Thu, Aug 21, 2008 (2:06 a.m.)

The Clark County Commission blew it Tuesday when it voted 4-2 to postpone its decision on whether the county’s exclusive garbage hauler, Republic Services, should be allowed to raise collection fees to pay for remaining cleanup of the shuttered Sunrise Landfill. The right thing to do would have been to register a unanimous vote against the company, but the commission majority inexplicably passed up the chance to fight on behalf of ratepayers.

Earlier this month Republic signed an agreement in federal court with the Environmental Protection Agency and the Justice Department stipulating that the company would spend the money needed to properly seal the landfill. But that didn’t mean the hauler would spend its own money. Republic, in fact, wants to pass the cost — roughly $30 million — on to residential and commercial ratepayers in the form of an environmental surcharge over the next 10 years.

There was no reason to postpone a decision on this request. The commission should have rejected it immediately and told the company to keep the promise it made to take care of the landfill work. Republic made that promise in 1999, when its county monopoly, which was scheduled to expire in 2020, was extended for an additional 15 years, through 2035.

The commission is the most powerful governmental body in Southern Nevada, but it certainly didn’t act like it when confronted with Republic’s proposal. With Commissioner Rory Reid abstaining because his brother-in-law was involved in the court agreement, only two commissioners, Chris Giunchigliani and Tom Collins, had the spine to vote against the motion by Commissioner Bruce Woodbury to postpone action so that county staff could report back on various options addressing the remaining landfill costs.

Giunchigliani, in particular, deserves credit for voicing opposition to Republic’s request, and for reminding the public that the company has made so much money on its garbage contract that it can easily afford to seal the landfill. “Our job is not to help you recoup your costs,” she told Republic. “A deal is a deal is a deal.” We couldn’t have said it better.