Mayor agrees to new bids for trash collection company but warns that citizens will pay more

The mayor is issuing a request for proposals for garbage pick-up.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba made the announcement at a Thursday morning press conference. The decision comes a week after the Jackson City Council voted to order the city to move forward in the RFP process. The council made this decision while the mayor was out of town in China for the last 12 days on an international economic development trip.

The mayor explained that he decided to move forward with the RFP after negotiations broke down with the council about extending the current trash contract with Richard's Disposal, which is under a one-year emergency contract that expires in April of 2024. The mayor wanted to extend the emergency contract until 2025.

In those negotiations, the mayor said that if the contract with Richard's was extended, the trash company would drop the current lawsuit they have against the city. Richard's is suing the city saying they were denied a long-term contract back in April.

Lumumba also said that a majority of the council was in agreement with the negotiations about extending Richard's contract.

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"A majority of the council had indicated that they agreed with that, only for a slim minority to throw confusion in the process and they (the council) backed away from that agreement. Then they issued a declaration that I have to do an RFP," Lumumba said.

The mayor said he only has one loyalty when it comes to the trash contract: price. With the issue of this new RFP, the mayor said residents could have to pay double or triple for garbage collection in the future.

"This isn't about me winning. Once again my only loyalty is to the best price we can secure for our residents," the mayor said. "What we have tried to do is try to avoid fighting at all cost and it would be incredibly unfair for anyone to blame the administration for the increased costs."

Lumumba said he told council members that a new garbage collection contract might cost the city more.

"They have to own up that the cost increased because of their decisions and their insistence," Lumumba said. "The RFP that we issue will have cost being the most significant factor because our residents cannot afford for us to levy this unfortunate tax on them for this routine service that they need applied."

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The RFP will be issued "before or on November 21," the mayor said.

City Attorney Catoria Martin explained that the administration issues the RFP through the city's solid waste division. A panel of six in that division will then evaluate the RFP, which usually takes about 30 Days, Martin said.

Martin said she expects the city will recommend a contract to the council by Jan. 31, 2024, which is three months before the current contract with Richard's Disposal expires. The council then has to approve the contract.

Mayor reacts to results of election

After the press conference, the mayor gave his reaction to the results of the governor's race on Tuesday.

"I congratulate all people who were running and my hope is that in their victories there's an ability for us to work together in spite of what differences we may have had in the past. My preferred candidate may not have won, but I do understand that once you take leadership you are supposed to be the governor for everybody or the mayor for everybody. I congratulate Governor Reeves on his victory and I pray that he can be a governor for everybody."

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Lumumba also admitted that his trip to China caused conflicts with his schedule and he was unable to vote in this year's elections.

"I've always voted and you can check my record on that, but the uniqueness of me being out of the country for a period of time complicated that for me," Lumumba said. "I'm regretful that I was unable to, but I have to be truthful."

Mayor's trip to China

Lumumba explained he was on a trip with a group of other mayor's and politicians from across the nation to talk about economic development between the U.S and China.

"I was with a bipartisan group that was there designed to not only talk about potential economic development and diplomatic exchange, but we were also there to encourage sub-national diplomacy," he said. "Essentially, both the United States government and the Chinese government believe that a lot of the conflict between the nations can be solved by people on the local level."

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Local governments in the U.S. and China have similar challenges, Lumumba said.

"We're all looking and trying to figure out how we fix roads, how we work and build the economies for our communities, how we deal with everyday challenges that people see," he said.

The mayor was joined by Oxford mayor Robyn Tannehill, among others.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Jackson mayor decides to move forward on RFP for garbage collection