McKinney initiative a hit with residents
Over the past few months, the city’s solid waste pickups have been successful, and there are no plans to scrap the idea. That was the word this week from city Solid Waste Superintendent Adrian Marrufo.
Marrufo said plans are on the table for a 2017 pickup schedule. The pickups began when Mayor Jackie McKinney took office in 2011.
“They went well,” Marrufo said. “Ever since they started, they’ve been successful. One pickup in August was pushed back due to the [Inter-Tribal Indian] Ceremonial.”
Items collected during the six solid-waste pickups —between April and August — included yard debris, household items, chemicals, paint, and tires.
“Nothing out of the ordinary was picked up,” Marrufo said. “Green waste and mattresses were the most common items picked up this year.”
If a resident misses the regularly scheduled pickup date, a call can be made to the city for an open-call pickup at a fee of $36.16 per load.
City employees from various departments were paid overtime hours for the Saturday pickups, as Saturdays are not part of the daily work schedule.
“The hours have varied each year, but are almost similar,” Marrufo said about overtime. He said employees from Parks and Recreation, Streets and Storm Drainage, and the Solid Waste Division participated in each of the pickups.
According to Marrufo, the parks department contributed four to six employees for an overtime amount of 282 hours; the streets department contributed 11 to 13 employees for 822 hours; and solid waste employees saw 647 overtime hours worked by eight to 13 employees.
“The pickups began in July 2011 and they have been a huge success,” Marrufo said.
Mayor Jackie McKinney said he’s heard a lot of good things about the pickups.
“I think it’s something that everyone appreciates,” he said.
McKinney said upon being elected, the solid waste pickups were something he’d institute within a year.
“It has turned out to be a very good thing for the city,” the mayor said. “There are people, residents, who believe the city should do more of them per year.”
Gallup Councilwoman Fran Palochak, the newest member of the City Council, said the pickups are a huge success.
“There are people who don’t have big trucks to haul stuff, so in that sense it was a welcomed idea,” she said. “I’ve heard nothing but very positive responses.”
Palochak served lunch to the workers when it was her district’s turn for solid-waste collection. She said the workers were appreciative of the food and drinks.
John Freeman, who lives on South Second Street, said everyone he knows around the city likes the solid-waste-pickup idea. He said he got rid of a lot of old furniture and mattresses – all in one shot.
“A lot of people just have things sitting around that they don’t know where to take,” Freeman said. “It’s a good idea, and I think everybody will say that.”
By Bernie Dotson
Sun Correspondent
