, this case highlights just how difficult it is to hold a private corporation to account. A municipal waste company--under taxpayer control--has to follow the city laws or its employees don't get paid. There is no such leverage with a privatized service.

Remember, THIS Is the goal of the Scott Walkers, the GOP, the Third Way Dems: to privatize everything. This Daily Mail article is a perfect example of why privatizing public services is a BAD idea.

For more information on this town that "privatized everything", see this video:

[FSogol]

1. Did they put the corporation in jail?

[Wella]

2. You clearly didn't read the whole post.

Read the entire post before you comment, not just the first sentence.

[FSogol]

3. So? The privatized court is wrong and the corporation is wrong, yet a person is sitting in jail. n/t

[Wella]

4. Thanks for playing "Missing the Point Entirely!"

[FSogol]

7. What a bunch of nonsense, you want to put privitatizion in jail?

And because you're going to wrongly imply that I am somehow in favor of privatization: x 10

[Wella]

9. You clearly didn't read or understand.

Not much I can do about that.

[FSogol]

10. Try a writer's workshop.

[Wella]

15. Try a phonics class

And stop counting with your fingers!

[CreekDog]

167. It's not missing the point that the poster wants to talk about the man in jail

and you don't.

[ND-Dem]

170. and the other poster wants to talk about the privatization which creates such fucked-up

outcomes.

and in this case, households 'privately' contract with one of 13 garbage companies; the city doesn't. and the judge is a rent-a-judge.

[Wella]

5. This is a lesson in privatization and what it does.

For anyone who is a Third Way Democrat, the lesson is that privatization leads to government impotence in the face of 14 billion dollar companies that become laws unto themselves.

[ND-Dem]

82. 'racism' is just a simpler sell for many; especially those w/ vested interests

[Wella]

92. Sandy Springs is 41.3% NON WHITE, 20% African American

Can someone explain to me how this is racist?

[ND-Dem]

126. why are you asking me? i'm not the one saying it is. i agree with you; money is key.

[Wella]

128. Sorry, it gets a little fast and furious in here sometimes.

Appreciate that you get it.

[CreekDog]

169. Simple. There's never been a white garbageman jailed for picking up trash 3 hours early

extremely simple.

and it happened in the heart of the old confederacy, in a state that still had segregated proms in a country where the first black president has his citizenship questioned.

it happened in the state with Stone Mountain.

yeah, you make it sound like a white guy could have been jailed for it, then why hasn't one been?

because it's easier in this country, in the south, to give a black man prison time, especially for such a BS reason.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

177. Exactly, and the black man is less likely to be able to pay the fine, get out on bail, etc.

Continued racism is allowed because of white people, everywhere, including and ESPECIALLY here at DU, denying it exists.

[CreekDog]

146. Vested interest in the truth?

Because that's what racism is, it's reality.

You want to make it out to be some sort of interest group?

[ND-Dem]

155. yeah, no one has a vested interest in wealth. just in whiteness. right.

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2015, 04:15 AM - Edit history (1)

Residents include Herman Cain, members of the Atlanta Braves and the Atlanta Falcons, and executives at Delta Air Lines, CNN and other companies. This is also home to the rapper and producer Akon, whose opulent tastes were featured in an episode of “Cribs” on MTV.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/business/a-georgia-town-takes-the-peoples-business-private.html?_r=0

[ND-Dem]

158. They're going to put a multinational corporation in jail because a garbageman in their little

city picked up the garbage early?

You think it's possible?

Maybe they could put the local manager in jail.

[Blue_Tires]

6. Jesus Fuckin' Christ I should have known that was Sandy Springs...

Who the hell calls 911 over a garbage truck? Who the hell sleeps that lightly? I guess the morning newspaper being thrown against the front door wakes them up, too?

For all the wealth in that area, I'd have thought some of those rich fuckers at least *work* for a living or have kids in school...They aren't up at 6 already??

FWIW, I could still make a case for racism, since no white dude is getting an overly harsh sentence for just doing what he's paid to do...

[Wella]

8. Regardless, look at the actual argument

This is a wakeup call about privatization and its limits.

[Blue_Tires]

11. This is a wakeup call about several things

Privatization being just one of them...

[Wella]

13. I understand you don't want to give up your emotional connection to this story

But you're missing the real problem.

[Blue_Tires]

17. What's the "real problem"?

It's been awhile, but I remember my time living in Atlanta well...I remember when Sandy Springs incorporated, and the issues surrounding it...

Am I missing something? I'm not disputing your "point", but you *DO* realize a story can have more than one societal dimension, right??

[Wella]

19. The privatized court couldn't sufficiently punish a private corporation, so

a human being paid the price.

This is our future if privatization happens. I don't know why this is so hard to get, especially here at DU.

[Blue_Tires]

28. I repeat, I'm not disputing your point

There's more than one thing to be upset about here, along with if Sandy Springs even has the right to enforce such an ordinance...

[Wella]

31. Why would a municipality have a right to enforce one of its laws?

??

[Blue_Tires]

39. I'm just saying I've never heard of "no trash collection before X time" laws before...

(But maybe I'm wrong and they're widespread??) And their method of enforcement seems shaky at best...I don't know how that driver's conviction would stand an appeal to the state supreme court...

[Wella]

41. There are noise ordinances in most places

That's what allows you to call the police on your neighbors who are blasting music at 3 AM. The law in the article was just such a noise ordinance.

[Blue_Tires]

46. I see nothing about noise or decibel levels in the law

(c) Collection operation.

(1) Collection times. Save and except as provided in this section, collection shall not start before 7:00 a.m. nor continue after 7:00 p.m. at any location. Operations may only be conducted Monday through Saturday.

