'No other alternatives': Allentown approves trash contract with 4-3 vote (2025)

ALLENTOWN, Pa.–For the second time in two weeks, Allentown City Council brought a vote about trash back from the dumpster.

Allentown City Council voted 4-3 to approve atrash contract with J.P. Mascaro & Sons,in the amount of $34.85 per unit, per month.Just two weeks ago, that same contract was voted down, after some councilmembers and residents said they've had it with price increases.

The contract will increase trash fees by 46% next year and by a total of 78% the year after that.

Currently, homeowners in the city pay $415 a year for trash, and that amount is expected to go up to $605 next year and $740 the year after that.

The city's current contract with Waste Management ends May 31, 2025.

Waste Management had also submitted a bid, but city officials said that proposal was $10 million higher than Solid Waste Services Inc., which does business as J.P. Mascaro & Sons.

The estimated amount for the first year of the new contract is $16.3 million, with a 5% consumer price index of 5% on June 1, 2025, and each year thereafter for the proposed five-year contract.

Two weeks ago, council voted 5-2 against the same contract, but it was able to move forward Wednesday night after Candida Affa and Cynthia Mota changed their minds and cast votes in the affirmative.

Those minds were changed after hearing comments from the administration and from Pat Mascaro, president of J.P. Mascaro.

"We gave you the absolute best number that we could give you," Mascaro said. "I can assure you of two things: If you want public sanitation, public health and public safety, you got an excellent program. And the second is, are you getting value? I would suggest you are if you look at the comparables."

Mark Shahda, director of public works, said the city did not have any other options if council would have rejected the contract.

"Unfortunately, we've reached a crossroads," Shahda said. "We've looked into different options, looked at different angles, went back to the drawing board and looked at what we could do differently."

"There are no other alternatives at this point in time to have to rebid this contract or put it out to bid," he said. "We'd be doing our residents a disservice, as we all know the cost of doing business never comes down; it only...it's only going to continue to escalate."

Even though Mota voted in favor of the contract, she said it was a really hard decision.

"This is going to be a big burden to our residents," Mota said. "What's going to happen with people with really low income, and what's going to happen with poor people in our community? You know the community is already struggling, and that's my concern."

"We were elected to make tough decisions, and I don't see an alternative," Councilmember Santo Napoli said Wednesday night.

Councilmembers Ce-Ce Gerlach, Natalie Santos andEd Zucalvoted against the contract Wednesday night.

Gerlach said council cannot continue to say the problem of homelessness is important and then make decisions like this.

"I cannot say yes to something that I know is going to have dire consequences financially on people who are already struggling in the city of Allentown," Gerlach said.

Members of the administration said they are working on finalizing a new rebate program for low-income households.

Because of the hit residents will be taking from the cost of the contract, Mayor Matt Tuerk said the 2025 budget is not going to have any recommendations for a tax increase.

In addition, Tuerk explained to council that the increase in the cost to the residents is not generated from the award of the contract, but will be done through the budget process.

Speaking with 69 News ahead of the meeting, the mayor said Allentown has been on a twice-a-week trash pickup schedule for years. He said throwing that away would be disastrous.

"New York and cities around the country are, like, they're trying to figure out how to kill all their rats," Tuerk said. "We don't even have any in Allentown right now. I don't want to see a rat in Allentown. I don't think any member of City Council does."

Tuerk had asked City Council to revisit the vote Wednesday, offering more information this time, saying cost increases were inevitable and that the contract presented was really the best the city could do.

Greg Hoffman, a resident of West Gordon Street, told council it should have considered bringing the trash program in-house.

"Why didn't we look at us getting garbage trucks and getting employees and bring it in house?" Hoffman asked. "It just upsets me as a taxpayer that this is common sense."

Karen Ocasio, a resident from the southside of the city, said council did not consider the Latino population in making the decision.

"This is just pretty much like gentrification," Ocasio said. "This is the same thing that they did to the African American community in the 1990s."

"We're going to be homeless," she continued. "You can't just concern yourself with what happens to the Hispanic community during election, say three words in Spanish, and then be like, 'Hey, give me your vote.' You have got to worry about us all the time."