The following op-ed appeared in the Greensboro News-Record on Sunday. It was written by SCSJ staff attorney Chris Brook, who represented numerous clients in a lawsuit against the city over the Council's attempt to re-open the White Street Landfill to municipal solid waste. SCSJ also intervened in a case involving the company selected by the council.

On July 17, 2001, the Greensboro City Council passed a resolution barring further expansion of the White Street Landfill and sought to chart a course to a waste-disposal alternative. More than 10 years later — and following a divisive effort to reopen the landfill that saw three requests for proposals put forward and then abandoned; landfill opponents and supporters suing the city; and an attempt by council members to recuse a fellow member from voting on a landfill contract — it may seem a solution to Greensboro’s garbage problem is further away than ever.

That doesn’t have to be so. While it was painful, the recent White Street discussion underlined the city’s three core waste-disposal values, which can serve as a guide to an equitable, sustainable and fiscally responsible long-term solution.

First, the White Street Landfill must remain closed to municipal solid waste.

Greensboro made a promise to its residents in 2001 that White Street would not be expanded and the city would transition the vast majority of its waste to another site. In 2006 this promise became reality. Elderly couples used to waking to the hum of garbage trucks lined up outside their windows slept a little better. Families considering moving elsewhere chose to stay in Greensboro. And first-time homebuyers purchased houses near the landfill based on the assurance that White Street was closed for good. These Greensboro residents have relied upon the word of their city and deserve to have their faith and loyalty rewarded.

Second, Greensboro should dispose of its waste in a manner that minimizes health, economic and environmental impacts.

There is no perfect place for a landfill; it will upset someone wherever it goes. However, some locations are better than others. For example, 7,548 Greensboro residents live within a mile radius of the White Street facility, a number sure to increase as the eastern portion of the city continues to grow. By contrast, Greensboro currently ships its garbage to the Uwharrie Regional Landfill. Only approximately 100 people live within a mile radius of that facility. The closest town is Troy, population 3,430, whose downtown is five miles from the landfill.

This is not necessarily to advocate that Greensboro continue to use Uwharrie, but instead an illustration of how thoughtful siting can minimize impacts.

Third, Greensboro policymakers should select a fiscally responsible waste-disposal option.

The conservative, four-person City Council faction that drove the recent White Street discussion was right that cost is an issue, or, as Councilman Danny Thompson succinctly summarized, “It’s dollars and cents.”

Their first mistake was treating cost as the only issue. Their second mistake was trumpeting short-term savings, while failing to consider the long-term fiscal implications of reopening a landfill only four miles from downtown Greensboro. Driving a hard bargain with Greensboro taxpayer dollars is an imperative going forward, but it must be placed in the context of the city’s responsibilities to its residents and the need to foster economic growth for future generations.

There are potential solutions on the horizon that could allow Greensboro to honor the three core values underlined by the recent White Street debate. Republic Services has identified $3.5 million in potential annual savings through continued use of the Uwharrie Regional Landfill. Nearby Randolph County has expressed interest in hosting a regional landfill, which has the potential to minimize impacts.

While it is too early to tell if these proposals will pan out, it is not too early for voters to do their due diligence on City Council candidates to ensure they will pursue equitable, sustainable and fiscally responsible solutions. Without officeholders squarely focused on long-term answers, Greensboro could be having this same conversation in 2021.

By Chris Brook

The vendor selected to run the White Street Landfill by a four-person majority of the Greensboro City Council has announced it is terminating contract negotiations.

Noting the divisive nature of the push to re-open the White Street Landfill, Gate City Waste Services informed the City Council on Tuesday that continued negotiations were no longer a “palatable option.” This letter comes a week after Gate City and the four-person majority unsuccessfully sought to have Councilwoman Vaughan conflicted out of voting on a contract with Gate City. Councilwoman Vaughan was widely expected to vote against Gate City’s proposal, thus deadlocking the City Council at four votes to re-open the landfill, four votes to close the landfill. The City Council accepted Gate City’s request to terminate contract negotiations Tuesday evening, handing landfill opponents a decisive victory in their effort to keep the landfill closed. Working with Greensboro community groups including the Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice as well as the League of Women Voters Piedmont Triad, SCSJ blocked previous City Council plans to expand the landfill via legal action this summer. With Gate City’s abandonment of contract negotiations, the victory for landfill opponents is complete and decisive.

