Data Mistake Dominates Elmhurst Garbage Debate

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst officials on Monday acknowledged they mistakenly provided data showing two garbage haulers made similar offers cost-wise.

Until the weekend, the city maintained that the five-year contract price for the city's longtime hauler, Phoenix-based Republic Services, was just $45,000 cheaper than Rosemont-based LRS' offer. Overall, both offers were more than $20.5 million.

By the time of Monday's City Council meeting, the difference grew to $385,000.

Even with the smaller gap, the city staff had recommended Republic, which has served Elmhurst for 17 years. Also recommending the company were two members of the council's public works committee, aldermen Emily Bastedo and Mike Baker.

But two others, Michael Bram and Rex Irby, issued a memo last week going with LRS, noting the cost difference was negligible.

Bram questioned how the changed number was initiated. He asked whether the information came from Republic.

"I'm not making any accusations here," he said.

Bastedo, who chairs the public works committee, said the panel's split vote drew a lot of scrutiny.

"All of us did a deep dive," she said.

She called the mistake "a human error."

"As soon as it was discovered, there was an apology given," she said. "The staff feels terribly about this."

City Manager Jim Grabowski said the staff regretted the mistake. He said multiple employees were working back and forth on spreadsheets, with a number getting transposed.

Bram said he understood that mistakes happen. But he said the change was material, so he suggested the issue go back to the committee.

Others wanted to proceed. So Bram took time to make sure the new calculation was correct. The number involved how much money was spent on the Republic's annual spring cleanups.

The council took the rare step to allow Republic executives to speak about the number in question. Officials could not remember another time a vendor was given the podium during a debate of the full council.

When a Republic executive explained the number, Bram appeared satisfied with the answer.

But he and Irby voted against giving the contract to Republic. The other dozen aldermen stuck with the Fortune 500 company.

The new contract starts in April.

It had been eight years since Elmhurst had gone out to bid for the contract.

Last year, Bram and aldermen Jacob Hill and James Nudera requested that the city competitively bid out the service.

In 2023, Hinsdale officials wished they had gone out to bid. They decided to stay with Republic, but the cost hikes were seen as steep. The village president said the town didn't have enough time to look around.

A couple of years earlier, Darien city staffers were preparing to renew the contract with the city's longtime waste hauler, Waste Management. But aldermen wanted to go out to bid.

In the end, Darien aldermen approved a contract with LRS, a deal that many believed to be superior to the city's previous arrangement.