Can we someday move on past the accusations and the counter-accusations of the solid waste removal deal?

Ordinary citizens probably just want to know: How much will it cost to haul away the garbage?

Where did it all start? Why can’t it end? Somewhere back in the woods, the idea was promoted ... maybe by Recycling Industries ... that as Yuba City and other entities consider renewal of solid waste disposal contracts with Recology, that taking bids would be a good idea. That as opposed to simply negotiating a deal directly with Recology.

Some people thought that was a good idea. Some thought otherwise ... and many to the extent that they took great offense.

Recycling Industries became an interested third party, viewed as a supporter of a company that would be a competitor with Recology in a bidding process. And the truth is that this community gets along with Recology and its employees pretty well – they take care of us. So there was some bile concerning Recycling Industries and to the point that opposition was organized to the company’s hopes to expand their sorting plant in a Yuba City industrial zone.

There were a few sides and they all questioned the motives or styles of the other sides.

Why would council members be so abrupt, maybe even rude, Recology supporters wanted to know.

What gave Recology the right to feel entitled to the contract, some council members wondered.

Why should Recology supporters attack plans for expansion in an industrial zone, Recycling Industries asks. A great big: Etc. Our guess is that the run-of-the-mill citizen of Yuba City is thinking ... about a number of other things.

Or if regular citizens do think about the solid waste contract and how it was dealt with, they wonder how taking bids is not the American way of doing things, why a great company like Recology shouldn’t be afforded more respect, why a company like Recycling Industries shouldn’t be allowed to expand as long as the city makes sure citizens are safe and aren’t taken advantage of.

And also: how much do I pay to get my garbage hauled away?

Points can be taken, important safeguards can be managed ... but why do some of us continue to make this a huge deal?

Good back and forth, everyone. Let’s move on now.

Our View editorials represent the opinion of the Appealdemocrat and its editorial board and are edited by the publisher and/or editor. Members of the editorial board include: Publisher Glenn Stifflemire and Editor Steve Miller.