NEW ORLEANS — A dilemma over trash is putting the New Orleans Pride parade in jeopardy.
The parade, which celebrates the city’s diversity, doesn’t have a garbage contract in place.
“We have been calling numerous companies,” said parade organizer and general manger of OZ New Orleans Sarah Manowitz. “As the days have gone on and the calls have remained unanswered, obviously we’ve become more and more concerned.”
That concern is now at the top of the list instead of finalizing plans for this year’s parade.
“I’d much rather be spending this time right now sitting down and planning a line up instead of having to get on a soapbox and shake every tree I can to resolve garbage pickup,” Manowitz said.
A garbage pickup contract is required by the city before the June 11 parade can roll.
“We are actively continuing to reach out to companies that have not called us back to get anyone to give us a bid,” Manowitz said.
Only two companies have bid so far. Manowitz says a $2,500 bid fell through, leaving only one. That’s a bid for $33,900 from Ramelli Waste.
“I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was a joke,” Manowitz said.
It wasn’t a joke. Company owner Bob Ramelli, who declined an on-camera interview, says there’s a higher cost for services now. He says the bid is comparable to his past $20,000 to $30,000 contract with Krewe du Vieux and the more than $70,000 one for the St. Patrick’s Day parade.
“Ramelli was using Krewe du Vieux as a comparable example and it’s apples to oranges. That parade is much larger. It rolls during Mardi Gras. We’re talking about June,” Manowitz said.
Manowitz says a better comparison would be the Gay Easter Parade and that past pride parades spent less than half of what Ramelli Waste bid. To reduce trash, Manowitz is discouraging throws and shortened the parade route. Ramelli says the crowd is the biggest trash producer and must plan for the worst.
“I don’t know if they think we’re trying to plan pride-mageddon, but $33,000 is not only cost prohibitive, but it’s discriminatory,” Manowitz said.
Unable to pay that, Manowitz hopes something else comes through to make sure the parade rolls as planned.
“We’re not asking to not have to pay or have a deep discount, we’re just asking for something that’s reasonable,” Manowitz said. “We really needed this yesterday. We are at the eleventh hour, but we are going to keep moving forward positively.”
Hearing about the snag, the mayor’s office is working with parade organizers to try and find a solution.
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