(2) Variances. Company may request variances to this collection period for properties in which normal collection procedures would cause a clear and present safety hazard. All requests for variances must be filed in writing with the city community development department on forms which can be obtained at the city community development department, and include documentation of the hazard created by the collection operation period. A determination regarding the application shall be made by the city within 30 days from the date of the application and communicated to the applicant. The city may charge a fee for each variance location requested as set forth in the fee schedule.

https://www.municode.com/library/ga/sandy_springs/codes/code_of_ordinances?searchRequest=%7B%22searchText%22:%22garbage%20collection%22,%22pageNum%22:1,%22resultsPerPage%22:25,%22booleanSearch%22:false,%22stemming%22:true,%22fuzzy%22:false,%22synonym%22:false,%22contentTypes%22:%5B%22CODES%22%5D,%22productIds%22:%5B%5D%7D&nodeId=SPAGEOR_CH46SOWA_ARTIICOCO_S46-22SCNAOP

So maybe WM needs to cancel the fuckin' contract and let Sandy Springs run their own garbage collection then...If this was just about noise, then that implies that garbage collection at any time is acceptable if WM developed a way to make their trucks quieter...

But what's still unsaid is if the driver took his truck out to start his route early independently, or if he was ordered to do so...(Either way, his employer is still 100% legally responsible unless that driver disobeyed an explicit order from his supervisor)....

[Wella]

47. But there are times of day noted.

"So maybe WM needs to cancel the fuckin' contract and let Sandy Springs run their own garbage collection then"

Actually it's the other way around: It is Waste Management Inc. that is giving poor service. The city needs to cancel the contract and find another vendor or--and here's a novel idea--actually run a real city government with its own waste service.

[Blue_Tires]

50. I'd argue that Sandy Springs is poorly run

since they can't figure out who to hold responsible for breaking city ordinances...

[Wella]

64. It might, in fact, be. When you privatize/outsource everything, cohesion must suffer

.

[Blue_Tires]

74. They outsourced their brains as well

Goddamned bumpkin city official on the news saying he didn't know any other way to "get WM's attention..."

How about letting the driver GO and impounding the VEHICLE, numbnuts?? Put the garbage truck in a secure lot, and charge WM $300/day for storage, PLUS any unpaid fines!! I assure you WM will start paying attention then...

[Wella]

80. Excellent ideas Blue_Tires

And I agree with you: they seemed to have outsourced to dummies.

[ND-Dem]

85. who's going to do it when the 'government' is outsourced?

[Blue_Tires]

86. Their police department?

Naturally they set aside $$$ for that...

[ND-Dem]

100. Who's going to order the police department to do it (& are you sure the police aren't outsourced

too?)

[Raine1967]

56. Agreed.

They aren't just privatizing. This has its roots in racism as well. I moved to Atlanta in 2006, Sandy Springs didn't want their tax money going to Fulton county.

The OP is making a point about privatization, but isn't acknowledging how and why Sandy Springs came about.

IT was also the first city to *Bail out * of pre-clearance to the Voting Rights act.


Peace,
Raine

[ProfessorGAC]

32. While I Share Your Sentiments. . .

. . .i sleep that lightly. We have hardwood floors and the kitties often wake me up when i hear the clicking of nails on the floor. That's how lightly i sleep.

Of course, i don't sleep well, which is why i'm so darned cranky.

[whatthehey]

12. I love the obligatory wealth/class references

The median household income in Sandy Springs is $61k. Reading the agitprop here would have you believe it was like an eastern clone of Malibu beachfront celebrity central

[Wella]

14. 61K is the median income? So it's not the uber wealthy?

Hmmm

[yeoman6987]

22. No. Not even close.

Even my town in Arnold, Maryland has a 80K median income and nobody calls my town über wealthy.

[Wella]

33. So you're telling me this is a "war on the middle class" story.

It doesn't bode well for us, does it.

[yeoman6987]

43. We need a definition of middle class

How much is middle class make to be considered MC? At what salary do you jump to upper class? And at what salary are you rich? The only real number we ever use is the number for poor.

[Wella]

44. Sociologists are pretty clear on defining middle vs working classes (vs. poor)

Our political culture will not allow those distinctions to be made. That's why everyone thinks they're "middle class" and why politicians from all sides can say they are "helping the middle class" when one side clearly means the working classes/poor and the other side means the upper middle/wealthy.

[yeoman6987]

45. Well isn't that something. The politicians

really do use every trick in the book.

[ND-Dem]

106. You're full of it. US median household income is about $50K.

The income of the median U.S. household was $51,900 in 2013, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday. That's essentially unchanged from 2012, after adjusting for inflation, and is 8 percent lower than in 2007, before the recession began.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=us+median+household+income

[yeoman6987]

125. Everything I stated is correct

You provided some money facts...fine. I said 80 thousand was not uber rich and you call me out on it? Weird.

[ND-Dem]

129. Your town has a median income 60% higher than the US median.

[yeoman6987]

132. Still not über rich. Maybe the other 40 percent are

[ND-Dem]

134. Richer than 70% of households.

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS20811.pdf

[yeoman6987]

154. I have a long way to go

However I am working hard and trying to make good choices so I can get up the that 30 percent in front of me. Not easy to do but with hard work I hope to one day.

[Wella]

130. Thanks.

.

[ND-Dem]

103. $60K is the median MALE income. Not HOUSEHOLD income. It's WAY higher than the US median.

According to a 2008 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $106,240, and the median income for a family was $129,810.

The average income for a household was $116,406 and the average income for a family was $169,815.

Males had a median income of $60,053 versus $50,030 for females.

The per capita income for the city was $70,790.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Springs,_Georgia


US median household income is about $50K. 75% of individual americans make less than $50K.

[Wella]

107. Ok. Thanks for the real stats. If you have two people working, then the household will have more $$

Appreciate it.

[ND-Dem]

113. $60K is above median male income as well. It's a wealthy area.

