The following is a recommendation from the city manager of Bridge Bay.
“Last year, the number of visits to our local beach in Bridge Bay was 50 percent lower than the year before. Early last year we ended our contract with Arko Trash Collection, a company that had serviced local garbage collection for the past twenty years. We switched at that time to Satellite Waste Corporation, another trash collection company. In nearby Ocean Harbor, where Arko has continued to provide garbage collection, the beaches are experiencing record levels of attendance. Meanwhile, in Bridge Bay, complaints about garbage on our beach have increased this year. Clearly, inadequate garbage collection on our beach by Satellite has led to the significant drop in visitors. Therefore, in order to restore visitor numbers to our local beach, we recommend resuming our contract with Arko as soon as possible.”
Write a response in which you discuss what questions would need to be answered in order to decide whether the recommendation and the argument on which it is based are reasonable. Be sure to explain how the answers to these questions would help to evaluate the recommendation.
The scenario presented is a situation where the city manager of Bridge Bay is concerned that the number of visitors to their beach has diminished and believes that a new garbage collection company is responsible for this decrease. However, the city manager does not present any evidence that Arko’s services were inadequate or that switching to another provider has helped the neighboring beach. Instead, he proposes a course of action that is based on pure conjecture. The manager’s recommendation that all of the city’s residents resume their contract with Arko is pure conjecture, and in the absence of any supporting evidence, can only be deemed a course of action that needs to be taken with extreme caution.
If the city manager is eager to increase beach attendance, he should first review the data regarding the number of beachgoers who visited Bridge Bay before the city ended its contract with Arko, how many of those visitors were repeat vacationers, and how many made repeat visits after the city’s contract with Arko ended. The manager should also check on the number of complaints received regarding garbage on the waterfront beaches in the area. If the manager finds that the number of complaints has increased, he should consider the possibility that Satellite’s recycling services are not adequate. While recycling is mandatory in the state of California, not all residents have recycling containers, and not all recycling containers are emptied on a regular basis. If the recycling containers are not emptied regularly, the containers fill with rubbish, which attracts wild animals and insects. These pests may bite or sting people when they come into contact with them. The sight of a garbage-filled recycling container on the waterfront may be enough to make a visitor choose not to visit that beach. The manager should also check the number of complaints about city garbage service. If the manager discovers that complaints about garbage on the beaches have increased since the city ended its contract with Arko, then the manager should investigate whether the complaints are legitimate or they are being generated by people who are disgruntled over the change. If the complaints are legitimate, the manager should consider the possibility of increasing the frequency of service provided by city crews or implementing more stringent controls over garbage that is placed out on the street. If the complaints are not legitimate, the manager should investigate why the number of complaints has increased and take steps to prevent future complaints.
If the manager does not find evidence that Arko’s services were inadequate or that switching to another provider has helped the neighboring beach, then he should continue his search for solutions. The manager should first consider increasing the frequency of garbage collection in the city. If the service is not increased, garbage will continue to pile up, and complaints will persist. If the service is increased, then the number of complaints should decrease. The manager should also look into hiring more city crews, increasing the number of recycling containers on the street, and implementing stricter controls over garbage disposal. The manager may also want to consider whether the city needs to increase advertising to encourage people to visit the beach. Increasing the number of people at the beach will increase the number of tourists who contribute to the economy of the city. If the city increases the number of tourists, then it should increase the amount of advertising the city does to attract them.
If the manager is unable to come up with effective solutions to the problems he faces, then he should consider the possibility that the decrease in beach attendance is not caused by inadequate garbage collection. The manager should consider the possibility that some tourists are not interested in the beach, or that the weather was not conducive to beach-going. It is also possible that the number of beachgoers in Bridge Bay has remained stable, but that the number of tourists visiting the area has declined. If the manager determines that tourists are not the problem, then he should consider the possibility that the decrease in visitors is due to declining interest in spending leisure time at the beach. The manager should then examine whether there are any programs in town that cater to these visitors. If the city has a theater, then the manager should advertise upcoming shows. If the manager determines that there are no programs in the area that appeal to tourists, then he should consider hiring someone to design a program that would attract them to the area. But, if the manager determines that there are programs in the area that appeal to tourists, such as miniature golfing, then he should advertise these programs, too.
The city manager may have made a valid decision concerning the appropriate garbage collection company for Bridge Bay, but the decision was based on unsubstantiated factual claims. The manager should make an informed determination about the number of tourists who visit Bridge Bay, the number of complaints regarding garbage on the waterfront beaches, and the number of complaints regarding city garbage service. If he finds evidence that the number of tourists has decreased, then he should investigate whether the number of tourists has decreased due to inadequate services, or whether the reason for the decrease is something else. If the manager discovers that the number of complaints regarding garbage on the waterfront beaches has increased since the city ended its contract with Arko, then the manager should investigate the cause of the problem before he recommends the city resume its use of that company. If the manager discovers that the number of complaints regarding city garbage service has increased, then he should consider the possibility that the increase in complaints is legitimate, or that the reason for the increase is something else. But, if the manager does not find evidence to support his claim that Arko’s services were inadequate or that switching to another provider has helped the neighboring beach, then he should consider the possibility that the problems he faces are not caused by inadequate garbage collection, but by something else.