City Council Candidate Steve Galvin Would Cut Garbage Collection From Two Days A Week To One

Steve Galvin believes once-a-week trash pickup in the heat of Florida is just enough.

Galvin, who is running for St. Petersburg City Council, said the twice-weekly trash pickup service by the city is “redundant.”  The District 8 candidate was airing his opinions on garbage collection at a St. Petersburg Democratic Club open forum, along with fellow District 8 candidates Robert Davis, Alex Duensing and Amy Foster.

 “I’ve lived in number of places in the country,’ Gavin said, “and this is the only place where they pick up your trash twice a week.”

“To me, that seems a little redundant,” Gavin added.

Last week’s  debate-style meeting at the Sunshine Center also featured speeches by mayoral candidates Rick Kriseman and Paul Congemi. The audience of about 75 people included District 4 candidate Darden Rice, current City Council Member Steve Kornell and  Pinellas County School Board member Rene Flowers.

As an alternative to twice a week garbage collection, Gavin suggests reducing  pick-up to once weekly, and the other day devoted to city-managed recycling.

“Have the city get involved in curbside recycling,” he said to scattered applause, “instead of outsourcing it to some other company. That’s just sort of a no-brainer.”

Since October 2012, Longwood-based Waste Pro USA, Inc. has provided recycling services to the City of St. Pete offering recycling and waste management services to over 150 municipalities throughout the southeast U.S.

Watch the video of Galvin’s opinions on weekly trash pickup here.

This article was co-written with Phil Ammann.