Median income for a full-time male worker with a BA (which is a minority of male workers) is $52K.

[alcibiades_mystery]

175. If those Americans simply work harder, they can join yeoman in the 1% in some years

They can all sit in their in-house movie theaters and watch American Sniper over and over and over again.

[Bluenorthwest]

30. Malibu is well off, but there are CA towns and places with median household incomes twice that

of Malibu's very high median household income. Yes. Malibu is not even close to the top of the list.

[Wella]

34. I thought Malibu was pretty high up there.

Lots of celebrities have places up there. There are more expensive places?

[Scootaloo]

53. Only a few celebrities, actually

And those places are nice, not extravagant. There's really no room for extravagance in Malibu; it's basically a beach, a road, three bait shops, and a national forest.

Nah, all the rich people either live in the West Hills (Beverley Hills, Bel Air, etc) or North.

Malibu is more like a... trendy hippy colony than upscale living.

[Wella]

65. Thanks for the info

I was clearly under a misimpression.

[ND-Dem]

119. Malibu is the whitest area in LA county and in 2000:

The median income for a household in the city was $102,031, and the median income for a family was $123,293.

Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $46,919 for females.

The per capita income for the city was $74,336.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_income_in_the_United_States


It's wealthy.

US median household income = $51K and per capita income = $53K.

[Wella]

121. Well, having never lived anywhere near Malibu ever,

it's nice to know I never will. Geez!

[ND-Dem]

116. There are more expensive places, most of them are very small.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_in_the_United_States

Malibu = #57

Take into account that the people telling you these places aren't that well-off are probably well-off.

[Wella]

120. Bronxville, New York #20?

That can't be in the city, can it?

[ND-Dem]

122. no.

Bronxville is a village within the town of Eastchester, New York, in the United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located about 15 miles (24 km) north of midtown Manhattan[2] in southern Westchester County.


The median household income was $144,940, and the median family income was $200,000, making it one of the wealthiest and most affluent places with more than 1000 households, or population of 1000, in the United States.

Males had a median income of $100,000 versus $61,184 for females.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronxville,_New_York


Tellingly, median male income is the same as in Malibu; the main difference is female income is higher.

[ND-Dem]

111. It's 57th. On a list with a lot of very small (<4000 households) municipalities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_highest-income_places_in_the_United_States

[Blue_Tires]

37. That would be Alpharetta or Roswell...

But I'm thinking it's one or two posh neighborhoods making the fuss, median income for the whole municipality notwithstanding...

[Wella]

49. Your personal feelings aside, an ordinance was broken and the corporation was at fault

You can't get away from that.

[Blue_Tires]

51. You keep saying "personal feelings"

I remain unconvinced that you actually know them...

But since we both agree WM is at fault, then we presumably both agree that McGill's conviction is bullshit and should be rescinded...

[Wella]

118. The feelings that you are revealing in your posts

However, if I have misread you, I apologize. And yes, this punishment was ludicrous and probably illegal, considering the fact that the garbage man was working as the agent of his company. Don't underestimate the frustration and rage that comes from dealing with arrogant corporate behavior. I really think this (inept) outsourced court had no clue what to do with a company that continually flouted their laws.

[alcibiades_mystery]

176. Wella has "logic." YOU, on the other hand, have "personal feelings."

Or so Wella keeps telling us.

[TheKentuckian]

114. The worker is not the corporation, lock up the President or the CEO and I bet

you get someone's attention or maybe even better yet a stockholder, watch the well dry up when your investment gets you randomly locked up.

There is no acceptable rationalization for locking up grunt employees.

[ND-Dem]

135. Like they're gonna lock up the connected gangsters that run Waste Management.

[Wella]

143. You mean real gangsters?

Or were you speaking figuratively?

[ND-Dem]

156. a little of both; the founder is said to have underworld ties.

Born 1937, Wayne Huizenga and company built the behemoth waste disposal company, Waste Management. He then used his Midas touch to build Blockbuster Video into the nation's largest video rental company. In 1997 he sold Blockbuster to Viacom for a whopping 8.5 billion dollars. Wayne currently owns the Miami Dolphins and Florida Panthers sport organizations. He was the original owner of the Florida Marlins baseball team which won a world series with him as owner in 1997. Two years later he sold the team.

Huizenga is chairman of AutoNation Inc., the nation’s largest automobile retailer, chairman of Extended Stay America, which operates in the lodging industry, and chairman of Republic Services Inc., one of the largest providers of non-hazardous solid waste collection and disposal services in the United States. He is also chairman of Huizenga Holdings Inc. and is the sole or majority owner of several service businesses.

As you might guess, Huizenga was not without hard times. As a child of divorced parents, he had great difficultly often denying himself a paycheck in the early years. He was accused of having connections to the mafia and even accusations of illegal disposition of harmful toxins (later disproved) while at Waste Management.

http://www.ltbn.com/hall_of_fame/Huizenga.html


poor liddle wayne, folks were always accusing him of bad things.


Dozens of state and federal investigations, lawsuits, and press accounts indicate that WMI ran a profit-obsessed conglomerate that was not averse to employing Huizenga's standby tactic: When met with resistance, grab your competition by the balls, and twist.

The authors of a 1991 Greenpeace report about the history of WMI concluded, "To create an empire, the company has mixed business acumen and foresight with strong doses of deception, corruption, and monopolism." The San Diego District Attorney's Office seconded this impression in a scalding 1992 report that reviewed WMI's history of environmental problems and alleged public corruption. (San Diego County was considering doing business with the company at the time.) The transgressions catalogued in these reports include everything from bribery to death threats.

The garbage business has long been associated with the underworld. The reason is simple. With little to differentiate one hauler the next, mob specialties such as price-fixing, predatory pricing, and thuggery often have been employed to protect established territory and ensure a healthy profit.

