Things got contentious at town hall meeting to discuss garbage pick up. See what happened
A town hall in South Jackson to discuss garbage collection in the city quickly turned into a heated debate, with residents shouting back-and-forth and one city councilman firing back.
Ward 6 Councilman and Council President Aaron Banks hosted the town hall at his church Glory Empowerment Center Thursday evening.
Approximately 50 residents, City Attorney Drew Martin and members of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's administration gathered to share details of the newly announced long-term garbage collection contract the city plans to enter with Richard's Disposal, if approved by the Jackson City Council.
Banks said he planned the meeting so he could hear residents' feedback and concerns over matters such as trash carts and the use of local minority subcontractors. He would then take those concerns to the council and add amendments to the contract.
But the discussion quickly devolved into shouting matches between residents, as well as between residents and Banks.
At one point, the council president threatened to kick a man out of his church. It got so bad that a young man in attendance, Jermany Gray, took the microphone and told Banks he was "disappointed" by the way he handled the meeting.
"My name is Jermany Gray and I stay in Ward 5 and before I get to my questions I must say that I am very disappointed on how you have conducted yourself in this meeting," Gray said. "This meeting was supposed to be about us expressing our concerns to you about this contract."
After Gray finished, applause broke out in the church.
Most residents voiced that they were upset that trash has become such an issue, feeling like the city has failed them and made their bills more expensive by their inaction. Residents also said they felt that the garbage issue has become so polarizing between members of the council and the mayor's office that they have lost focus of who suffers the most from the squabbles: Jacksonians.
"All we do now is attack one another and that's wrong," said C.L. Baugh, a resident in attendance who supports Richard's. "We are better than that. Give Richard's a chance."
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Banks ended up apologizing to the residents for his comments and actions, with some supporting him saying it showed he is passionate about the issues and helping his Ward 6 constituents.
"I had an agenda of how I wanted to run this meeting and that was to get feedback. When questions were asked and things were said, I responded and maybe I should have held my tongue a little bit," Banks said.
Majority of residents at Town Hall support Richard's Disposal
Only two vendors bid on the city's latest request for proposal's for garbage collection: Richard's and National Collection Systems LLC. When a resident asked Banks why only two responded, Banks said other vendors were fearful of the pending lawsuits Richard's has against the city and didn't want to risk losing the contract.
"Richard's does what they do best, they bully cities," Banks said, adding that he has seen them do the same in other locations such as Baton Rouge and New Orleans.
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That comment lit a firestorm among a majority of people in attendance. Multiple residents defended Richard's Disposal, saying they have never had an issue with their garbage being collected. When Banks asked the group if they are satisfied with Richard's service, almost every hand in the church shot up and said yes.
"Mr. Richard's I don't know who you are, where you are, but there are some people in Jackson who believe in you. Not everybody is on this train," a resident said, preferring not to have their name used. "To say he bullies? He has the right to go to court, that's not bullying. That is a legitimate legal right."
Multiple residents nodded in agreement, with one saying "treat the man right" and others shouting "amen."
Carts or no carts?
The issue of trash carts was a major center of discussion. Banks' position was that he believes the carts should be optional.
Part of the contract states that residents can use carts if they want or they can use their own cart if that's what they prefer. Richard's will be delivering approximately 45,000 carts to residents and will help repair or replace them if they are broken or stolen.
Two residents took the microphone and expressed their opposition to the carts. But a majority of residents in attendance didn't care either way. The main position from the majority was that if not having carts was a way to make garbage bills cheaper, then that's what the city should do.
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City Attorney Martin said he wasn't sure that taking carts out of the picture would make Richard's drop the price of the contract, but said, "Logically I think that would make sense."
At the end of the day, it would have to be negotiated, Martin said.
Safiya Omari, the mayor's chief of staff, was in attendance during the meeting. She took the microphone and defended the mayor's decision to add carts into the request for proposals.
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“The city has a litter problem … We figured a cart that everybody could put their trash in the cart and that reduces one element of the litter that we see in the city," Omari said, adding that if residents don't want to use them they don't have to per the contract.
Minority subcontractors should have a place in the contract
One of Banks major concerns during the meeting was how local minority subcontractors will fit into the picture. He wants to amend the contract so that local minority subcontractors would have to be used.
"We have always had in Jackson's history, a local, Black or minority businessman that has the opportunity to do what Richard's did in Baton Rouge," Banks said. "Richard's was a minority under Waste Management and he built his capacity and thank God for that. But you have people right here that have been trying to do it."
Banks is of the opinion that Lee Bush, one of the owners of National Collections United LLC, should have an opportunity as a subcontractor under Richard's.
"I think Lee Bush needs to be a sub (subcontractor) on this contract. It's a win-win because now you got somebody with local capacity and at the same time, Richard's still keeps the contract," Banks said. "Let's make sure that somebody that is in the business of garbage that is here locally gets an opportunity."
National Collections United LLC was the only other garbage collection company to submit a bid to this year's RFP, but the city decided to go with Richard's. It's unclear why the company was passed over for Richard's, but Lumumba has said previously that his main was focus was on which vendor had the lowest price.
While the mayor released a copy of Richard's contract in what he said was done as a matter of "transparency," he did not release a copy of the National Collections United LLC contract so people could see the differences in the two offers.
Socrates Garrett, a local businessman who at one point partnered with Bush to create the garbage collection company National Waste United LLC, agreed with Banks. National Waste United LLC bid on the city's 2021 garbage collection RFP, but wasn't selected.
"The issue of local business participation should trump all things," Garrett said. "We now have the opportunity to get a local minority firm and that's tremendously important: 35 years ago, any contract over $15 million had a mandatory joint venture … We have to invest in our local folk and make sure they're given opportunities to participate in this economy. If we don't do that, we're just going to continue to make ourselves poor and poor. Richard's is good, but it's time to amend it to make absolutely certain that a local, minority firm is involved in this contract."
Garrett is also suing the city for terminating their lease at the Metrocenter Mall. The decision was approved last July by the council after hearing from city employees who shared stories of "inhumane" working conditions. The lawsuit was filed by Retro Metro LLC, which is owned by Garrett and Howard Catchings.
Quick overview of the new contract with Richard's
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City Attorney Martin roughly laid out details of this year's contract with Richard's Disposal:
The contract is for six years at $891,000 per month, with four options of one-year each which can be exercised by the city.
Around 45,000 trash carts would be supplied to residents by Richard's, but using them is optional. If residents have a cart already, they can use that one. Richard's would also repair and replace carts that are broken or stolen.
Garbage will be collected twice weekly, Monday-Saturday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Richard's has committed to helping with community clean-up by supplying trucks.
Richard's will keep a local office in Jackson.
Two hoppers will be on each truck, as well as the use of an automatic arm for carts.
Residents are limited to putting 10 trash bags on the street for yard waste.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson MS councilman hosts heated town hall discussing trash pick-up
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