Public Service: The Rent We Pay for the Air We Breathe

The following remarks were made by John Hadfield on his retirement as Executive Director of the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) after 30 years of public service.

I have been very fortunate to have been a public employee for most of my adult life. The past thirty years have been most rewarding for me and I want to thank SPSA’s past Boards of Directors for giving me the chance to serve the region as Executive Director. I most especially want to thank my mentor, friend and SPSA’s first Executive Director, Durwood Curling, whose vision, integrity and courage shaped the agency during its formative years. Without his leadership we would not be here this evening.

Early in my career at SPSA, one of our advisors who later became a friend to many of us, made an observation to me one day. It may not have been his original thought, but the sentiment has remained with me since that day long ago. He told me that “public service is the rent we pay for the air we breathe”. With due respect to the author, I would like to paraphrase that sentiment to say “public service is our obligation in repayment for the benefits of citizenship” – not nearly as well said as the original, but perhaps a clarification.

Many of you are now in or have been in public service. Clearly, that would include public employees, but it also includes those who give of themselves to run for public office, those who volunteer to work at the local food bank, with Habitat for Humanity or at the social services office. In short, public service includes a broad range of things we do for the betterment of the community and our neighbors. In contrast, and without disparaging private enterprise, public service does not create monetary profit; public service seeks no financial reward. Public service has its own very special rewards.

Some years ago, perhaps shortly after my friend had given me the sage advice on public service, one of our national leaders wrongly observed that “government is not the solution to the nation’s ills; government is the problem”. That shortsighted vision led to an era of reduced regulation, deregulation, and no regulation. Among other things, that misguided view led us to many years of shortchanged inspections and deferred maintenance on our national infrastructure that could have prevented the tragedy of the collapse of an interstate highway bridge in Minnesota last year. That “me first” view led us to ignore the incestuous practices of the banking industry and the unchecked greed that paved the way to the housing market collapse that still reverberates throughout our economy today.

Now, I am not here to tell you that government is the solution, but I will remind you that government has a role in advancing the public good. Government and public service have a quintessential duty in shaping our national life, our region’s future and the tomorrows for our children and grandchildren. I believe that there are some things we do in this country that are far too important to the nation’s fabric NOT to be undertaken as a governmental responsibility. The ultimate disposal of our solid waste is among those duties that I believe is so important that it is and must remain a governmental responsibility.

Thirty years ago, the leaders of this region looked around and saw the need for change, for a bold new approach to the way we were managing the solid waste we were creating. They could look around and see a municipal landfill that had a constant fire burning in it. They could see another that would become a superfund site; and another that had explosive gas migrating into nearby city hall buildings. Just down the street from here, a municipal incinerator was under court order to close but the city had no options available to it.

Our leaders of the time saw the problems but they also saw solutions. They knew about the political boundaries but they also knew that environmental problems knew no boundaries. By working together they envisioned a future that none of them could create on their own. They also knew that solid waste management was a core public service.

These dedicated public servants created SPSA, a bold new approach - a regional approach – to solve the crisis of the day. We can criticize them for the mistakes they made, and there were some. Hopefully we have learned from their errors. But we should never forget their vision, their leadership and commitment to make this a better place.

They also understood that the commitment of dedicated public employees brings an invaluable and unique perspective to our environmental challenges, responsiveness to our other citizens and an opportunity to help mold that vision of the future.

SPSA’s employees like other public employees across this country are not highly paid; they are not working for a year-end bonus. They have families with foibles and financial strains like so many others. Their reward is the satisfaction that comes from knowing they have accomplished great things for the common good. Their self-esteem comes not from their paychecks but from the gratitude of their peers, the simple praise of their leaders and the hugs from their families. They deserve the support of all our leaders.

I am proud to have been a part of this agency and for the opportunity to serve the region in a way that I hope will be viewed as valuable. I encourage you to continue to be involved in making where you live a better place than when you arrived. I challenge you to pay the rent on the air you breathe.

Thank you.

MSW Solutions On Our Minds: Thoughts of Sara Bixby

Did you ever have a week, where through coincidence or maybe serendipity, the same theme keeps repeating? And does the repetition make you start to wonder what it is the universe is trying to tell you and why now?

Tuesday night it was a speaker on wellness talking about the need to encourage employees to embrace healthy activities rather than trying to force them into it. Give them information, give them specific tools, make it easy to participate, he said.

Wednesday night, it was a fellow speaker at the Oklahoma SWANA conference, passionate about driver safety. Drivers have to want to be safe, he said. Rules and lectures work about as far as you can see your drivers or until they know you aren’t watching. They won’t follow the rules until each one grasps the personal ramifications for themselves and their family of not behaving in a safe manner. Make it personal, make it something they own.

