A new poll suggests San Diego voters might be more willing to support charging homeowners for trash collection if they're told they'll get free replacement trash bins.
The poll, from political consulting company Public Dynamics, found people are far more likely to support paying a fee for trash collection when you include the provision to “provide free containers for curbside pickup”—in fact, the language added nine points to the overall support for the measure. An open-ended question in a previous poll also found residents voiced frequent frustration over broken bins.
RELATED: Why Are There So Many Broken Trash Bins In San Diego?
For more than 100 years, San Diegans who live in single family homes haven’t had to pay for trash pickup. But the City Council is discussing a ballot measure to change that by repealing the so-called People’s Ordinance. The measure passed a council committee last month, and if approved by the full council, would go on the November ballot.
The poll asked:
“There will be an initiative on the San Diego ballot, known as Measure C, that says: Shall San Diego municipal code be amended to ensure equal refuse collection services for all San Diego residents; allow the City to impose necessary fees to fund the collection, transportation, and disposal of residential refuse, including fees for such services provided to short term vacation rentals, accessory dwelling units, and mini dorms; and require the City to provide free containers for curbside pickup? Would you say you would vote for or against Measure C?“
It found overall that voters support the measure by a 14-point margin, and there was no significant difference in support between northern and southern neighborhoods.
San Diegans’ trash bins are frequently broken by trash trucks. As a KPBS investigation in 2019 found, San Diegans ordered more than 17,500 replacement bins in just one year. And it found between 2008 and 2018, the number of replaced bins annually increased by 42%.
The poll specifically cited that story, concluding, “Frustration with the cost and inconvenience of frequently broken trash bins appears to be a major contributing factor to the breadth of support.“
“People don't like the fact that they feel they get nickel and dimed when their trash can breaks,” said Mike Zucchet, the general manager of the city’s white-collar employee union the San Diego Municipal Employees Association, which paid for the poll.
”And they call the city and the city says, 'Well, yeah, you can purchase another one.' And they're like, 'Purchase what? What's this about?'”
Zucchet said, anecdotally, council offices receive lots of complaints about broken trash bins. Replacing black trash bins costs $70 plus a $25 delivery fee, while blue recycling bins are free.
“This is sort of a sore spot with a lot of constituents who don't like being charged for a trash can when they feel like it should be part of trash service,” he said.
City policy states that if a trash truck damages a bin, it will be replaced for free. But the KPBS investigation found that in 2018, the city replaced only nine broken bins for free. Residents had a much better chance of getting a free replacement if their bin was accidentally tossed into the trash truck. That happened more than 1,000 times, the records showed.
Of course, the trash cans wouldn’t technically be free — people would be paying a monthly fee for trash collection. But Zucchet said the poll makes that clear.
“Nobody's trying to pull any punches here,“ he said. “In the language in the poll, we said very clearly that this would allow the city to charge [and] to recover the cost of trash collection. And that included ... free trash cans.”
Already, people in apartments and condos have to pay for trash pickup. The hope, Zucchet said, is that people in single family homes will support the measure — that’s in part why they’d include the language about free trash bins.
