The worst export Mexico ever sent to Canada, the megabin, continues to be the source of prevarication on the part of Eucan, the inventor of those loathsome billboards with puny garbage cans on the side.
Town Crier (Springfield Shopper?), a set of “community” papers with a deplorable Web site, runs two curiously similar articles this week.
- “We can’t get rid of those giant bins”
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Supersized garbage bins will remain on the streets of North York for the time being, despite councillors’ requests to have them removed and replaced with smaller receptacles. Eucan… said it doesn’t have any smaller garbage cans left to replace the large receptacles.
Then don’t get them from Eucan. The city has its own blue garbage cans on the streets now. Use those.
Willowdale councillor David Shiner said he’s pleased to hear that at least one of his colleagues (Fletcher) has requested the removal of the bins. Shiner refused to put the receptacles in his ward in the first place.
“They were ridiculous billboards posing as garbage bins that actually have almost no room for waste or recycling on the side of them,” he said. […]
Despite the disapproval of some in city hall, [Eucan CEO Rolando] Garcia said the trial run was a success, with only a handful of the 84 bins being removed from Toronto’s streets.
“All the reports that the city produced, even the ones regarding the opinion of the people, and the people of the BIAs, show that the unit is better and it has been a successful test,” he said. “It’s unfortunate that some councillors, especially Councillor Fletcher, have never understood the benefits to Toronto that this program offers, and what we were trying to actually do.”
Is anyone as tired of Garcia as I am? Surely he’s the one who wrote the following comment in the city’s online megabin survey: “Very simple to understand and at the right height. They are perfect. The city should look for more and improved ways of getting more revenue. This bins are superior to the current bins. The city should allow the installation of this bins throughout. They are great.” Only the megabin manufacturer, and a non-native English-speaker, could plausibly write such a thing.
Anyway, as I documented previously, “the opinion of the people” was mixed, according to the city’s surveys:
- Online respondents tend to hate the megabins if they’ve used them (60%).
- Telephone respondents tend to like the bins if they’ve used them (75%)
- Streeters, all of whom have used the bins, tend to like them (81%).
BIAs overwhelmingly hated the billboards masquerading as garbage cans. The city’s staff report stated clearly:
Four BIAs [in one group] expressed their support of the new bins, while 8 BIAs expressed disapproval. Furthermore, 5 BIAs… expressed their official rejection of the Eucan proposal either verbally, via signed statements, or via community petitions…. Overall, out of the input received through the meeting and the surveys, five BIAs [out of six in another group] expressed their disapproval of the new bins.
That’s 18 out of 23 BIAs putting the kibosh. An honest mistake on Garcia’s part, or simply a lie?
Garcia said he doesn’t see his company expanding their contract with the city if their new street furniture mandate doesn’t fit his company’s advertising needs.
Good riddance. But does that mean Eucan will not go right ahead and do what’s all the rage among losing bidders these days – sue the city? Remember, there’s no such thing as losing a city contract anymore: Even if you come in second, you can just file a lawsuit. Worked for Union Station and the Port Authority.
- “We said how much we hated those huge garbage bins, so they’re being carted away”
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Sandra Bussin, councillor for Beaches–East York, said she’s not looking into removing the few bins in her ward since they are only demonstration bins. Also, her office has received only one or two complaints from residents.
And one of them was from me!
The local BIAs didn’t support the Eucan bins, said Bussin, and so very few receptacles were added to her ward in the first place.
An assistant to Bussin assures me today that “Councillor Bussin has decided that she would like the Eucan megabins removed from Ward 32 based on constituent responses. The request to have them removed has been sent to staff and we are awaiting a response.”
Despite Fletcher’s motion, Eucan CEO Rolando Garcia said the trial run was a success, with only a handful of the 84 bins being removed from city streets.
“All the reports that the city has produced, even the ones regarding the opinion of the people and the opinions of the BIAs, show that the unit is better and it has been a successful test,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that certain councillors, especially Councillor Fletcher, have never understood the benefits to Toronto this programs offers and what we were trying to actually do.”
Here we go again.
So: Just what is it gonna take to get rid of these fuckers?