HOUSTON – The City of Houston is set to vote on more trucks for solid waste as well more contractors to help pick it up.
Mayor John Whitmire spoke with 2 Investigates on Monday morning about a department the mayor says has been “neglected” for years.
“Solid waste was buying used trucks, stay broken, so we are trying to rebuild a solid-waste department,” Whitmire said.
There is a lot of rebuilding on tap this week, with over thirty new vehicles the city plans to purchase, including nineteen side haulers.
The city is playing catch-up to a system that has been behind for years and the new purchases—at a cost of nearly $11.5-million capital dollars.
There has been an addition $7.7 million dollars added to the department’s budget this fiscal year that have been allocated form the city’s Fund Balance reserve according to the Whitmire administration.
The city’s entire fleet has been saturated with dated unreliable vehicles for a number of departments.
On Monday, we found one employee of solid waste who was in a rental truck with a city sticker slapped onto the side of it. The city employee said he’s been in the rental since November.
“There was a leadership team in solid waste when I took over that was, for lack of a better word, was complacent,” Mayor Whitmire said. “No, I don’t have patience... I ran for mayor to fix things, and I don’t have time to waste.”
Fifth Ward resident Wade Gibson is grateful for the change he’s noticing when it comes to garbage operations.
“Mr. Whitmire, thank you very much, they are getting on the job, yes sir,” Gibson said as he took a break from mowing his lawn.
Gibson has lived in his home for 25 years. In fact, it was a Habitat for Humanity project built by former President Jimmy Carter back in 1998.
Gibson says he’s seen a positive trend in the way the Whitmire Administration has been handling solid waste.
“I notice they come by and pick up the pile of trash on the trash day for the tree limbs and other kind of debris,“ said Gibson.
When asked how it was before? “It was a little slower,” he said.
Illegal dumping is one of the biggest issues viewers contact us on with questions of how to get it addressed. If you have an issue tied to garbage and illegal dumping you can contact 2 Helps You.
