Trash and campaign cash are colliding in Maryland’s closely watched Senate race for Democratic nominee Angela Alsobrooks.
Alsobrooks, who is the county executive of Prince George’s County, Maryland, has received more than $54,000 in contributions to her local and state campaigns dating back several years from waste management companies while they were under contracts with the county.
In some cases, the donations came in the months before or after the companies secured lucrative re-bids, according to county and federal public finance records reviewed by the Washington Examiner. However, once the new five-year contracts kicked in this summer, the county was plagued by complaints from residents of trash that went uncollected for weeks.
The Washington Examiner reached out to Alsobrooks’s campaign for comment.
Alsobrooks is facing former Gov. Larry Hogan (R-MD) in an unexpectedly competitive race in the deep-blue state to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD). It’s a contest that could determine control of the Senate.
Trash has for years been a messy political issue in Alsobrooks’s suburban county that borders Washington, D.C. Her 2018 campaign for county executive included a pledge to restore twice-a-week garbage pickup for then-some 950,000 residents, which she ultimately made good on.
Politicians who receive campaign contributions from companies or individuals who stand to gain from government business, while not uncommon, often draw scrutiny. The apparent handling of residential waste services in the county after new contracts took effect July 1, coupled with the political donations, raised questions about the jurisdiction’s nearly one dozen trash haulers that were collectively awarded roughly $325 million for the next five years. Prince George’s budget for fiscal year 2025 is $5.46 billion, $60.4 million of which was for trash services.
The owner of Beltsville Refuse, a trash removal service whose contract the county let expire in May 2022, accused Prince George’s of altering its bidding process to weed out smaller businesses like his but did not elaborate how the county had altered its process.
“We [were] unable to abide by all the new stipulation that PG County required and as a small business it didn’t not [sic] allow us to bid on the new contracts,” owner Darnell Gross posted on social media in August. “So I just would like everybody to know it wasn’t because we know [sic] longer where [sic] interested in maintaining our business or our services to the community!!”
Gross did not respond to a request for comment.
Alsobrooks announced her campaign for county executive in July 2017, was elected in November 2018, and assumed office in December 2018.
JEDA Trucking donated $1,000 in 2017 to Alsobrooks’s county executive campaign. Its owner, Jesse Tartt, contributed $2,500 to the same campaign in 2020 and $3,300 in January of this year to Alsobrooks’s Senate primary. JEDA Trucking was under contract for residential trash, recycling, and yard waste from May 2016 until May 2022. It was notified by the county in August 2023 of an intent to award a new contract to begin July 2024. It’s five-year base contract is worth nearly $57 million and the company is now handling more than double the amount of housing units in its territory.
Bates Trucking Trash Removal and its owner, Bruce Bates, donated just under $15,000 to Alsobrooks’s county executive campaign from 2018 to 2021. Bates donated another $6,600 in May 2023 split evenly between her Senate primary and general elections. Bates Trucking was under contract with the county for various trash services from 2016 until May 2022. In August 2023, the county notified it of an intent to award a new contract to begin July 2024.
Goode Companies and its leaders, including brothers Willie and Kirk Goode, have donated nearly $20,000 between Alsobrooks’s county executive and Senate campaigns.
Goode Companies and Willie Goode contributed roughly $8,600 since Alsobrooks announced her county executive run in 2017. Prior smaller donations date back years earlier to when she was the county’s top prosecutor. The brothers contributed a combined $7,300 in June 2023 for her Senate primary and general elections. Goode Companies Account Controller Edward McCraw donated $3,000 that same month for her Senate primary.
Goode Companies was under contract for residential trash services from May 2016 to May 2022 and was notified in August 2023 by the county of its intent to award a new contract for July 2024.
Kirk Goode also owns U.S. Refuse, which was under contract for the same time period and received its new contract award notification from the county on the same day.
Goode Companies and Bates Trucking are under the parent company WB Waste Solutions.
Bowie Trucking Service donated $5,000 to Alsobrooks’s county executive campaign in 2021. It was under contract for residential trash pickup from May 2016 to May 2022. The county notified it in August 2023 of its intent to award a new contract for July 2024.
Burch Trash Service contributed $2,500 to Alsobrooks’s county executive campaign in 2020. It was under contract for residential trash pickup from May 2016 to May 2022 and was also awarded a new contract that began July 2024. It is unclear how much the individual contracts awarded to Goode Companies, Bates Trucking, Bowie Trucking Service, and Burch Trash are worth.
Burch Trash said in a statement that they did not receive any service complaints in its coverage area, and denied that there was any intent to influence Alsobrooks’s campaign, and that its business with the county was reduced in the new contract.
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“We periodically give donations just to help whether we are voting for the candidate or not. And as far as our future business with the County, our reputation and hard work over the 30 plus years working in the County would hopefully be taken into consideration when contracts become available,” Burch Manager Audra Thompson said. “We lost houses and money when the County re-bid this contract, so no, we received no perks.”
The other waste management businesses did not respond to requests for comment.