By John Trotti

No need to tell you that municipal budgets are tight or that waste management issues might not top the list of concerns that keep your elected officials awake at night. Most of us will run out of breath before coming anywhere near naming all the infrastructure deficiencies in need of immediate attention in our communities, and there's nothing to suggest that things will get better in the foreseeable future. So the question is, what if anything can we do to make sure our concerns don't get left out in left field?

Getting Your Board Firmly Onboard

Stop for a moment and consider how and why your board members came to their positions. Some are elected officials, but the majority, I bet, were appointed to your board, perhaps for their interest and knowledge, but more likely because of their standing within the community. Put more succinctly: because they've got clout.

It's been my experience with board members that, while it's not their job to become embroiled in the day-to-day activities of your operation, they are charged with a fiduciary responsibility to see that the public's money is put to its highest and best use, which means that to be effective they must get more than their feet wet in solid waste matters. More than that, they need sufficient information to give them the perspective to see how MSW management factors into the overall needs of the community.

You have a number of opportunities to bring MSW matters to the attention of your board, starting with your regularly scheduled board meetings and perhaps "retreats" or other specialty discussion and training workshops. While these might be cornerstones in the oversight process, their nature and structure - the fact that they are agenda-driven - set limits on their ability to delve beneath the surface and get to the meaty issues of "how does what we're doing here and now match us with what others are doing, and how well are we prepared for the demands we'll face five or 10 years from now?"

The SWANA Solution

Those of you who have attended WASTECON in the past know how valuable an industry resource this annual event is. More than just a trade exposition and program of speakers and classes, WASTECON offers unparalleled opportunities for attendees to meet informally and swap ideas with solid waste professionals not only from the United States, Canada, and Mexico but from around the world.

Having served for several years as a member of our local transit district board - a post I took up with high regard for my qualifications only to find I didn't know diddly-squat - I can promise you that the most valuable several days of my tenure were those spent at board member sessions put on by SWANA's counterpart in the transit industry: the American Public Transit Association. There I became acquainted not only with other transit board members and transit managers from around the nation but also with how they approached their responsibilities.

Along with the trade show, courses, and broad array of presentations, SWANA's several technical divisions (Collection and Transfer; Landfill Management; Waste Reduction, Recycling, and Composting; Planning and Management; Landfill Gas; Communication, Education, and Marketing; Waste-to-Energy; and Special Waste) meet to discuss issues of concern to their specific areas. Each of these elements is important, but it's this synergy complemented by the opportunity to rub elbows with the top people in the field - indeed the immersion in the various aspects of this complex, dynamic, and costly endeavor - that your board members will find of inestimable value. That you have the opportunity to share the experience with them is all the more important.

Reason Number One

Look at WASTECON as Waste Management 101; not a graduate course of study on the intricacies of the field but a good-enough grounding in the issues and concerns such that your board members will be able to support your needs in the political arena from which your funding flows. If this occurs, you don't need to get too serious about defining the other 26 reasons.

John Trotti is the editor of MSW Management.

MSW - July/August 2003