Interview with Mario Borgatello Sr. and Mario Borgatello Jr., July 24, 2009

Partial Transcript: ...right there. Right in there.

Segment Synopsis: Mario Borgatello Sr. describes collecting household trash and garbage (food scraps) in Montecito in the 1930s. The nature of the refuse is described, where pickups were made, and how it was disposed with the County.

Keywords: dumping; garbage; oil drums; pig farm; transfer station; trash; trucks

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles; Montecito (Calif.); Refuse and refuse disposal; Swine

Partial Transcript: Actually in business with him in January of 1937, I started.

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. talks about when he started picking up trash in Montecito with his brother, Charles, in the 1930s. He talks about the type and nature of household garbage they picked up. Several contemporary estate owners' names are mentioned. The specialized services they performed are described.

Keywords: Babbitt; Knapp; McCormick; McGann; Nixon; Oakley Thorne; Peabody; Slater; T C Walker; amount of garbage; amount of trash; cleaning of garbage cans; lining of garbage cans; type of trash

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles; Customer service; Montecito (Calif.)

Partial Transcript: But you used the stake-side truck until, until the early forties?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. and Jr. talks about how long MarBorg used the open-stake trucks and the first packer truck purchased by MarBorg.

Keywords: compactor truck; garbage; open stake; packer trucks; trash; trucks

Subjects: Refuse collection vehicles

Partial Transcript: Well, let's go back a step. When the county, see, there were as many, there were four different haulers, in the Montecito area.

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. and Mario Jr. describe competition among trash collectors and the lack of government control over refuse services. Mario Jr. describes the county's eventually imposition of a permitting process and breaking up the region into zones for refuse collectors. They describe the areas of responsibility portioned out to MarBorg by the County.

Keywords: competition; higway patrol; permitting; regulations; topman; unregulated; wino labor; zones

Partial Transcript: And that was Channel Disposal back then, right?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. describes the evolution of company names leading up to becoming MarBorg Industries.

Keywords: Borgatello Brothers; incorporation

Subjects: Channel Disposal Company

Partial Transcript: Can you tell us about the, the pig farm? Where it was located, how many pigs you had?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. talks about the inception of the company hog farm, its location, size, and lack of water. He describes how the pig farm took off during the war when the Borgatellos got the contract for the Marine Base. Mario Sr. describes the number of daily trips to the Marine Base and the shipping of the hogs ready for market.

Keywords: San Antonio Creek Road; food scraps; hogs; pig farm; pigs; water hauling; water well

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles; Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara; Public contracts; Shipping; Swine; World War, 1938-1945

Partial Transcript: We cut back and the people went for it.

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. talks about how the war and rationing impacted people's lives and in turn the reduction in the frequency of pick ups and the amount of residential trash and garbage.

Subjects: Marine Corps Air Station Santa Barbara; Rationing; World War, 1939-1945

Partial Transcript: Can you tell us what you think are the similarities between garbage or just the whole trash waste stream?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. and Mario Jr. describe the evolution and composition of trash and garbage from the 1930s through to the 2000s. Several large Santa Barbara businesses and institutions are named and used as examples. During this segment it becomes clear that the two men conducting the interview are familiar with current MarBorg operations.

Keywords: compostsing; food scrap program; garbage disposal; waste water treatment; wet garbage

Subjects: Biltmore Hotel; Compost; Cottage Hospital; Miramar Hotel; San Ysidro Ranch (Montecito, Calif.); St. Francis Hospital

Partial Transcript: You were not, we were not allowed to pickup in the City.

Segment Synopsis: Mario Jr. and Mario Sr. talk about the length of time it took for MarBorg to get a contract with the City of Santa Barbara. MarBorg was relegated to county areas outside of the city. With the imposition of county regulations governing the pickup and disposal of trash the Borgatellos were able to buy up their competitors one-by-one. The competitors are named by Mario Sr.

Keywords: regulations

Subjects: Carpinteria (Calif.); Consolidation and merger of corporations; Delorenzo; Hopkins, Otto; Montecito American; Montecito, (Calif.); Moulton, P I; Taverna

Partial Transcript: How many stops, how many actual customers did you have, at that point?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. references the 1973 split of Channel Disposal Company into two and the subsequent incorporation of MarBorg. Each new company's service areas are described. The move to computerized billing and the number of customers is covered.

Keywords: Carpinteria; Goleta; Hope Ranch; IBM 402 Mainframe; Isla Vista; Mission Canyon; Montecito; accounting; bill preparation; billing; company growth; customers; punch cards; roll-offs; third party billing; water bills

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles; Channel Disposal Company; MarBorg Industries

Partial Transcript: So BFI started collecting in the City of Santa Barbara in '73, right?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Jr. recounts the trash haulers that preceded MarBorg in the City of Santa Barbara. Mario Sr. and Jr. describe events leading up to and during the time the City put the trash pickup contract out to bid and the fallout from issues stemming from that process. MarBorg's dismay related to the bidding is expressed. Mario Sr. also recounts the earlier use of trash haulers used by the City of Santa Barbara prior to World War II along with the names of City haulers from the early part of the 20th century and how they got started.

