HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – “You’re taking my money but you’re not taking my trash,” says Ronald Johnson, a frustrated homeowner who believes a local trash company is acting in retaliation after he began to question them.
Johnson has lived at his home for about seven years.
In recent years, the HOA switched trash companies and is now working with Texas Pride Disposal.
Johnson says his trash was being picked up on schedule without any issues, until recently.
“They had been picking up my trash for like nine, 10 months without a problem,” Johnson said. “It just so happened they stopped picking up the trash and I called to ask them what’s going on and that’s when I first heard about the sticker situation.”
He is referencing Texas Pride Disposal’s bill sticker program.
According to the company’s website, once a payment is processed, a sticker is mailed to homeowners.
They must place the sticker onto their trash can signaling to crews their account is current.
For Johnson, this is an inconvenience.
“They had been picking up my trash the whole time without a sticker being on there,” he said.
The disabled Navy veteran also believes that placing the sticker brings him unwanted attention.
“I suffer from PTSD unfortunately. To me, it messes with my anxiety,” Johnson said. “It’s like you’re being put on the spotlight, and I don’t want to be on the spotlight.”
In an email exchange Johnson shared with KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun, Texas Pride Disposal Founder Kevin Atkinson, told him that once he placed the sticker on the bin, his team would pick up the garbage.
“The sticker program is our solution. It will not be changing. A sticker on your container is mandatory for collection,” Atkinson stated.
Atkinson declined an interview with Balogun but instead shared a link to the sticker program and affirmed Johnson’s trash will be picked up once procedure is followed.
“It’s not me trying to be defiant. I’m not trying to be a problem person, that’s not me,” Johnson said.
Balogun spoke with one of Johnson’s neighbors who doesn’t have an issue with the sticker program.
“Right now, it may not be a problem for them but wait for they have to drop that lawn bag or they’re out of town,” Johnson said. “Yeah, it’s fine. But wait.”
On Texas Pride Disposal’s website, the company said a bin was required to be out next to a pile of bagged lawn clippings.
The trash company picks up twice a week in Johnson’s neighborhood. He’s waiting to see what happens Thursday.