With Jackson, MS, days away from no trash pickup, city council takes further legal action

Jackson residents are less than one week away from the prospect of their trash not being collected, as an emergency contract issued by the mayor but never approved by the city council is set to expire at the end of the month. No solution is in sight.

During a Monday news conference, City Council President Ashby Foote could not say what would happen next week, calling on Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba to present the council with a plan to prevent garbage from piling up.

"The mayor is elected to be the executive of the city, and his responsibility is to develop and run the city and provide services that are expected, Foote said. "And he has been unable to get four votes on the garbage contract. That's his responsibility, and he doesn't seem to be willing to try to move in order to get four votes, or to reach out and convince council members why they need to vote for their particular one, his choice. I don't know what the mayor is going to do in the next four days, four-and-a-half days. We talked and sent him a letter back a week ago asking that we'd like to review the contract for 24 hours before we have to vote on it, but I haven't really heard back from him regarding that request, and I don't know what he's going to do the rest of this week. Really, the ball is in his court. It's hard to come up with the solution when the ball's in his court."

Lumumba conducted an exclusive interview with the Clarion Ledger last week, where he said he is "prayerful" regarding a solution occurring before the end of the week.

The city council is also taking its own action. In legal documents filed Sunday by the council's attorney Deshun Martin, council members are asking a judge to rule that they can both appoint a vendor to collect garbage and initiate a new Request for Proposals process that could see them come to a more long-lasting solution. They are asking for a "speedy ruling," with the pullout of current garbage collector Richard's Disposal Inc. looming.

Martin said the judge should rule in the council's favor because Lumumba has failed to present the council with a contract that can find majority support. The mayor has repeatedly presented plans to award the contract to Richard's, but after those contracts have been voted down has not moved on to a "second vendor," argue Martin and Foote.

That second vendor, under the most recent RFP process, would be Waste Management. However, in a letter sent by Waste Management to Lumumba and obtained by the Clarion Ledger earlier this month, that company's leaders said the previous RFP was over and it would not be able to operate under it.

"We will be happy to participate in any new RFP process as required by Mississippi law for solid waste collection contracts," Waste Management President Brandon Shaw said in the letter.

Waste Management Response by USA TODAY Network on Scribd

When asked whether the contents of that letter meant Richard's is the only vendor prepared to pick up the trash on Monday, Foote said he did not know that to be the case.

"We'll just have to see. We'll see if the judge gives us authority to reach out and do some of those things. I'm confident that a solution can be found, it's just a matter of making the system work," Foote said.

State law calls for the "lowest and best" bid to be accepted. Richard's scored lower than Waste Management and one other bidder before cost was factored in. However, once Richard's lower price tag was factored in, its bid for twice per week with a cart scored the highest. Waste Management scored highest for twice a week without a cart. Cost accounted for 35% of the total RFP scores.

Foote said that while Richard's is a cheaper option than Waste Management, the city should consider more than just cost when picking a long-term vendor.

"It's a cost benefit analysis. Is it worth paying a little extra a year to have a premier global company as your waste management company that has been doing this for 50 years, and whatever?" Foote said. "In our opinion, my opinion and a number of the council members, they disregard the fact that Richard's had a really really low score on the 65% of the RFP."

In a statement Monday afternoon, Lumumba defended his record on the issue and called for the council to support the Richard's bid. Lumumba said his support for Richard's is based solely on the numbers, and said he has "no personal benefit" in the council choosing its bid. Lumumba further said he reached out to Foote, but that the letter went unanswered.

"We continue to follow the conclusions of the evaluation committee which determined that Richard’s scored the highest for twice a week pickup with a cart (trash bin). In fact, Richard’s is the most affordable bidder on ANY of the garbage collection options presented to the council," Lumumba said. "The bottom line is that we intend to support what is in the best interest of our residents. Richard’s continues to prove it can do the job in trying circumstances. They beat out the other two vendors in the evaluation process. The numbers don’t lie.”

In October, residents of Jackson faced a similar deadline, with Richard's saying it would stop operating in the city unless it was paid for the work it had been doing. A settlement was reached in court where the company would be paid until the end of the month that the state supreme court ruled in a case on the mayor awarding the emergency contract. The court ruled earlier this month, in favor of the council, setting the end of Richard's payment to coincide with the expected expiration of the emergency contract.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson, MS garbage: Residents may soon have no one to pick up trash