Keywords: Abbott and Hafferty; BFI; PS&S; Prevedello; Raffetto; Taverna family; bidding; bins; city trash contract; contract default; covered trucks; disappointment; employees; fights; franchise; incorporation; investors; missteps; regulations; settlement; takeover; vandalism

Subjects: Strikes and lockouts

Partial Transcript: How do you think the waste stream has changed, since the twenties and thirties to today?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. describes the differences in the makeup of waste over time. Mario Jr. mentions the reuse of milk and soda pop as an example prior to the development of containerized food and throwaway bottles. Mario Jr. describes how recycling has come full circle from reuse and redemption of bottles to throwaway and then to recycling. Other types of items saved are described such as gallon cans from the nursery and produce cartons. Mario Sr. describes how he used the redemption of bottles to buy cigarettes and cigars.

Keywords: bottle redemption; containerized food; gallon cans; milk bottles; potato sacks; produce crates; reuse; throwaway; waste stream

Partial Transcript: Yeah, that's great. You're going on 92?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. recounts his early memories of working with his brother Charles, picking up garbage at Montecito estates. Mario Jr. brings up how vivid his father's dreams are from the early days. Mario Sr. lists a few of the estates on their route and details on the services they performed. Mario Jr. brings up the challenge of picking up garbage from the Biltmore Hotel when he was a kid working with his dad, Mario Sr. Mario Jr. describes the composition of the trash they picked up form the Biltmore. Mario Sr. remembers how milk was delivered to the estates in Montecito form the Live Oak Dairy. He also describes the number of service people likely to be employed at the larger estates.

Keywords: Wall Street journal; biltmore hotel; bliss estate; butler; casa dorinda; cleanup; cook; dr. douglas; estates; food scraps; garbage pickup; hogs; knapp; live oak dairy; maid; new york times; news-press; newspapers; parma; routes; ryerson; topman; trash bins; waste

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles

Partial Transcript: If the barrels came into the yard full of food scraps they must have weighed 250 pounds each, how did you empty those at the pig farm?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. describes in detail how the barrels of garbage were handled to feed the hogs. He also provides details about the feeding process and the sorting of hogs for shipping to market. Mario Sr. describes the circumstances contributing to getting rid of the pig farm, including regulations requiring the cooking of garbage before feeding to the hogs. Mario Sr. and Jr. describe the garbage cooker, the cooking process, and concern about unexpected visits from health inspector. Mario Jr. and Sr. describes how the proceeds from selling the pig ranch enabled the company to purchase compactor trucks.

Keywords: disease transmission; garbage cooking; health inspector; oil drums; packer trucks; pig feeding; pig ranch; pig sorting; pork; regulations

Subjects: Swine

Partial Transcript: Do you remember how much, how much did you charge early on for picking up people's garbage?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. recounts the specific rates charged to Montecito estates for particular service frequency and how those rates increased over time.

Keywords: McComick; Slater; T C Walker; service frequency

Subjects: Rates

Partial Transcript: Do you remember who your first employee was?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. recounts the names and longevity of the earliest employees hired by his brother Charles. He also describes the work ethic of the employee and how good treatment of employees translated into keeping them a long time.

Keywords: Hope Ranch; cuyama route; long-time employees; medicare; unions

Subjects: Borgatello, Charles; Cota, Harry; Employee fringe benefits; Hope Ranch (Calif.); Korean War, 1950-1953; Lampkey, Richard

Partial Transcript: I was just going to say, what do you guys think that makes MarBorg unique?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Sr. recounts how Channel Disposal became unionized and then broke away from the union. Mario Jr. attributes MarBorg's strength as a family business as being unique. MarBorg's transition from a trash hauler to a recycler is another unique aspect, along with continual investment in infrastructure and good treatment of employees. Mario Sr. recounts an Otto Hopkins story as an example of how service can set a company apart. He also tells a story about his sister Laura who handled complaint calls. Mario Jr. talks about competition in the roll-off container business as an example of customer service and as family values.

Keywords: fringe benefits; recycling; roll-off container service; service philosophy; solid waste; transition; trash collection; treatment of customers

Subjects: Borgatello, Laura; Business ethics; Channel Disposal Company; Customer services; Family business; Franchises; Hopkins, Otto; Labor unions--Organizing; Recycling centers

Partial Transcript: Can you guys tell me what you think is, what the future holds?

Segment Synopsis: Mario Jr. describes what the future holds for MarBorg Industries.

Keywords: business growth; opportunities

Subjects: Business--Growth