Shawnee council member rallies residents against Deffenbaugh

When Kevin Straub was running for the Shawnee City Council in 2006, he took a $1,000 campaign contribution from Deffenbaugh Industries. But that, he says, doesn’t mean he’s in the pocket of the area’s biggest trash hauler.

Quite the contrary.

In Shawnee, residents choose their trash hauler, signing up with one of the mom-and-pop outfits — A-1 Disposal or Superior Disposal — or the giant Deffenbaugh. Earlier this year, though, the city put together a task force to study new ways to manage its garbage.

The group landed on a recommendation that angered Straub and pitted him against his former campaign contributor.