Huizenga has repeatedly denied any association with organized crime. "That reputation comes from your part of the country, up north," he told a New York Times reporter some years ago.

He was apparently unaware of the resume of co-founder Dean Buntrock. In 1960 the Wisconsin attorney general accused Buntrock and eleven other officials of unfair business practices as a result of the haulers' efforts to infiltrate the Milwaukee trash market. Their companies' alleged tactics, detailed in a 1962 civil suit filed by the attorney general, included "threatening physical harm to the owners of competing firms…and their families and destruction or damage to their property and equipment." The Milwaukee Circuit Court issued an injunction against the companies, which remained in effect for eight years. Buntrock's Ace Scavenger Service was also a member of a Chicago trade association that was sued in 1972 for price-fixing and harassing competitors. The trade group settled the suit by paying a $50,000 fine and agreeing not to engage in these practices for five years.


http://www.corporations.org/wmi/huizenga.html

[TheKentuckian]

180. Then collect your fines and suck it, I guess.

[ND-Dem]

93. That's median income for a male in the city, and it's more than the US median HOUSEHOLD income.

It's a 5%-ers city.

According to a 2008 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $106,240, and the median income for a family was $129,810.

The average income for a household was $116,406 and the average income for a family was $169,815.

Males had a median income of $60,053 versus $50,030 for females.

The per capita income for the city was $70,790.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Springs,_Georgia

The income of the median U.S. household was $51,900 in 2013, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday... 8 percent lower than in 2007, before the recession began.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=us+median+houshold+income

[ND-Dem]

133. No, that's median MALE income. Median household income is >$100K.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=6340439

[Capt. Obvious]

16. So they want their garbage picked up

but not so noisily.

[Wella]

20. That's NOT the issue. They have a right to their laws and paid a company that refused to follow them

And could do nothing but continue to fine them.

I wish you could get out of your petty view of this thing and look at the bigger picture--this is the future that's coming to ALL of us if the privatizers get their way. And it won't be a noise ordinance--it will be your crucial rights that corporations will feel free to ignore as you pay them to do it because they are running all of your institutions.

[Capt. Obvious]

23. Big picture

Don't privatize your fucking garbage collection.

Then you can have complete control over when they collect and how loud they are about it.

[Wella]

29. Almost: Big picture: Don't privatize public services period.

Or else you'll be out of luck when they break your local laws.

[Trillo]

18. I think one of your points is likely spot on:

The idea that Waste Management likely wants the guy working during those hours.

However, I take issue with this point of yours, "Waste Management is responsible for the employee's behavior...." Clearly, their employee is spending time in jail because the company IS NOT responsible for the employee's behavior.

I have not seen a picture of the guy, so was unaware of his skin color. I cannot conceive of anything closer to SLAVERY than being punished for being on the job and doing your work.

[Wella]

21. The company IS responsible legally; whether they accept responsibility is a different question

If they want the guy working at 5 am, they are breaching their contract with the city and violating its laws.

[yeoman6987]

24. That question has never been answered

Did the worker ignore the rules or did the company tell him he could start at 5. I don't know why that question has been ignored by everyone. I think that is the first question I would have asked him if I were the judge.

[Capt. Obvious]

25. I have a handful of guesses why

The most common one is that garbage men hold two jobs and they get the garbage collected as early as possible to make it to the second job - most likely with the company's blessing (at least a wink wink blessing).

[Wella]

27. Or, the company has a desire to finish early in the area

But either way, the company was breaking the city's laws.

[Wella]

26. No it hasn't. But when a corporation has been fined many, many times for the same employee and the

same offense, and they've done nothing to ameliorate the situation, then you're really dealing with corporate misbehavior.

[ProfessorGAC]

35. That's Pretty Clear Under Agency Law

I only took the business law classes one needs in MBA school (and that was a while ago), but a company is, indeed, responsible for the actions of their "agents".

[Wella]

36. That makes sense

And it makes the punishment of the individual employee all that more ludicrous.

[Blue_Tires]

54. Doesn't matter

If they said he was authorized to start at 5, then WM is responsible...

If they said nothing and the driver just took the truck on his own accord, WM is responsible for lack of organizational oversight of employees and equipment...(I have the feeling this was one of those "I won't say anything about it if you don't" with a wink and a nod type of situations with the driver and management)

The only way WM is not 100% responsible is if the driver completely disobeyed orders, stole a truck from the facility and did his route...Barring that, McGill shouldn't have to spend another hour in jail and I hope he sues those suburban yokels for their last nickel...

[MindPilot]

38. Respondeat superior -- "the master shall answer"

Under the vast majority of circumstances, the employer is legally--read financially--responsible for the actions of the employee.

So I seriously doubt the garbage man (I hate that term) drives the truck home. So he shows up to work, clocks in, probably has to change in the locker room, and then he would go out to yard, and check out a truck. It seems really weird that some random employee would just jump in a truck and drive away 3 hours ahead of his regularly scheduled time without anyone knowing. Does this mean that the front line management at WMI doesn't know where their trucks are at any given time?

This whole thing smells as bad as a dumpster on a hot day.

[Wella]

48. Absolutely agree. The corporation is at fault here.

Jailing the individual for a corporate violation of the law is a miscarriage of justice.

[LanternWaste]

40. I don't think concerns regarding privatization denies relevant concerns of racism in this instance.

I don't think concerns regarding privatization denies relevant concerns of racism in this instance.

[Wella]

42. The employee was not (ludicrously) jailed because he was black, but because he broke a law, punished

unfairly for a corporate act.

I know it's the South, but this man was not jailed for being black. He was jailed (unfairly) because he was taking the punishment that rightly belonged to the corporation for which he was working.