Thursday afternoon sitting at the Tulsa airport, I had a chance encounter with an umpiring friend who works for a major airline in, oddly enough, quality control in the maintenance department. We talked about mentoring people to better performance. And then, on the flight between Tulsa and Denver, yet another quality assurance guy, this one a Canadian using ISO 9001 principles to help make improvements and pre-qualify contractors in the oil and gas industry. His point, and that of the retired doctor sitting next to him, was that it takes the personal commitment of every individual throughout a process – beginning to end – to avoid mistakes and create a quality outcome.

Was it just coincidence? Maybe it’s that I need to do a better job of pulling Agency employees into the process of responding to tighter budgets and changes processes? Or was it all a reminder that nothing changes for the better until people believe in and own the goal?

Please join this discussion by clicking on the comment button below or visit I AM SWANA to start your own conversations.

Sara Bixby
2009 SWANA Treasurer

MSW Solutions On Our Minds: Thoughts of Laurie Batchelder Adams

This year, SWANA is committed to getting MSW Solutions readers involved in the development of this newsletter, starting with what we hope will be a new section titled, "On Our Minds: Thoughts of SWANA Members." This month, SWANA Past-President Laurie Batchelder Adams discusses the recycling markets crisis.

Like any crisis, the recent plunge in recyclables markets forces us to ask some hard questions. The always-easier-said-than-done challenge, of course, is to ask the right questions and take the right actions; to find a way to use the crisis to improve the status quo rather than simply reacting - or worse, over-reacting.

For example, a natural tendency in times of economic stress is to narrow our focus to essential activities - and scale back on forward-looking planning activities. But does it really make sense - now of all times - to shut down the very process that visions and strategizes ways to increase efficiencies, diversify cost and revenue centers, and improve how we structure practices for managing our diversion programs? After all, planning activities rarely result in program changes tomorrow - these changes are usually months and years away. The longer we postpone these processes, the longer it will be until improvements become reality.

Speaking of practices for managing diversion programs:

• Should we count on recyclables revenues to balance our budget/maintain our cash flow? Or should we acknowledge that we’re playing a risk-based game where the “ups” are eventually followed by “downs” and maybe breaking even is the most we should hope for? The answer may depend on whether your organization has a long-term contract with fixed prices and a good performance bond to back it up.

• Should we pursue long-term market relationships or stick to a spot market approach? Are we ready to accept reasonable, competitive prices from buyers who want reliable, consistent product quality and quantity? Or is the allure of the high up-market prices we enjoyed a year ago too good to equalize in a long-term agreement?

• Will floor/ceiling prices or even quantity caps be the norm in future agreements? Should suppliers increase their ability for warehousing recyclables (and therefore the ability to speculate) in future years? If so - how much storage and what pricing are good enough to offset a downturn like this one? The editor of MSW Management magazine recently suggested that the industry consider formal sequestration (storage) of recyclables as a way to maintain supply, allowing domestic end markets to enjoy more stability and longevity. Would this work?

Please join this discussion by clicking on the comment button below. Also, consider joining SWANA’s recycled markets discussions at the Thinking Outside the Blue Box conference in Portland February 9-10. See www.thinkingoutsidethebluebox.org for more details.

Laurie Batchelder Adams
2009 SWANA Past-President


Interested in submitting an MSW Solutions guest editorial or becoming a SWANA blogger? Email marketing@swana.org with your opinions and thoughts or suggested articles. Become more than just a reader of MSW Solutions; become a contributor!

MSW Solutions On Our Minds: Thoughts of SWANA Members

As we enter the new year, SWANA is committed to getting MSW Solutions readers involved in the development of this newsletter, starting with what we hope will be a new section titled, "On Our Minds: Thoughts of SWANA Members." This month, SWANA President Carl Newby shares his thoughts about the economy and the future of solid waste management.

Today I am pondering what the impact that the drop in the recycling commodity markets will mean to me and my jurisdiction and how long it will last. I am pondering if I have a safe operation and if our training up to date. I am pondering where the price of fuel will be next year and whether I should continue to pay for biodiesel. I am wondering how waste-to-energy will fare with the new Obama administration.

What scares me is that my local government may be forced to eliminate training and memberships in professional groups in response to the current national economic crisis. The information that I use to contemplate the questions I am faced with daily as a solid waste professional comes in very large part from my SWANA training and network. I know I will have good answers for the questions facing my jurisdiction based on my experiences and what I have learned through SWANA. I know I will continue to need the knowledge base that I use daily that comes in large part from SWANA participation.

As I prepare my budget this year, I am working to keep our training and membership dollars. I know my jurisdiction must ask the question about the value of training when funds are so tight. I will answer that it is critical that we keep learning and growing. I will answer that this is an investment in having the best staff we can to handle tight times. I will answer that, to ensure the best environmental and economic solid waste management for us, we must learn from others.

Carl Newby
2009 SWANA President

Interested in submitting an MSW Solutions guest editorial or becoming a SWANA blogger? Email marketing@swana.org with your opinions and thoughts or suggested articles. Become more than just a reader of MSW Solutions; become a contributor!