Brickbat: A Load of Garbage

The City of San Francisco is almost three years and half a million dollars into an effort to design and deploy the perfect garbage can. The Board of Supervisors has voted to spend $427,500 to build five prototypes each of three models designed by a firm it hired in 2018 and test them. Why not use models already in production and used by local governments across the nation? They aren't pretty enough. In the meantime, the estimated cost to mass produce whichever model is chosen has risen from $1,000 each to at least $2,000 and possibly as much as $5,000. "The idea that San Francisco is so unique that we need a separate trash can from anyone deployed in any city around the world is preposterous," said Supervisor Matt Haney. "It's something that reflects a broader and deeper brokenness of city government and the services it provides." Haney nevertheless voted to approve the money to build and test the prototypes.