Fellow list members: I took some time to discover what I could about Waste Management, who owns Recycle America Alliance. Plenty of information is accessible on their corporate website. Of concern to me is that Waste Management is a huge, for-profit conglomerate that is extracting wealth from our city -- that's how they make money.
Consider this: Waste Management is a huge, Houston-based conglomerate which pays their top four officers total compensation between one and three million dollars each, annually. The corporation also pays each of the nine directors $40,000+ per year in cash, plus at least $70,000 per year in stocks. In addition, directors receive $2,000 per meeting attended, all expenses are paid, and directors receive $10,000/year for chairing a committee, $5,000/year extra for being on the audit committee. Note, too, that the BOD members all sit on other boards, collecting similar sweet deals. I notice that more than one of the Directors of WM sit on the board of the Federal Mogul Corporation -- a huge global auto parts manufacturer that filed chapter 11, and yet pays their BOD even better, as I recall from visiting that corporate website. I am aware that this is considered normal in the corporate world, and that this particular corporation -- operating throughout the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico -- is very much a conventional corporation in today's so-called avaricious "free market." I think that the city of Minneapolis would do well to explore developing a relationship with a corporation which was less interested in extracting wealth than in serving our community and bio-region. As a founding member of a newly formed cooperative corporation, I am glad to be a part of a corporation that naturally values community values, which includes doing as much as possible to leave an environment worth having to the next generations. Having read a variety of books and articles about economics and about the current corrupt crony capitalism that currently dominates our globe and our city, it seems to me to be a good idea to try to encourage a creative local corporation rather than one which is so obviously embedded in the corporate culture who only knows "the price of lunch" today, and only as measured in dollars. Eureka Recycling's website reveals a creative, expert local initiative rooted firmly in human values and in our bio-region. I certainly hope that Minneapolis supports this local corporation and chooses Eureka as our city's recycler! -- pedaling for Peace and Eco-justice -- Gary Hoover Kingfield REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
