Trying to restore a trashed reputation

By Tony Cook

Monday, June 4, 2007 | 7:05 a.m.

When Bob Coyle took over Republic Service's garbage empire in Southern Nevada, his predecessor welcomed him with a lawsuit.

Though it was later dismissed, the suit served as an omen of things to come. Nearly three years later Coyle is still struggling to overcome community skepticism about his powerful company and its questionable past dealings.

By most accounts, Coyle, 59, is vastly different than his predecessor, Stephen Kalish, whose personal and political connections often intersected with public policy.

Rather than rely on backroom deals and chummy relationships with elected officials, Coyle has a reputation as a straight shooter who relies on business smarts and outside-the-box thinking.

But Coyle faces a conflict inherent to his role as area president for Republic. While trying to restore the company's reputation, he also must better the company's bottom line. Those two goals don't always mix well in a community rich with cynicism about the garbage company.

As a result, he often is at the center of controversy, most recently for his request that county officials increase rates to help pay for the closure of Sunrise Landfill, even though the company got a 15-year contract extension from the county in 1999 to do just that.

The issue already has riled residents, who say the rate increase constitutes a classic bait-and-switch. Still, Clark County officials are considering the issue - a testament to the company's sway and the new style Coyle has brought to Republic.

Coyle, the son of Irish immigrants, grew up in Chicago and attended DePaul University. While there, he took a job as an office manager for Waste Management.

"I wasn't trying to be a garbage man," Coyle said. "I was trying to get through college."

The business was expanding rapidly and after four years Coyle transferred to Hawaii, where he became a general manager at age 26. He later served stints in Southern California and Northern Europe before leaving a 35-year career with Waste Management to join Republic as area president for Southern Nevada in 2004.

In his East Sahara Avenue office overlooking downtown is a plaque from the general manager of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee. It reads: "Official Garbage Man of the 1984 Olympics."

That job provided an opportunity for what many who have worked with him describe as his strong suit - the ability to solve problems creatively.

The Olympic job was the equivalent of setting up and shutting down garbage operations in eight weeks for a village of 50,000 people, Coyle said. The job posed a serious manpower problem. Coyle needed 50 garbage truck drivers for a temporary summer gig.

But he saw the potential for a large temporary labor pool among the city's teachers who were off for the summer. He trained teachers to drive trucks and pitch trash.

Coyle's management style also is unorthodox at times. Six weeks ago two customer service representatives got into a spat. Coyle sat them down in his office and told them he just wanted them to look at each other. After a few seconds, they began laughing.

"I said, 'Is this whole thing that serious?' They patched things up and walked out talking about what a nut Coyle is," he said.

Those who have worked with him say he is also pointedly straightforward.

At his desk Tuesday, Coyle got a call from one of his managers who explained that a garbage truck driver had received a traffic ticket.

"Tell him he is stupid," Coyle said. The words might seem brash, but that's not how they sound from Coyle's mouth. They come off not as commentary, but cold, hard fact. This is Coyle's style.

"I always thought he was a straight shooter, which you don't always get in this business," said Laith Ezzet, a solid waste consultant who has negotiated with Coyle on behalf of several cities in Southern California.

The "dirty business" cliches about the garbage industry have not been far from the truth here.

Kalish's personal and political connections often caused controversy. In 1999 Las Vegas and Clark County extended Republic's monopoly contracts by 15 years, to 2021 and 2035, respectively. County commissioners didn't even discuss the matter before approving it. The unusually long terms meant billions of dollars in revenue for Republic and stymied competition.

The deals looked even more suspicious in light of Kalish's connections.

Las Vegas Councilman Michael McDonald, who helped push the extension through, was a friend of Kalish's, had dated a Republic employee and received more than $36,000 in campaign cash during a fundraiser at a pub Kalish owned. Commissioner Dario Herrera, who pushed the county extension, vacationed at Kalish's California beach home and got more than $33,000 in campaign money from Kalish.

After leaving the company in June 2004, Kalish sought to take over Boulder City Disposal, one of the few Southern Nevada garbage operations not owned by Republic. He filed a lawsuit accusing Republic of bullying tactics and dirty tricks designed to block his purchase of the company.

In court filings, Kalish claimed he left Republic after company executives with whom he had disagreements mailed an anonymous letter to his wife falsely accusing him of marital infidelity. After he left, he said anonymous mailers were sent to residents opposing his purchase of Boulder City Disposal.

Republic denied the allegations and countersued, arguing that Kalish had abused his Republic expense account and falsified reports in order to live a lavish lifestyle. Kalish ran up large hotel and restaurant tabs, traveled almost exclusively by limousine during trips to other cities, and, on at least one occasion, chartered a private jet for more than $20,000, the company said.

"Kalish was often accompanied on such trips by an entourage of people, many of whom served no apparent business purposes on the trip other than to socialize with Kalish," the company said.

Eventually, both sides agreed to drop their claims.

Coyle's style is vastly different. He's described as low-key and said he has never even been in a private jet.

"I was in a helicopter once," he said. "I didn't like it."

Former Clark County Manager Thom Reilly worked with both men.

"Steve Kalish was very politically connected," he said. "Bob Coyle ... took a more business like approach."

But even with Coyle's less flashy style, criticism of the company has continued. Last year commissioners shot down a recycling pilot program first floated by Coyle, primarily because of public outcry. The proposal would have resulted in fewer overall pickups, with an increase in recycling pickups at the expense of fewer regular trash pickups.

The result of that process was due in part to it being publicly vetted, something that often didn't happen in the past.

"Whatever we're doing, we are doing it in public," Coyle said.

Indeed, there have been public discussions before decisions were made about two controversial issues in the past 18 months: the recycling proposal and Coyle's latest proposal for a fee increase to pay for the closure of Sunrise Landfill.

Still, Coyle is no neophyte to the intersection of politics and business. Under his leadership, Republic continues to give enormous campaign donations. Coyle said he usually is out three nights a week at political fundraisers or community meetings, often at the request of local elected officials.

"We work for elected officials. They expect us to support them," he said. "It's part of Americana."

And like his predecessor, Coyle doesn't always do things by the book.

"He's arrogant," says property manager Barbara Holland, who negotiated a compromise deal with Coyle and government officials over fees Coyle began charging property managers for garbage that protrudes over the lip of containers.

"His game is, 'Let's see how much I can pull. If someone catches me, I will just say sorry. Otherwise, I'll make a lot of money.' "

Coyle implemented the fee before county or city code expressly permitted it, though he did send a letter notifying the county of his intent. When the Sun made the practice public, Coyle argued that overflowing containers were a safety issue.

The municipalities changed their codes 18 months later to allow it and Coyle paid a group of property managers $300,000 in rebates.

While Coyle has gained only marginal ground in restoring public trust, setbacks to that cause - such as the overflow fee issue - have helped boost Republic's bottom line.

Since he took over, Republic's annual profits in Southern Nevada have jumped from $19.5 million in 2003 to $28.6 million in 2005. Republic's profits before taxes are about 18.4 percent of its $235.7 million revenue.

"Those are healthy margins," said Ezzet, the solid waste consultant. "Ten to 12 percent is the industry average."

Coyle is now asking for more money, pointing to higher-than-expected costs to comply with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency orders to close Sunrise Landfill. While the 15-year contract extension deal says Republic can ask for a rate increase if costs exceed the company's original $36 million estimate, it also says commissioners are under no obligation to grant it. Either way, Republic would still be required to complete the work.

Whatever happens, those who remember the reasons given for the contract extension in 1999 - ratepayers won't have to pick up the tab, officials pledged at the time - are likely to see it as another reminder that this is, after all, the garbage business.