It was a bit of trash talk, but of the best kind.

Commissioners praised the staff of the county’s Solid Waste Division for their work during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Commissioners read and approved a “proclamation of thanks and appreciation” for keeping the county’s Quilcene Drop Box and Jacob Miller Road Transfer Station open, despite the pandemic. Other regional transfer stations shut down after
Gov. Jay Inslee issued his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order in March.

The proclamation noted the efforts made by county employees to keep workers and the public safe, and said the staff in the Solid Waste Division have processed more than 65,000 transactions since Inslee’s order March 23. The division expects to serve more customers in 2020 than in 2019.

Commissioners thanked the Solid Waste Division staff for its dedication and took turns reading the proclamation at their meeting Monday, Dec. 7.

“It’s easy to get behind,” said Commissioner Greg Brotherton, adding that it brought to mind the famous poem by Shel Silverstein, “Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out.”

“Keep it moving,” Brotherton said, and he thanked out county workers by name. “Our whole county would look like that without these folks.”