[Gormy Cuss]

179. You can not say that he was not jailed for being black.

You just don't have the evidence to support that. Your hunch is that race wasn't the issue but with the set of facts available there is no way to say for certain whether the incident from initial complaint through sentence was race-neutral.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

52. White person telling black persons what is and isnt racist?

I am just guessing, I dont know for sure who is who.

But I had a chuckle when I read it.

[Nye Bevan]

55. I think a more effective solution would be to fine Waste Management $10,000 per day

for every day that they sent an employee to pick the garbage up too early. This would have solved the problem very quickly.

[Wella]

66. THIS^^^^^^^^

[ND-Dem]

137. who levies the fines? under whose jurisdiction?

Last edited Tue Mar 10, 2015, 03:34 AM - Edit history (1)

Waste Management offers environmental services to nearly 27 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Management,_Inc


Not to mention that each household contracts directly with a waste management company chosen from a list of 13. Unbelievable.

The City of Sandy Springs does not provide trash collection services, enabling residents and businesses to contract with private collection services for garbage pick up.

Approved Waste Haulers

Residential Service Providers
Commercial Service Providers

http://www.sandyspringsga.org/residents/resident-guide/your-home/garbage-recycling

[Zenlitened]

57. You don't know that.

Of course the list of charges didn't include "being black." Ferfucksake. But is that the only way we could possibly detect any effect of race on the situation? Like, unless someone shouts the n-word, no racism here?

Must be nice, to operate in such a vacuum, untouched by any effects of history, society, the institutions it has built for itself. Of the legacies that span generations, and lead us to where -- and who -- we are today.

Out here in the real world, however, the various aspects of a person's identity can and do intersect. In ways that make it impossible to separate one entirely from the other. No matter how shrill you get about it.

Jeezus, this kind of "it's not about race!!!" tirade is offensive. Galling. Not to mention just plain dumb. I'm so white I'm practically mirror-level reflective, but even I get that. What a fucking joke.

[Raine1967]

58. Did you not watch the video you posted?

You really think this issue has nothing to do with racism?

Sandy Springs pretty much succeeded Atlanta — because you know, they didm;t want their money going to Fulton county.

This entire debacle has as much to do with privatization s it does with institutionalized racism.

Watch that video again… Listen in between the lines.

Every damn one of the cities that have incorporated since them are largely white communities.

Signed,

A former proud resident of Fulton County, Georgia.

[Wella]

67. The video is about outsourcing the city services.

I have watched it a number of times. I am not constructing the racial angle that you are constructing.

[pnwmom]

73. Regardless of what's on the video, what is clear is that

this white area of the county seceded from the largely black area, so they could privatize all their services and pay for them separately. Racism is the essence of Sandy Springs.

[Wella]

77. So you're making conclusions without knowing the facts

[pnwmom]

81. You did that in your OP.

You said the situation was NOT racism.

The truth is none of us has the data to make a claim one way or another. But you started it with your insistence that it is not racism.

[Wella]

89. No. I took the actual facts of the case and used logic (remember that?) to make few deductions

I did not, like you, invent things.

[pnwmom]

139. You made a claim, based on nothing, that racism was NOT involved.

That is a declarative statement and you did nothing to prove it.

The fact that the bad guy was probably the corporation doesn't prove that the city's judgment wasn't racist. You haven't proven that the city would have jailed a white garbageman under these circumstances.

Given the history of Sandy Springs, it seems quite possible that the city's judge would be more likely to jail a black man for this offense.

You can't prove, based on the facts we have, that racism was NOT involved. Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't. We don't know.

[ND-Dem]

148. >35% of the city = not white, and its wealthy residents include wealthy black folk like Herman Cain.

Sometimes called the Hermanator, Herman Cain was born on December 13, 1945. After earning degrees from Morehouse College and Purdue University, Cain worked for Coca-Cola and Pillsbury Company. He later successfully revived the Godfather's Pizza chain. In 2004, Cain made a failed bid for the Senate. He returned to the political fold in 2011 as a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination.

Cain lives in Sandy Springs, Georgia, with his wife Gloria. The couple has two children and several grandchildren.

http://www.biography.com/people/herman-cain-20679991

[pnwmom]

152. Here's some information about a related lawsuit.

http://www.ajc.com/news/news/local/lawsuit-seeks-dissolution-of-dunwoody-sandy-spring/nQr28/

[ND-Dem]

138. The town is 20% black. 65% white, which leaves some non-white 'other' as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Springs,_Georgia

Non-whites can be upper-middle class, too. And want to avoid taxes, too.

[CreekDog]

147. 3000+ posts in 6 weeks?

whoa.

[ND-Dem]

150. here's another: what do you care? not to mention your math is bad.

[Inkfreak]

173. Uh-oh...the resident troll hunter is on yer sent...tread lightly......

[Hoyt]

59. Sorry, but Sandy Springs' white, Republican majority voted to segregate itself from Atlanta, Fulton

County. It was racist politics, and this travesty of justice is a results.

You are sounding like the Sandy Springs PR Department.

[Wella]

68. From what I have read, it was about taxation

If you read that as code for "racism" then your attitude makes sense. I am taking them at their word that it was about getting away from increasing taxation. There is a point, you know, after which you cannot take blood from a stone. (And no, 60K is not enough to take care of your family and pay ever increasing taxes. At least not in a major metropolitan area.

[Hoyt]

83. Are you trying to be obtuse? "Taxation" is money going to the City of Atlanta, governed

largely by Democrats and people fairer to minorities and the poor. There is always an excuse for hatred. Do you think Republicans exhibit a lot of racism, or do they just support lower taxes as you seem to believe?

[Wella]

94. Sandy Springs is 41.3% NON WHITE, 20% African American

The population of Sandy Springs includes 20.0% Blacks, 14.2% Hispanic and 5% Asian.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/1368516.html

Only a little over half the population is white, non hispanic:
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2010 58.7%

So, when your town is 41.3% NON WHITE how are you getting away from blacks? How is this "racist" again?

