Council could deal new cart- return plan

Deirdre Newman

The city’s effort to retrieve abandoned shopping carts has been

tremendously successful, but not enough to recoup the cost of the

program.

In the past seven months, a company hired by the city has

retrieved 4,150 carts. But the company would have had to pick up

about 9,300 during the same time period to break even.

So on Monday, the City Council will decide which of three options

to pursue: abandon the retrieval program and ask businesses to deal

with retrieving their own carts; pare the program down from seven to

three days a week; or continue as is. Councilman Allan Mansoor said

the stores should bear the entire responsibility and cost of

retrieval, which costs the city $4,000 a month. Under the current

program, stores pay $3 per cart returned.

“I would really like the store owners to take more responsibility

in picking up their own carts and making sure [the carts] don’t leave

their properties,” Mansoor said. “I don’t think it’s something the

city should have to pay for.”

Last June, the city approved a law requiring stores with shopping

carts to maintain an effective cart containment system. They could

either contract with an independent retrieval company, retrieve their

own carts or contract with the city. The city established a contract

with Hernandez City Services, which started trolling for carts in

early September.

Thirty-two retailers joined the city’s program. While the number

of abandoned carts retrieved peaked at about 880 in September, there

are now fewer than 500 abandoned carts retrieved each month. While

500 carts a month helps clean up the streets and saves the stores’

carts, the city would need to collet 1,335 a month to break even. So

far, stores have been charged about $6,300 for retrieved carts. None

has reached the maximum amount and incurred a fine.

While the effort hasn’t been a huge financial success, it has been

a public relations triumph as city officials have been praised for

the effort, which is an about-face from the frequent criticism of the

past, according to the staff report. The law has also become a model

for other cities that want to cut down on the number of abandoned

shopping carts.

But the bottom line is not in the city’s favor. If the council

decides to reduce the retrieval service to three days a week and can

negotiate a 50% reduction in cost, it would only cost the city $2,000

a month or $24,000 a year.

Some supermarkets, like Vons and El Metate Market, retained their

own retrieval services and pay for the city’s service. Eduardo

Covarrubias, the manager of El Metate Market, says he has had carts

returned to his market, but he still sees abandoned carts on the

streets. Although he is paying for two cart retrieval systems, he

said stopping the program would be a step backward.

“If we stop it, it would be kind of going back to square one,”

Covarrubias said. “We would have carts all over the place.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.