As I write this letter, my full garbage bin has been out in front of my house for three days. It will probably be out there again tomorrow. You see, the Oak Harbor utility department won’t come and pick it up.
Why you ask? Funny, I ask the same question each day I call them. They always ask me the same questions:
“Has the trash bin been out all day?”
“Is the bin overflowing with trash?”
“Is the bin obstructed at all?”
The answer to each question is always the same — no.
They assure me that someone will come and pick up my trash. They don’t. I’m a tax paying citizen of Oak Harbor. A CUSTOMER of the City of Oak Harbor. I pay on time, every time. Yet, I can’t get anyone to pick up my trash. This hasn’t just been for the past three days. In fact, this has happened on and off for the past three months.
Why? I can’t get anyone to tell me. I thought about hiring a Sanitation Consultant to do a study for the next six months and bill me $100,000 but I decided against it. The City of Oak Harbor doesn’t have much luck with getting anything useful out of the consultants they pay for with our tax dollars, so why should I expect anything different?
No, my expectations are simple. When I place my trash bin outside the night before my regular pick up day I expect my trash to be picked up. My expectations grow with the increasing water and garbage fees I pay.
I’ve lived in this community for 30-plus years. Oak Harbor used to be an efficient city. Now, we can’t even get our garbage picked up on time. I’m an employee of a company that recently announced that after 10 years of business in Oak Harbor, it’s moving to Bellingham. I’m not excited to leave a place that has meant so much to me for so long, but I must.
Today, I called the City of Bellingham and asked them if they would like to have me as a customer of theirs. I asked if they would pick up my garbage every week, if I paid them on time every time. They said they would love to have me as a customer of theirs, and would look forward to serving me.
Goodbye City of Oak Harbor. It was nice knowing you.
Bill Nienhuis lives in Oak Harbor.
