It appears that St. Louis County spokesman Mac Scott needs some Contracting 101 courses.

A recent article concerning the county’s trash-district program addressed the problems with missed trash pickups. Many residents complained to the county about missed trash pickups. Evidently, the county feels the calls should be made to the trash hauler instead.

Mr. Scott referred to the residents when he stated: “Their contract is with the hauler.”

You are wrong, Mr. Scott. The contract is between St. Louis County and the trash haulers. You seem to have forgotten the residents had no vote and no choice in the matter.

Mr. Scott’s second statement: “We are only the 800-pound gorilla looking out for the best interests of the citizens of St. Louis County.”

This is only half correct. I’ll agree the county is an 800-pound gorilla that forced the residents into this situation. However, looking out for our best interests? I believe that is still up for debate.

Finally, I have to ask Mr. Scott how exactly the county plans on tracking performance on these contracts.

Tracking performance is vital in the administration of service contracts. Performance must be monitored to make the contract successful. So if the residents contact the haulers directly, as suggested by Mr. Scott, how will the county know that the hauler is performing poorly? Do you expect the hauler to notify the county of their late and missed pickups?

In my 18 years of government contracting experience, I have never had a contractor provide that type of information.

As far as I’m concerned, all complaints need to be made to the county at the number Mr. Scott provided in the article, 314-615-HAUL (4285).

Lisa O’Donnell

Oakville