Jim Twombly: He said he was informed in early November that the city's green-waste facility was having problems with the clear plastic bags.
City Manager Jim Twombly acknowledged Thursday that he became aware of problems with the city's green-waste program in November - a month after it began - but said he never informed Mayor Dewey Bartlett of the issue.
Twombly said he was informed by then-Solid Waste Manager Eric Lee in early November that the city's green-waste facility was having problems removing the green waste from the clear plastic in which it was bagged.
Twombly said he passed that information on to Cheryl Cohenour, who was chairwoman of the trash board at the time.
"As we talked through it, our thoughts were that this is a mechanical operations type of an issue that we may be able to resolve within a couple of months and that we had spent so much time and effort on the public information, that perhaps the best thing to do would be, let's see about resolving this mechanical problem," Twombly said.
He described the decision to divert residents' green waste to the city trash incinerator as a "departmental decision" made by the city's Streets and Stormwater Department and said he doesn't know when the decision was made or who made it.
Department head Dan Crossland told the City Council last week that he was not aware of the problem.
The Tulsa World reported last week that yard waste picked up at residents' curbs has been taken exclusively to the city's trash incinerator since at least January because of the green-waste site's equipment problem and that most yard waste had gone to the incinerator during the previous three months.
The city still required residents to affix green-waste bags with stickers that cost 50 cents each.
City officials - including Twombly on Thursday - have stressed that the green waste is being turned into energy, just as trash is, when it is burned in the incinerator.
Bartlett maintained Thursday that he was never informed of the problem and that he would not expect Twombly to tell him about operational issues.
Bartlett Press Secretary Lloyd Wright relayed a statement that "you don't tell a CEO that this (green waste) is going somewhere else. ... The CEO has 500 million things" to worry about.
During a City Council committee meeting Thursday afternoon, councilors pressed Trash Board Chairman Randy Sullivan for explanations about who knew what and when.
"We have a responsibility to the public to tell them the story," Councilor Blake Ewing said during a committee meeting.
Sullivan, who has said board members learned of the situation only recently, told councilors that the problem was an operational one and that no one thought it "was going to develop into what it was."
Councilor Jeannie Cue told fellow councilors during the committee meeting that Twombly had known for a long time that the city was diverting the green waste to its incinerator. Twombly was not present, but he confirmed Cue's assertion in an interview with the World.
When told that Twombly had confirmed Cue's assertion, Ewing said he found it difficult to believe that the mayor was not informed.
"Jim Twombly is the mayor's city manager, and for him to have not communicated that to the mayor is irresponsible," Ewing said. "I personally don't believe that is true."
Councilor G.T. Bynum, who had previously demanded to know who knew of the situation, said Twombly's knowledge "raises the question" of whether the mayor or Crossland really did know.
"What upsets me about the whole thing was that people were paying altruistically to participate in a program that was taking advantage of their altruism," he said.
Green waste collection status
- Collected on customer's primary trash days
- Any kind of bag or bundle allowed
- No green-waste sticker required
- Green-waste sticker to be required again beginning Sept. 16 unless otherwise announced
Source: City of Tulsa
Kevin Canfield 918-581-8313
kevin.canfield@tulsaworld.com
Zack Stoycoff 918-581-8486
zack.stoycoff@tulsaworld.com
Original Print Headline: Official knew of green waste issues months ago
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