As Cincinnati city employees waited on pins and needles Monday to see if they would get pink slips, city council's Finance Committee voted 5-3 to expand the city's recycling program.
It could mean an extra expense of $1.2 million when the city is trying to close a 2009 budget shortfall of $28 million.
Recycling proponents say that additional money can be reclaimed with savings in future years.
Finance Committee members were split on the issue.
Finance Committee Chairperson Laketa Cole, a Democrat, said she voted for the measure to get it out of committee and before the full council on Wednesday for a more thorough debate.
"It's a terrible idea, because we don't know if we're going to be making more money back," said Charterite Chris Bortz. "It's a big risk to take."
Republican Leslie Ghiz said she thinks it's a very bad time to be bringing the idea forward.
"I think we're shooting ourselves in the foot," she said. "It's in very poor taste."
Part of the recycling ramp-up calls for households to get a 96-gallon container.
That angered Diana Frey, President of CODE – Cincinnati Organized & Dedicated Employees – which represents 962 employees in 14 of 16 city departments.
She called the bins "fluff" that the city can't afford.
"Do you want basic services?," she asked. "Do you want your streets treated? Do you want your traffic signals maintained? Do you want your trash collected? Or, do you want a 96-gallon recycling bin that people are going to use for trash?"
Frey suggested that citizens use the bins to store road salt for the winter.
"By taking $1.2 million away from public services for that, you just directly affected the street maintenance program and the trash collection program," she went on to say. "Yeah. It makes me mad. Really angry."
The sentiment wasn't much different from Deborah Sanders, who represents 500 public services workers in Local 250 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME).
"Why would you do that?," she wondered out loud. "We're already in a deficit, so why would you want to spend money on a recycling program when you can't guarantee that you're going to save money?"
Sanders added that the labor force didn't create the current fiscal problems.
Asked if recycling should be totally cut to save jobs in departments, Bortz said that's an option that should be explored along with going to bi-weekly collection.
"That should be on the table," he said. "I'd rather do that than lay off a police officer or firefighter."
The full nine-member council will discuss the recycling matter on Wednesday.
