Prineville, Ore. – The Prineville City Council will hold its previously postponed public hearing on a proposed 10% rate increase for Republic Services at its regular public meeting scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10th at City Hall.
The hearing was originally set for last month but was abruptly postponed after community members — as well as the Prineville Review — raised concerns about transparency surrounding the proposal. City Manager Forrester recommended immediately at the start of its May 27th meeting that the council should instead postpone the public hearing over the proposal.
Despite officials telling the Prineville Review shortly before the meeting that there was no planned presentation by Republic Services, officials from the company were in attendance and it was announced they were prepared to provide a presentation, a presentation which ultimately did not take place after the council voted to postpone. The public meeting’s agenda only indicated that Forrester would be presenting the proposal to the council.
City’s Finance Director Lori Hooper Antram will be presenting the proposal instead of Forrester for tomorrow’s June 10th meeting, according to the meeting’s agenda.
Forrester’s recommendation did not refer to any concerns raised regarding meetings transparency and notice—instead focusing on the fact that Councilor Howard was not present but had taken a strong interest in the matters with Republic Services, as well as note that Councilor Jerry Brummer, who is a liaison between the council and Republic, has been absent for months from its meetings.
Chief among those concerns was the city’s failure to disclose the proposed rate increase amount in its initial public notice or agenda. The 10% figure was only released at the last minute following inquiries from the Review shortly before the scheduled hearing. A copy of an undated letter sent by Republic Services to Forrester regarding the increase was also only provided for those physically attending the meeting and was not part of the agenda or meeting packet.
City officials also did not have an answer as to when that letter was dated.
The lack of prior disclosure and detail has sparked growing criticism from local residents, who argued the process lacked transparency and hindered meaningful public participation. The City Council has also repeatedly faced calls to provide equal video access for members of the public as it does for staff attending the meetings (the City only provides telephonic audio-only remote attendance).
As the Prineville Review previously reported, the city’s handling of the notice may have conflicted with Oregon’s public meetings laws, which require adequate notice of matters to be discussed in public hearings.
Amid another potential 10% rate increase in 9 months, Prineville residents have taken to local social media pages in recent weeks to voice frustration with Republic Services’ quality of service, with the most frequent complaint being missed trash and recycling pickups. Citizens have reported entire streets being skipped, bins left unemptied, and repeated delays without explanation or follow-up. Some say they’ve had to call multiple times just to get basic service restored, while others describe long hold times and unresponsive customer support.
These concerns have persisted despite previous assurances from the company and have even been echoed in past City Council discussions, where members expressed disappointment over declining service standards and a lack of reliable local staffing.
Last year, City Council members themselves voiced concerns about this shift in service quality and local accountability.
“Councilor Hutchison added that until we see how the changes in service requested works out and sees how it could go with a person in the Prineville office, she cannot support a request for an increase. When they (Republic) first took over, they said they wouldn’t change how things were operating and it didn’t take anytime [sic] at all to change everything,” according to the meeting’s minutes.
Republic Services — the private waste management company contracted by the city — has not yet responded to repeated requests for comment submitted in late May. Mayor Jason Beebe has also not replied to inquiries about the city’s process or the rationale behind the proposed increase.
City Planning Director Casey Kaiser acknowledged last month he had limited answers regarding the process that led to the current rate proposal, particularly in light of the controversy surrounding similar efforts last year. At the time, Kaiser was unable to provide detailed explanations, if any answers to our questions, about when and how Republic Services initiated the request or why public notice lacked key information, including the proposed rate amount.
While admitting he was not familiar with the matter, Kaiser was the only official who responded to this publication’s inquiries which were spurred by readers just days prior, all despite our repeated requests for comment from Forrester who has repeatedly ignored any requests for comment on various matters from the Prineville Review since last year.
According to a newly discovered document released in the Council’s agenda packet for the June 10th meeting also now reveals that staff is recommending a 5% rate hike, “Staff was not comfortable with a 10 percent increase that could put Republic Services rate of return at the high end or potentially over the goal range of the agreement,” the document states. “City staff recommends approving a 5 percent increase to Republic Services,”
The Prineville Review is working to learn when this staff determination was actually made.
Tuesday’s rescheduled hearing is expected to provide residents another opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed rate hike, which would affect residential and commercial customers citywide.
Those who wish to provide written testimony before tomorrow’s meeting must submit it before 4 p.m. , or they may provide comments in-person or remotely at the meeting.
The Prineville Review will again be prepared to provide a livestream of the meeting for citizens wishing to view the video. Any remote testimony must still be made via the City’s telephonic audio-only system.
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