Working for Senate
Hauling trash with Simmons Sanitation in Orofino
June 11, 2007
Larry LaRocco kicked off his 2007-2008 Working for Senate campaign in Orofino, Idaho, with a full day on the job for Simmons Sanitation. He started at 6 a.m. and rode on the back of a giant white truck as it wound its way through Orofino’s streets, with frequent stops to scoop up garbage and recyclables.
“The driver, Luke, taught me how to operate the levers and keep my fingers out of the way of hydraulic compactors,” LaRocco wrote in a diary at the Daily Kos blog. “Of course, there was the constant picking up and dumping of trash barrels.” LaRocco also had a chance to talk with Robert Simmons, who owns the company with his parents, Don and Barbara Simmons of Kamiah. Dean Ferguson of the Lewiston Tribune wrote:
As president of the Kamiah Chamber of Commerce, Simmons was happy to have the politician's ear. "It comes down to one thing in Idaho and north central Idaho in particular - the economy," Simmons said. "We need jobs and we need to boost the economy."
Simmons, who is married and has a high school-aged son, said his family usually votes Republican. But he doesn't see party loyalty as a virtue. "One thing that is disconcerting at the national and local level is party-line voting," Simmons said.
Simmons praised LaRocco for mingling with workers instead of expecting voters to meet him at political rallies. "They need to have a competition between all the politicians," Simmons said. "We'll throw 'em on the garbage truck and whoever survives gets the vote.”
Simmons Sanitation has 11 employees in Orofino and Kamiah. For a day, LaRocco learned what it’s like to be one of them and to provide such an essential community service. “Sometimes we take things like garbage pick-up for granted,” LaRocco said. “People might say, ‘It’s a dirty job, but someone has to do it.’ Well, the Simmons crews not only do the job, they do it with a great deal of pride and professionalism.”
This wasn’t an entirely new experience for LaRocco. In 1982, during his first run for the U.S. House, LaRocco worked 22 jobs over eight months—including hauling trash in Orofino! LaRocco came close to defeating the incumbent, Larry Craig, that year despite almost no name recognition and little support from the national Democratic Party. He went on to win his next run for Congress in 1990 and served two terms in the House of Representatives.
More:
Larry’s Daily Kos blog: “Why I am Working for the U.S. Senate”
