Following 18 days with no garbage pickup, services will resume for Jackson residents on Wednesday after Special Chancery Court Judge David Clark mediated a temporary settlement between the feuding Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba and the City Council for a one-year emergency contract with Richard’s Disposal.
Curbside garbage pickup services ended citywide on April 1, leaving garbage piling up in front of many people’s homes in the weeks since.
“We are pleased that there is a resolution that does not lead to people having to deal with a health concern in their homes, a health concern on the streets of Jackson,” Lumumba told the press Monday afternoon. “And so we’re grateful that we can now turn the page, in a sense, towards other relevant and critical matters in the city, and so we look forward to doing that.”
The City Council negotiated a reduced price from what the mayor presented to the body at the last special council meeting on April 12, Ward 1 Councilman and Council President Ashby Foote said at a separate press event with four other council members Monday afternoon.
“The council was able to reduce the cost by about $160,000 a month from what they had presented to us last week,” Foote said. “So that was one of the silver linings behind this situation.”
Uncertainty remains as to what will happen after the new emergency contract ends on March 31, 2024. Ward 5 Councilman Aaron Banks reiterated the need for cooperation between the mayor and the council.
“Although this is a relief, this is not completely over because we have our legislative duty, the mayor has his executive duty and we’ve got work to do to make sure that we don’t end up here again and that we do end up with a long term contract with you know, a lowest and best bidder,” he said.
Richard’s Disposal will continue curbside pickup in Jackson after Special Chancery Court Judge David Clark signed an order on April 17, 2023, outlining an agreement that the City Council and the mayor reached following the judge’s mediation.
Banks said unresolved issues
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