| Photo by Charles Chen on Unsplash
Part VIII of “Proactive People Must Protect Own Neighborhood” Series
The acronym “GIGO” means “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. That is how many voters, especially the millennials and independents, allegedly think about the apparent policies and practices of their City Council.
Here is a plausible narrative why West Covina voters use the ‘GIGO” acronym. From public and online published sources, the City of West Covina maintains a long-term, exclusive franchise agreement with Athens Services for garbage collection. The contract features an “evergreen” (rolling automatic renewal) clause. Originally structured as a 25-year agreement, the arrangement rolls forward each year unless the city council actively votes to trigger a termination notice.
History and Structure of the Agreement Extension in 2012. The West Covina City Council stretched a rolling agreement into a 25-year commitment, securing a $2 million up-front payment and annual community donations from Athens Services.
Author’s Notes: Fredrick Sykes first became a new member of the West Covina City Council in 2011 in a city-wide election. He was the first Black-American member of the Council and the only person of color at that time. Councilmember Sykes opposed the extension of the contract with an “evergreen clause”. He cited the fact that Athens Services was also the contractor in 2012 for collecting the garbage of the City of Redondo Beach. Still, it was charging city residents there only $11 per household per month for two garbage bins. West Covina was being charged $27 per month per household for the same two garbage bins (for trash and green waste, respectively).
Mr. Sykes added that Athens Services’ corporate main office is located at 14048 E. Valley Blvd, City of Industry, CA 91746. Its operational base and garbage dump are in the neighboring cities of Industry and La Puente, which are adjacent to West Covina. At the same time, the City of Redondo Beach is more than 40 miles further west along the Pacific Ocean shores. The leaders of an alleged political clique made sure that Mr. Sykes lost his reelection bid in the 2015 city-wide election by only 52 votes.
Then the said alleged clique engineered the gerrymandering of the city into five districts that divided many of Mr. Sykes’ minority supporters into two districts, Four and Five. The Black-American retired L.A. County Sheriff’s deputy has resided in what is now District Five since the late 1970s. Now, he is again a candidate for the council seat in District Five. He is also a current Commissioner for Human Relations of the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors, where he was vetted after being appointed to said position by then Supervisor Hilda Solis. Mr. Sykes is also a member of the Oversight Committee of the Mount San Antonio Community College, which is a part-time position.
“The city retains a yearly window to cancel the evergreen provision, but the City Council has repeatedly declined to pull the plug. The contract also requires that the City Council must advise Athens Services one year in advance if it wants to opt out of the contract and conduct a public bidding for said services.”
MORE CONTRACT AMENDMENTS. Public records show that the contract with an “evergreen clause” further had amendments that tied the annual hauler payments (scaling up to $300,000+ indexed to adjustments) directly into the city’s general fund.
CALIFORNIA STATE CONTROLLER’S REPORT. A 2015 State Controller’s office audit criticized the rolling extension, warning that it prevents competitive bidding and could burden residents with unnegotiated rate modifications. The city retains a yearly window to cancel the evergreen provision, but the City Council has repeatedly declined to pull the plug. The contract also requires that the City Council must advise Athens Services one year in advance if it wants to opt out of the contract and conduct a public bidding for said services.
The City Councilmembers have argued that ending the evergreen structure risks spiking rates for multi-family residences or forfeiting vital general-fund revenues. Athens Services continues to service the area, incorporating modern state-mandated organic waste and recycling collection requirements. It introduced a third garbage bin for recycling only in March 2026—when West Covina households protested that many environmentally conscious residents had to bring their recyclable items to kin or friends in adjacent cities, which always have three garbage bins per household.
Now many of the city voters are apparently demanding that the Office of the State Attorney General Rob Bonta should order immediately forensic audits of the contract documents, especially financial records, between West Covina and Athens Services. Should Attorney General Bonta also secure a court subpoena on Athens Services’ political contributions to the Political Action Committees of current and former city councilmembers of West Covina? And a list of the recipients of the annual community donations from Athens Services? Then file the appropriate criminal indictments, if warranted? When and if that happens, will West Covina voters in District Five send Mr. Sykes back to the City Council and lead the end of the GIGO policies? Finally, and for good? Unless they are proud of West Covina being labeled the “GIGO City”?