From what these folks said, they were trying to get away from an increasing tax burden, and you and I know that politicians feel free to tax and NOT to use money wisely if they think it is there for the taking. I believe them that it was an economic decision. The 41% minority population was trying to get away from taxation too, I'd bet.

[Hoyt]

98. Solid Republican district, that doesn't want their white money going to anything that helps

minorities and the poor. Check the income distribution in that area. I bet you believe there is no racism in Furgeson's government either.

[Wella]

104. 41.3% Non White; 20% African American

Please pay attention to the facts, not the picture you have in your own head.

[Hoyt]

174. Do you two think there is racism in Ferguson? Minorities are well over 50%, but there is

definite racism in my estimation.

Same in Sandy Springs where the powers that be essentially withdrew from Atlanta in the ultimate white flight maneuver.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

178. Nah, racism is all but gone now that we have a black president who is thought to have

been born in Kenya and is a liar (according to most on the right) and who deserves such little respect that 47 senators all but committed treason the other day to show their base they hate Obama just as much as their constituents do.

Those stupid fucking 47 senators dont even know where Iran or Israel is, this is about hating on Obama and nothing else.

The garbageman case, yes, back to topic.

Nah, no racism in Georgia, you must be out of your mind

[ND-Dem]

151. Only 3% of families and 7.9% of the population is below the poverty line, lower than the rate

in my lily-white town and lower than the US rate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Springs,_Georgia

Herman Cain lives in Sandy springs

[ND-Dem]

142. huh? now you've lost me. This city is very well-off compared to most places in Georgia,

and the median household income in this city is higher than about 20% of the US.

[Wella]

145. That post was based on the 60K figure given to me at the time

Obviously, there is updated info.

[surrealAmerican]

60. There is a third possibility ...

... which I suspect is closer to what happened:
(c) Waste Management didn't tell their employee when to start, they told him to be done by 10am. Since the employee knew this route would take him at least four hours, he had to start before 8:00.

It would certainly still be the company's fault, but they would have built in some deniability for themselves. That way the low-wage worker gets the fine, and the corporation keeps a lucrative contract.

[Wella]

70. Is that customary for waste management companies?

It seems odd not to have a start time, but yes, that is another possibility. However, that still ultimately falls under situation (a) in the OP.

[ND-Dem]

144. again, sounds plausible.

[RiffRandell]

61. ****UPDATE*** City Suspends Jail Sentence.

He won't even have to serve probation...thanks SS! Let them live in their own little bubble.

After his story gained national attention, the city of Sandy Springs suspended his sentence, posting the following statement.

"There are times when taking a step back provides the opportunity for better perspective. In retrospect, the actions of the court with regards to Mr. McGill’s sentence for violating the city’s noise laws, was disproportionate to a first-time offense. As such, the court has amended its sentence to time served and further probation suspended.

City ordinances are implemented for the protection of quality of life within a community. The adherence to these laws is important, and the City is obligated to enforce these laws, which includes imposing sanctions against those individuals who break the law."

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/city-suspends-jail-sentence-sanitation-worker-who-/nkRk5/

[Hoyt]

62. Great News. Thanks

[Wella]

63. Excellent. He should never have been sentenced in the first place.

In fact, he should never have been in court.

Waste Management Inc., on the other hand, should be fired and fined as high as the town can make fines.

[uponit7771]

69. Blacks COMMONLY get harsher sentences than whites for doing same crimes so to start the

... premise that this isn't about race doesn't match statistical incarceration facts

[Wella]

72. You're missing the context; the company was at fault

The employee was their fall guy. I believe it could have happened to any poor, disenfranchised person, regardless of color. (And yes, poor whites get treated like crap too.)

[pnwmom]

76. Where is the evidence for your belief?

People are just drawing conclusions based on history and their own experiences. You don't see racism in this case -- many others do. But no one here has the data to prove it either way.

[uponit7771]

91. there is data to prove harsher sentences for blacks

[Wella]

97. But not that the court in this case was being racist

All we do know is that the court was outsourced and that they were frustrated with Waste Management Inc for continuing to flout their laws. They did a stupid thing--no question--and an ILLEGAL thing; they punished an employee for what his company was doing. Absolutely wrong.

But prove to me how a city that is 41% non-white is driven by racism. I just don't buy it.

[uponit7771]

84. Who was at fault doesn't mean that blacks don't get Harsher sentences... blacks DO get harsher s

...sentences

the sentencing part IS about race no doubt

[Wella]

136. No one ever said that. Most people on DU agree that blacks get harsher sentences in general

However, a higher likelihood of harsher punishment does not mean that every black man gets a harsher punishment than a white man. Statistics tell you probabilities in a large population; they do not tell you about every specific case. There are some cases where the punishments are equal, or even the opposite. That's how statistics works. That's why you have to look at the specifics of the case.

L

[pnwmom]

71. In order to prove racism wasn't involved, you'd have to prove

that they also would have imprisoned a white person for doing the same thing.

Until then, people will draw their own conclusions, based on a long historical record.

OF RACISM.

[Wella]

75. The people making the positive claim (of racism) must provide the supporting evidence

I have yet to see any factual evidence that supports that reading. There is a lot of emotion, but very little fact.

There IS fact, however, to support the idea that privatization played a major hand in what happened here. The argument was made in the OP. Perhaps you would care to read it.

[pnwmom]

79. But the privatization was driven by racism;

by the decision of the white area to pull out of the rest of the county.

[Wella]

87. The demographic evidence actually goes AGAINST your claim

In fact, the proof I have says that the population of Sandy Springs includes 20.0% Blacks, 14.2% Hispanic and 5% Asian.
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/13/1368516.html

Only a little over half the population is white, non hispanic:
White alone, not Hispanic or Latino, percent, 2010 58.7%

So, when your town is 41.3% NON WHITE how are you getting away from blacks? How is this "racist" again?

