Fort Worth Seeks to Remove Minority-Owned Business Requirements for $479 Million Waste Contract
Following increasing reports of missed trash pickups in Fort Worth, city officials are proposing revisions to its $479 million contract with Waste Management that would no longer require the company to hire minority- and women-owned businesses.
The changes, which will be put to the Council for a vote on May 14, would reduce Waste Management’s requirement to subcontract a minimum of 25% to minority businesses to zero. Waste Management requested adjustments to the contract, according to the Council’s agenda item.
Fort Worth worked with Waste Management to review data and identify strategies to improve route consistency, increase service levels and improve customer service for residents with disabilities who require transportation service, a department spokeswoman said. environmental services, Lola McCartney. Adjusting the terms of the agreement will allow the city to cover more routes and have more options to meet service demands, McCartney said.
The contract change will affect Knight Waste Services of Fort Worth, a black-owned company that has served as an exclusive minority provider for waste management for more than two decades. The company is run by brothers Marcus Knight and Richard L. Knight, who took over the company from their late father, former Dallas city administrator and businessman Richard Knight Jr.
“It is disturbing to learn that the Board is considering actions that could ultimately jeopardize the existence of Knight Waste and our nearly 40 employees and the families they support,” Marcus and Richard L. Knight said in a joint statement.
Waste Management did not respond to a request for comment. McCartney said he could not speak to the details of Waste Management’s plans to subcontract to Knight, nor how common it is for the city to waive enterprise capital requirements in its contracts.
The move follows weeks of criticism directed at Knight Waste Services. In a May 7 presentation, Fort Worth Environmental Services Director Cody Whittenburg said Waste Management and its contractors make about 1.1 million maintenance attempts per month. Between October and March, the city recorded around 1,600 missed collections per month. If Waste Management met industry standards, that number would not exceed 1,100, Whittenburg said.
When complaints of missed trash pickups increased last year, the city gave Waste Management a six-month waiver of its capital requirements so the company could take over some of Knight’s trash collection routes, Whittenburg previously told the Report . That exemption expired on May 8.
City officials have since reviewed Waste Management’s contract under Fort Worth’s enterprise capital law and “determined that the market does not support an enterprise capital requirement,” according to the proposal.
City Council member Charlie Lauersdorf has been a vocal advocate for removing the requirements entirely because he believes it will allow Waste Management to take over more routes and improve service for his north Fort Worth constituents. He hopes his Council colleagues will also support the measure, citing Knight’s poor performance.
“They were informed repeatedly and given ample opportunities to improve the service,” Lauersdorf told the Report. “I would say drop the requirement if there were enough (capital) waste disposal companies in the applicant pool, but there aren’t. They simply don’t exist, and so by maintaining this requirement we are just shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The Knights said they have had routine meetings with city and Waste Management officials in which they were communicated about the root causes of problems with service delivery and what steps are being taken to cure those problems.
“Our commitment to service has never wavered, and we recognize that we sometimes fall short of that commitment,” said Marcus and Robert L. Knight, adding that service has improved recently.
The waste industry as a whole is facing challenges, and to suggest that Knight Waste Services is alone in this regard is a misinterpretation, the Knights said.
“Ultimately, for the city to consider removing contractual support for (equity) businesses would send a disappointing message to the (equity) business community,” they said.
Alex Jimenez, former president of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said he believes Waste Management and city officials should be held accountable for ensuring contractors operate smoothly. He added that he is concerned that blaming minority business owners for any setbacks or failures and subsequently eliminating the minority business requirement would send a clear message to other minority-owned businesses.
“The relationship between the minority community and the city is divisive. I haven’t seen a situation this bad in a while,” Jimenez said. “If they did something like that, they would tell the minority community, ‘You don’t mean anything in this town.’ The division will get worse.”
Lauersdorf, a combat veteran and Marine Corps reservist, said he has pushed for veteran-owned businesses to get more contracts at the city level. If a veteran-owned company didn’t provide services up to city standards, he said he would tell executives the same thing Knight heard: If you can’t do what we’re paying you to do, we’re going to someone else.
“Simply being a minority- or woman-owned business does not give someone a free pass to not provide the service they were hired to do,” Lauersdorf said. “Ultimately, they need to take responsibility and take responsibility for their actions.”
Council members discussed changes to the waste management contract during the April 30 executive session. Board members Elizabeth Beck, Gyna Bivens, Alan Blaylock, Michael Crain, Carlos Flores, Macy Hill, Jeanette Martinez, Chris Nettles and Jared Williams were unavailable for comment at this time. published on Monday.
Labor shortages and shrinking profit margins in the waste industry have made it difficult for small contractors like Knight to meet service expectations, said Val Familo, the city’s former solid waste contract services administrator. While Waste Management has resources and the ability to hire more workers to address missed pickups, Knight does not, she said.
“I kind of feel like they’re being scapegoated” for billing issues, Familo said. “They are really good people to work with. They are honest. I just feel like it’s a lot easier to point the finger at them.”
When other waste contractors were struggling to meet performance expectations, city officials pointed to Knight Waste Services as an example of excellent service, Familo said.
“They were amazing,” Familo said. “And I feel like they could be again if given the opportunity.”
Waste Management’s contract, which was extended in 2021 without a competitive bidding process, will be renewed in 2033. In addition to removing capital requirements, the Board will also vote on requirements that allow access to more equipment and create consistent timelines for fixing missed flaws. collections across all service lines, including trash, recycling, yard waste and bulk, McCartney said.
Reporter Cecilia Lenzen contributed to the report.
Haley Samsel is the Fort Worth Report’s environmental reporter. You can contact them at haley.samsel@fortworthreport.org.
At Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
Related news
Republication is free for non-commercial entities. Commercial entities are prohibited without a licensing agreement. Contact us for more details.
