JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – Outrage over the City of Jackson’s garbage contracts discussion led to council members fighting during a special session on Thursday, February 24.
“We should at least have the respect to know what is costing us now. It could be completely different than what everything else has been said because it’s done on an emergency basis In all transparency, I don’t see a contract, so I don’t know what I’m voting to approve. That has already been executed, so I think it’s irresponsible for me. I’m not going to talk about nobody else for me to take a blind vote of a price tag,” said Councilman Aaron Banks, Ward 6.
In the meeting, councilmembers made the decision to end the emergency order, but they’re not sure if their decision was legal.
“I’m going to have to get legal advice on this, and I’m really not going to talk about this too much because I’m very concerned that we are in a situation where we have potential litigation,” said Council President Virgi Lindsay, Ward 7.
Waste Management is threatening to sue the city, claiming the city is refusing to negotiate. Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba has been pushing for Richard’s Disposal since 2021, but four members on the council want to extend the contract with Waste Management.
“Richard Disposal is only the cheapest, if you add in garbage carts that nobody asked for. Other than that, our current service, which is working, is the cheapest,” said Councilman Vernon Hartley, Ward 5.
“And that bid was the lowest and best bid, saving the citizens of Jackson a lot of money, especially with a six-year contract where we will be costing the citizens of Jackson $7.3 million more and more, and the city is not going to absorb the cost the people will,” said Councilman Brian Grizzell, Ward 4.
The Mayor’s Office released a statement about Thursday’s meeting.
Regretfully, today was another example of continuous attempts of a a slim majority of City Council members to circumvent the procurement process and allow our current garbage collection vendor, Waste Management, to maintain a contract that they lost in a legitimate bid process.
Richard’s Disposal won the garbage collection bid. In 99% of cases, the council abides by this well-established and routine practice, where the top bid is selected. But when it comes to Waste Management, who lost out in two separate bidding processes, a majority of the council seems uninterested in the very real ramifications of their decision.
Today, they attempted to circumvent the emergency procurement process when they realized that Richard’s would be the emergency contractor. Then they changed their mind and voted to continue the emergency and to amend the order to replace Richard’s Disposal with Waste Management. This almost comical attempt to continue Waste Management’s service clearly crossed the line of separation of powers. It is unclear why these council members are so bound and determined to contract with Waste Management. What is clear is that Richard’s Disposal won the bid with a proposal that would save the City millions of dollars over the next 6 years. What also remains clear is that Mayor Lumumba retains the right to procure contracts and he would be violating state statute by allowing council members to make those decide and without any compelling reasons. Mayor Lumumba remains totally committed to acting in the best interest of the City of Jackson.
The council should know better. They do know better and the facts and the law are not on their side.
Jackson Mayor’s Office
In a letter, Waste Management offered to extend services for one more month at the same price while they negotiate. The current contract with Waste Management is set to expire on April 1, 2022.