From what these folks said, they were trying to get away from an increasing tax burden, and you and I know that politicians feel free to tax and NOT to use money wisely if they think it is there for the taking. I believe them that it was an economic decision. The 41% minority population was trying to get away from taxation too, I'd bet.

[uponit7771]

90. Blacks get harsher sentences than whites for same crime, that's been proven and is statistical fact

[Wella]

101. Yes, and older women get into fewer accidents than younger men--also a statistical fact

But that doesn't mean that if a young man and an older woman are in a car accident that it is always the young man at fault. Sometimes the older woman is at fault.

Blacks getting harsher sentences in general does not mean that this specific case is about throwing a ridiculous punishment on a man is because he was black. From everything I have read about this case, the (fairly inept) privatized court was frustrated out of their minds with Waste Management, Inc (who kept paying the fines but breaking their laws) and instead of going after the company, the (fairly inept) privatized court went after the employee, a ludicrous thing to do.

I honestly believe that in town that is 41% NON WHITE (as is Sandy Springs) racism was not the issue. Ineptness and frustration were.

[hfojvt]

88. what does it take then - to prove racism WAS involved?

Just a black person in the story? And then racism is the default?

[uponit7771]

96. No, America's judicial system in the story and NO DOUBT racism is involved. The statistics don't

... lie when it comes to the sentencing of blacks for like crimes than whites.

[Wella]

102. There's actually a lot of doubt about this particular case

I understand that you believe fervently that this case is about race, but quite honestly, it looks more about ineptness, frustration, corporate misbehavior and outsourcing/privatization.

[uponit7771]

108. I'm not wanting to be opinionated just factual, if the "case" involves the US penal system then race

... is involved period.

That's just factual, there's too many studies and evidence in regards to sentencing bias to say the opposite.

There are few if any denying that when men of color, not just blacks, get involved with the judicial system in America they get harsher treatment.

Without the jailing this would be a non story

[Wella]

110. But you're not being factual, at least not about this case.

That's the issue.

[uponit7771]

117. What are you calling the "case" then? The story as a whole or just the complaint about the time of

... picking up the trash?

tia

[Wella]

124. The actual facts of the case: the broken sound ordinance laws, the company that kept being fined

but ignored the laws, the frustrated town, their outsourced services and court, the desire expressed (in TV interviews) to get the company's attention: those are the facts surrounding the punishment for the sound ordinances. The goal of the town in giving the ludicrous (and probably illegal) sentence was NOT to punish a man for being black or to overpunish a man because he was black. The (inept) little outsourced court in this completely outsourced town was trying to "teach the company a lesson" and did something incredibly stupid and unprofessional. This is what you get when you outsource.

[uponit7771]

131. I'm willing to consider but it cuts REALLY close, it's like the FPD saying we didn't shoot that ...

... black kid cause he was black but because he was stealing air.... and that in part, the kid stealing air, ... being true...

No one is going to believe the FPDs motives or words...

I think that's what it comes down to, giving the justice system in America the benefit of the doubt.

I say the justice system has lost that benefit

[Wella]

140. I understand your mistrust of the system

And for such a ludicrous sentence to be given to this man, there had to be a lot of emotion behind it. I don't think we disagree on that. I think we disagree on what we think the emotion was.

I believe it was absolute frustration, a feeling of impotence, and wanting to get back at the company but being (fairly) incompetent as an outsourced court. The town (outsourced) court officials said as much. I see the garbage man as being caught in the middle, his name on the tickets, and he being the only one that the court felt was in its jurisdiction to punish.

You believe it was racism.

If the company were not involved and there were not so much anger at the company's arrogant malfeasance, then racism would be the default in such an excessive sentence, all else being equal.

But there was A LOT involved in this case, and what I see is a privatized, outsourced system that proved impotent against a corporation that did what it damn well pleased. I see that situation as a harbinger of what's coming for all of us if Scott Walker and the Third Way Dems have their way.

[ND-Dem]

171. according to the city website, each individual household contracts for its own garbage service,

choosing from a list of 13 possible providers.

speaking of ludicrous.

the city doesn't even have a contract; each household has a contract.

what are the implications?


http://www.sandyspringsga.org/residents/resident-guide/your-home/garbage-recycling

[ND-Dem]

78. good sleuthing and thinking. sounds reasonable.

[uponit7771]

95. Not in the face of sentencing statistics, the SENTENCING part of this makes it about race...

... if not the other parts.

Race is involved, because of statistical history, where it should not be in America penial system

[ND-Dem]

99. I think you have no way of proving that claim. It amounts to saying "blacks are jailed in higher

percentages than whites are, so this particular case must be about race".

Not a strong proof.

[uponit7771]

105. Links inside, Sentencing bias is a well established norm in US penal system

http://newsone.com/1859475/black-people-receive-60-longer-sentences-for-same-crimes/

A new study by M. Marit Rehavi of the University of British Columbia and Sonja B. Starr of the University of Michigan Law School shows that Black Americans receive almost 60% long prison sentences than white Americans who committed the same crime.
The study covered 58,000 federal criminal cases and found that there was a significant difference between the sentences given to Black people to those given to white people.

http://www.eji.org/raceandpoverty/sentencingbias

http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_sentencing_review.pdf

Young, black and Latino males (especially if unemployed) are subject to particularly
harsh sentencing compared to other offender populations;

[Wella]

109. This is very true overall; I'm not disputing that

What I am disputing is that this particular case is about race. There are different things at play here.

[uponit7771]

112. I don't think you can take the sentencing away from the issue or "case" as a whole, take the

... harsh sentencing out of this and it's a non story no?

