Fairfield's sold-out Taste of Downtown requires quick city cleanup amid trash worker strike

CBS News

a day ago

The Taste of Downtown hosted a sold-out crowd Thursday night for the annual tradition that brings Fairfield foodies together to try samples at restaurants in the downtown corridor.
Participating this year were Casa Agave, Pizza Twist, Famous Creations, Baja Ice Cream, El Pitayo, Million Thai, El Caracol, Saffron, China Palace, and Alejandro's Taqueria.
The celebration also marked the first time the event's backdrop was a freshly revitalized downtown streetscape as the city showed off a new makeover.
"A year ago? Massive construction. Orange cones, orange fencing. Today, we just finished our streetscapes phase one, which included lighting, sidewalks and new art," said Keisha Mamaril, economic development project manager for the city of Fairfield.
The event helps put downtown restaurants on the map and earns them new customers. For the owner of Casa Agave, Luis Gutierrez, there's something better than the boost in business.
"I believe the people you actually meet. It is more about the connections you have with the community, with people," Gutierrez said.
Casa Agave welcomed Taste of Downtown patrons with a hearty sample of their chicken fajitas.
"To be able to come and have just a little taste of all these restaurants? You can fall in love with the food, come back later, bring your family and friends," said K. Patrice Williams, a Fairfield city councilmember enjoying the evening downtown.
As each restaurant put their best dish forward, one thing has been dishing up discourse over the past two weeks: trash.
Garbage across Fairfield, Suisun City and several cities in San Joaquin County has been piling up thanks to a nationwide sanitation worker strike.
Republic Services, which contracts garbage services to the city of Fairfield, has yet to reach an agreement with the Teamsters union to get their local workers back on the job.
With trash piling up downtown, the city had to prioritize a quick fix to help clean it up, Fairfield city councilmember Scott Tonnesen told CBS13.
"We did the alleys and we've done the courthouse, we've taken care of the garbage here, specifically because we were gonna have a big event down here. We are working on the garbage, we are gonna get that figured out," said Tonnesen.
Downtown business owners say the trash overflow has never been this bad.
"It's smelly, it's horrible. It's attracting flies and other critters. This is a business. We pay the city more money to be in the downtown area. So, I would expect better," said Benicia Hargrove, owner of Beauty by Benicia skincare salon downtown.
CBS13 obtained a letter sent by the city of Fairfield to Republic Services threatening legal action due to a breach of contract. Garbage pickups have been interrupted for two weeks.
The city set up makeshift dump sites in these four locations across town for neighbors to toss their trash:
The trash trouble did not shy away community members from soaking in all the Taste of Downtown had to offer Thursday night, all tickets were sold out as of that morning.
Republic Services has been bringing in outside workers from different areas to help collect trash amid the ongoing strike.
In an update Thursday night, the city of Fairfield said rural Solano County routes were completed and most Tuesday trash pickup customers were serviced Thursday. Friday, Republic Services is scheduled to finish those remaining Tuesday routes and then start on Wednesday picking up customers.
The city is encouraging neighbors to keep putting their trash on the curb.
Negotiations between Republic Services and the Teamsters union are ongoing.