Kalamazoo-based garbage collector Best Way Disposal has been on the offensive against the Portage City Council, after it approved a contract with a rival company to become the city’s sole trash hauler.
Right now Portage residents can choose between three trash removal companies. But in July, Waste Management successfully bid to become the city’s only hauler, beginning next year.
Supporters of the change say it will save wear and tear on the roads, but Best Way Disposal, whose bid was rejected, has opposed the decision.
Employees and owners have spoken out against the one-hauler system and helped to collect signatures for a petition that seeks to get the issue in front of Portage voters.
Additionally, recently-released campaign finance records show that members of the Balkema family associated with Best Way have made significant donations to three Portage city candidates.
The donors include Michael, Daniel, Ralph, Susan, Brenda and Melanie Balkema, who in total have donated over $16,000.
The recipients are Nasim Ansari, who’s running for mayor against incumbent Patricia Randall, and two of seven city council candidates, Jay Woodhams and Kathleen Olmsted.
Woodhams has especially benefited from the donations, with 97.5% of his total contributions coming from members of the Balkema family.
In the donation records for Woodhams, each Balkema lists the same address under "Business Address," 5300 East ML Avenue in Kalamazoo. (In the records for Ansari's donations, Susan, Brenda and Melanie Balkema do not list an address.)
That address is the location of Azo Services, which, according to Azo corporate counsel Jessica Routley, is connected to Best Way Disposal. At Azo's office, Routley described Azo as "administration" for Best Way.
Routley directed questions about the donations to Chris Phillips, the Operations Manager at Best Way. Records show he donated $150 to the campaigns of Ansari and Woodhams.
Phillips did not reply to requests for comment.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
