Sanitation fee increase

Landlord and community activist urging the council to table the fee, saying service dropped to once a week and savings never reached residents; costs would pass to tenants.

Called the increase unfair to seniors and low-generation households, contrasting once-a-week residential pickup with French Quarter service.

Says $8.50 on top of existing fees is unaffordable for retirees and low-income residents already hit by SNAP cuts.

Argues contractors are paid 100% for recycling though only 42% of residents participate — roughly $12 million a year in 'unearned profits.'

Told King and Green she can't afford the fee, calling residents the city's piggy bank for past mismanagement.

Asked whether struggling residents are 'discardable' to the council and questioned why residents pay for contract mistakes.

Says lowering service to once a week was itself an increase — '134% since 2011' — and wants contract problems fixed before residents pay.

Reiterated that residents shouldn't pay for past administrative mistakes.

Still paying $24 for a promised second weekly pickup that never came; wants the city to fix its own mistakes.

Said a seven-day turnaround to vote on a 30-page ordinance is 'not good government' and cites the $56 million contract that doubled since 2021.

Called it a bait-and-switch — paying for two pickups while getting one — and asked for district town halls and evening meetings.

Retired and living month to month; asked the council to do more research before implementing an $8 increase.

Called the contract excessive and rejected the claim that contracts can't be changed.

Says the increase cuts into his medication money and asks about trash that goes uncollected.

Recycling advocate urging the city to build its own recycling operation and noting Baton Rouge owns its recycling chain.

Thanked Hughes for town halls; pointed to Kenner's cheaper two-day service and recycling after switching contractors.