MarBorg Industries was given 60 days to craft a new garbage contract City Hall can’t resist; after that, the company—which now enjoys a near monopoly over South Coast garbage services—will have to compete with other trash haulers to retain the western half of the City of Santa Barbara’s garbage franchise. Two weeks ago, MarBorg announced that it was buying out its longtime rival, Allied Waste, which for decades controlled all—and, later, half—the city’s trash routes. On Tuesday, the council approved MarBorg’s assumption of the two years left remaining on Allied’s franchise. In the meantime, however, city administrators have hired a private consultant specializing in the trash business to ensure City Hall negotiates a good deal with MarBorg.