The person was harshly sentenced, most likely, because the person was a person of color

That's just a fact, men of color in America get treated more harsher by judges because of their skin color

Too many studies over the last two generations

[Wella]

115. You absolutely have to look at the case in context

Which is what I am doing. I understand that you feel that the ludicrous sentence was a result of racism. However, even in the original Daily Mail article (as well as TV interviews this evening) show a town frustrated with a company that was flouting their laws with impunity. They wanted to send a message--to the company. The harshness of the sentence stems solely from that.

[uponit7771]

123. That it's hard to separate the motives of the judge still makes it about race, if blacks and browns

... got equal sentencing in the penal system then there would be little to no question here.

The reason there is question, just like Ferguson or any other fatal shooting of a black person, is because of the unequal treatment.



Where race has been interjected into an scenarios by oppressive treatment of a people then it's impossible to extrapolate that as ONE of the causes.



It does seem the judge can use the companies actions as an reasoning for the sentencing ... she could LEGALLY sentence the CEO of the company to the jail time...

She didn't

She sentenced the black guy...

[Wella]

127. There are a lot of things the city could have done differently

But the reason the judge went after the employee was not because he was black but because his name was on the citations. The CEO's name was NOT on the citations. And, of course, neither was the corporation.

There were other things that could have been done, but not in this particular court. You can't put a corporation in jail, but you can sue them for breach of contract, you can end your contract with them, you can fine the corporation very high amounts for each violation so that they sit up and take notice.

[uponit7771]

162. True, his name was on the citation but relevant to COMMON course for blacks race isn't

... too far fetched... matter fact ... it's up there

[ND-Dem]

153. The CEO of the company? I think you don't get the situation. It's a multinational corporation;

the CEO makes $10 million. Nobody's putting him in jail because somebody picked up garbage at 5 am. It's laughable.

Waste Management offers environmental services to nearly 27 million residential, industrial, municipal and commercial customers in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico.

Together with its competitor Republic Services, Inc, the two handle more than half of all garbage collection in the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_Management,_Inc

Steiner is Chief Executive Officer at Waste Management Inc., Director (since 2004) and President (since 2010). He is also a Director at TE Connectivity Ltd., Greater Houston Partnership, Tyco Electronics Corporation and FedEx Corporation, the latter of which he also holds the role of Lead Independent Director.[1]

For 2013 his total compensation was $10,726,582.[2] Listed as No. 23 of Houston’s Highest Paid Executives in 2014.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_P._Steiner

[uponit7771]

160. no, she can legally jail the guy how much they make isn't relevant. If she wanted to send a message

... put the CEO on trial and then jail him.

It might not have ALL been about race but race was involved in part and that's bad enough

[ND-Dem]

165. It's laughable. He wouldn't go to trial, let alone jail. It's a city of 90K and their rent-a-judge.

The charge is "early pick-up of garbage."

It would make more sense to try the local manager.

And here's another interesting note: apparently the city doesn't directly contract with Waste Management: individual households do. There are 13 residential providers to choose from. Waste Management is only one of them. What a clusterfuck this place is.

The City of Sandy Springs does not provide trash collection services, enabling residents and businesses to contract with private collection services for garbage pick up.

Approved Waste Haulers

Residential Service Providers

Commercial Service Providers

http://www.sandyspringsga.org/residents/resident-guide/your-home/garbage-recycling

so conceivably there are 13 garbage providers driving around, all at different times, on different schedules, with different rules applicable only to the particular homes they contract with.

the city isn't the "employer" of the companies doing pick-up; the individual households are. I'm trying to think through the ramifications.

[NaturalHigh]

149. You make a good case.

The thirty-day sentence (or any jail sentence for that matter) was ludicrous, but I don't see any evidence of racism.

I'm glad the sentence was suspended.

[uponit7771]

161. Blacks get harsher sentences than whites for same crime, that's been proven and is statistical fact

[NaturalHigh]

163. Huh? Did you mean to respond to me?

[uponit7771]

164. Yes, racism in this case isn't far fetched. No one should believe and institution that has regularly

... treated one people harsher than another that one case the harsh treatment is just different because complaints are involved.

I don't give the US Justice system the benefit of the doubt, statistically they don't deserve it

[NaturalHigh]

166. Oh, okay.

[CreekDog]

157. Yeah, it's not racism

I mean, you posted all those instances where white garbagemen have been imprisoned for 30 days for picking up garbage a couple hours early.

Well, I'm sure your getting around to it.



But until you do, you have a grand total of 4 recommends here.

You're not convincing white people or almost anybody else that this isn't racism.

People aren't just going to look at you and say, "wow, that person is correct when they say it's not racism, even though they have no expertise on the matter".

You have to back your statement up better.

The recommends show that people don't think you did that.

[bravenak]

159. When was the last white garbage man arrested for doing his job?

The town is majority white so there must be quite a few instances of white garbage men being arrested for working.
Oh. Wait. They NEVER have arrested a white garbage man in that southern town just for picking ip the trash.
It is racism. Unless you have evidence that this man was not the only one arrested for doing his job.
Why do we constantly have to prove that racist shit is racist shit? This nation has never given up racism. But we have people who make it their mission in life to try to prove that it just in our imaginations. This is why we never get anywhere. All the stupid ass denial of a problem like a bunch of addicts.

[ND-Dem]

168. Thought you might like to know that if one believes the city's website, the city doesn't

even contract with Waste Management. Individual households contract with any of the 13 "approved providers" of residential garbage service.

The City of Sandy Springs does not provide trash collection services, enabling residents and businesses to contract with private collection services for garbage pick up.

Approved Waste Haulers

Residential Service Providers

Commercial Service Providers

http://www.sandyspringsga.org/residents/resident-guide/your-home/garbage-recycling

[fishwax]

172. the body of your post doesn't really support the title

It can be all the things you claim and still involve racism.