Dear Editor:
As the owner of a local business in Jefferson City I am affected by the waste disposal for the area. I appreciate the opportunity that the council has given us to offer our concerns and opinions on the matter before signing a new contract with Republic. This city is a great place to live and work and the fact that citizens' opinions mattes to the administration is part of what keeps it that way.
Republic does a good job taking care of their customers. There is no denying that in our case. But the only question I have for the city is why are they the only option? The contract they offered in the past for sole supplier to all city residents and businesses might be good for them and probably saves the city money but at what cost to the businesses?
My business is very small. We have a dumpster, the smallest one they use, and it is twice the size I need. Previous to this contract we had one half this size that cost us half the money but now we have no other option. Granted disposal cost is not a large part of our costs of operation but when one doubles any cost it is still expensive. The option to get the same service from another vendor sounds very good to one in this case.
But, I currently do not have that option. Take it or leave are the only choices I have. I don't have any desire to leave just to be able to give the competition a chance. Unfortunately there is no competition with the current contract.
Please consider giving us an open market for disposal. Our economic system is based on just that idea.