Trash management oversight restructured

In a move pushed by county commissioners, Mayor Mary Verner has given her support for changing the leadership structure for trash management.

Verner announced this week that she will remove city trash collection oversight from the duties of Regional Solid Waste Director Mollie Mangerich and give it to a new director for the city’s Solid Waste Management department.

Her proposal will need City Council approval.

The city runs the regional solid waste system, which serves the whole county. County leaders have argued that there’s a conflict of interest in having one person manage the regional system and the city’s trash collection. They also have expressed several concerns about the system’s financial management.

Although Mangerich and the new director of Solid Waste Management still will report to city Public Works Director Dave Mandyke, County Commissioner Mark Richard said the move will help solve some of the distrust Spokane County and smaller cities have in the regional system.

“This will provide that first step in creating an arm’s length,” Richard said. “The fact that this happened in Mayor Verner’s first month of office speaks volumes.”

Former Mayor Dennis Hession argued that it would be a waste of city resources to hire two directors for work that could be done by one person.

But Mandyke said this week that there’s a growing workload for Mangerich because agreements among Spokane, the county and other cities that make up the regional garbage system will end in a few years and there’s considerable work ahead in formulating a new plan.

“It’s our belief that we need somebody focused on that full time,” Mandyke said.

Much of the debate on the future of trash disposal will revolve around the system’s trash incinerator, the Waste-to-Energy plant. The incinerator is at capacity and could be expanded, maintained at the same level by using landfills for some waste or closed completely.

Verner has appointed Scott Windsor, the disposal operations superintendent, as the acting director of Solid Waste Management.

The salary for the new position has not yet been determined, said Dave Chandler, Spokane’s human resources director.