Trash Talking: Allied Seeks to Expand Sycamore Landfill

Allied Waste Services, the national waste hauler that operates the City of San Diego’s Sycamore Landfill off State Route 52 at Mast Boulevard near Santee, is ramping up its campaign to expand the facility. Neighbors oppose plans favored by Allied to grow the already supersized dump into the county’s biggest landfill, with Santee officials leading the charge. They complain that more than doubling the trash capacity from 71 million cubic yards to 157 million cubic yards would have unacceptable impacts on the community.

On July 30, Allied filed a lobbyist registration statement with the San Diego city clerk’s office; it lists a team of three employees, led by Johnnie Perkins, the company’s director of municipal sales and marketing. According to the disclosure, during the second quarter of this year Perkins and his cohorts contacted councilwoman Toni Atkins as well as two employees of the City’s Development Services Department and two others from Environmental Services. During the same period, the Allied lobbyists gave a total of $620 in campaign contributions to Todd Gloria, an aide to Democratic congresswoman Susan Davis, who is seeking to replace Atkins in the Third District. Allied’s Bud Chase gave $100 to Jerry Sanders. Campaign-contribution reports show that from December 2007 through June of this year, various Allied employees have chipped in a total of $1000 to council candidate Carl DeMaio, who was elected to the council’s Fifth District in the primary; $420 to Seventh District candidate April Boling; and $620 to Boling’s opponent Marti Emerald. This fall, four company workers gave a total of $965 more to Boling.