With Jackson just days away from having no one to pick up its trash, multiple sources confirmed to the Clarion Ledger on Friday that negotiations between the mayor’s office, city council, Richard’s Disposal and attorneys are ongoing.
Those sources gave different timelines for any kind of resolution to be announced, but hopes are that one can be reached by Monday, with the last day of normal garbage collection slated for Saturday.
The negotiations come one day after it was announced that Richard’s, the family-owned New Orleans-based disposal company, planned to halt pickups in Jackson due to not being paid by the city for six months.
The company began picking up the trash in April under an emergency contract that was issued by Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba but was voted down by the council. The mayor attempted to veto the council’s no-vote on that contract, a move that ignited an ongoing legal battle between the mayor and council. Meanwhile, Richard’s has been picking up residents’ trash, despite the fact that the council has refused to pay the company for its services.
John Walker, an attorney representing Richard’s in the dispute, said the six months without pay has put the company under serious financial strain. The lack of payment is directly responsible for its decision to leave, Walker said. If payment for the work Richard’s has done since April were to be received, the company would “be willing to entertain” staying in Jackson, even without a long-term contract.
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Richard’s is seeking that payment not only through its negotiations with city leadership, but also through the court system. In July, Richard’s filed a lawsuit seeking $1.6 million, to cover its first two months of work. On Wednesday, they filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking court-ordered payment from the city.
Members of the council who have thus far supported a competing bid from Waste Management said Thursday evening, after a more than two-hour-long executive session, that negotiations would soon come. Councilmembers also said they were committed to doing what they could to prevent residents’ trash from piling up uncollected.
“We went through a number of options and plans and will work with our attorneys for a settlement,” council President Ashby Foote said. “Hopefully, we can come up with a solution that works for everybody. We are going to work very hard to get this resolved in the next 48 hours.”
Ward Three Councilmember Kenneth Stokes, who has been one of the most vocal supporters of the Waste Management bid, said Thursday he didn’t care who picked up the trash come Monday, as long as it is picked up.
“I think the city council as a whole realizes the garbage needs to be picked up,” Stokes said.
After the council closed its meeting, Lumumba left. The mayor immediately addressed the issue at hand, voicing his support for Richard’s.
“Councilmembers who put out their trash expect it to be picked up like the rest of us. They should approve the contract and pay Richards for what they have been doing,” Lumumba said
Councilmembers have thus far refused to pay Richard’s for the company’s work on the grounds that the emergency contract they working under is illegal since it has never been approved by a majority of councilmembers.
It is the latest chapter in the trash wars that have been fought between the council and the Lumumba administration. When Lumumba first ran for mayor in 2017, he promised a blind bidding process to award the city’s next garbage contract. What followed was multiple requests for proposal and emergency contracts. The latest RFP process ended with the mayor and city council at odds over which company had submitted the winning bid.
State law instructs government bodies to award contracts to the “lowest and best” bid. A majority of the council sides with Waste Management, whose bid without garbage bins scored the highest overall score. Lumumba sides with Richard’s, whose bid with garbage bins is the cheapest option, to the tune of $1.2 million per year, and is the highest scoring bid with bins. Over the life of the proposed 10-year contract, Richard’s bid is $12 million cheaper than Waste Management.
As Jackson residents await word from negotiations, it remains unclear whether their trash will be picked up next week and, if it is, which company will be doing it.