August 29, 2011
Contact: Chris Brook (919) 323 - 3380 ext. 113
chrisbrook@southerncoalition.org
http://southerncoalition.org

GREENSBORO--SCSJ Staff attorney Chris Brook sent a letter this morning (link) to Greensboro Attorney Thomas Pollard urging him to stand firm on his prior ruling that Councilwoman Vaughan is obligated to participate in City Council’s consideration of Gate City’s plan to re-open the White Street Landfill. Gate City recently pressured Pollard into reconsidering his position in order to help them secure the contract.

Noting Pollard’s ruling is “well-ground in the applicable authority and consistent with previous opinions from the Greensboro City Attorney’s office,” Brook highlighted the North Carolina law presumption that City Councilpersons must participate in votes unless barred from doing so by a conflict of interest. The Greensboro Conflict of Interest Policy defines a conflict as “a financial or other interest in the firm selected for the award.” In this case, the City Council selected Gate City. Pollard has previously investigated Councilwoman Vaughan’s interests, finding she had “no financial interest, direct or indirect, in Gate City.”

Gate City, along Mayor Bill Knight and Councilpersons Trudy Wade, Danny Thompson, and Mary Rakestraw, challenged Vaughan’s participation only after it became clear she might imperil their previous four-person majority in favor of re-opening the landfill. Prior to the elimination of Waste Industries from consideration for White Street management, Councilwoman Vaughan had not been allowed to participate due to her husband’s legal representation of Waste Industries. After Pollard ruled she must vote, Councilwoman Wade even went so far as suggesting the City Council bring Waste Industries back into negotiations to prevent Councilwoman Vaughan from voting.

“Fearing it might lose the game Gate City has decided to complain about the rules and the referee,” Brook states at the close of his letter to Pollard. But “the rules are clear: Councilwoman Vaughan’s only conflict relates to Waste Industries. And the referee was right: Councilwoman Vaughan is compelled to vote on this matter of great importance to her constituents.”

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The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multi-disciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.

August 11, 2011
Contact: Chris Brook (919) 323 - 3380 ext. 113
chrisbrook@southerncoalition.org
Goldie Wells 336-549-8712
http://southerncoalition.org

City Council charges toward decision on White Street Landfill
Will pick a vendor after seven days, 694 pages and before speaking to a single applicant

GREENSBORO--Seven business days after getting 694 pages of proposals from the six vendors, the Greensboro City Council will tonight select a company to operate the White Street Landfill. In a rare, if not unprecedented move, the council will vote on the same night they receive proposal analyses from city staff and before speaking to a single potential vendor.

“Seven days isn’t enough time to study nearly seven-hundred pages of proposals,” says former Councilwoman Goldie Wells. “I know they haven’t been doing council work that whole time.” Wells is also a leader in the Citizens for Economic and Environmental Justice, which opposes the landfill.

A public hearing will be held on the proposals after the council has made a selection. However, the obvious intent of the council is to sign a contract, rendering any public hearing after a selection meaningless. A recent report from Republic Services—the current solid waste operator for the city—noted that $3.5 million in annual savings could be achieved without re-opening the landfill to municipal solid waste, weakening the primary assertion made by the council that re-opening the landfill is a budgetary necessity.

“It makes you wonder if they already have their minds made up,” says Wells.

The council is charging towards a decision in order to have a contract signed before voters can offer their opinion in the upcoming elections. City Councilman Robbie Perkins noted at a community forum Monday evening that this was the best rushed process he had seen since coming onto the Council in 1993. This rush to re-open White Street will come at the expense of including Greensboro residents—in particular those who live around the landfill—in a decision that will affect the city for decades.

Chris Brook, an attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, will read a letter into the record of tonight's City Council meeting. Read it here (bit.ly/qBi9pq).
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The Southern Coalition for Social Justice is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in August, 2007 in Durham, North Carolina by a multi-disciplinary group, predominantly people of color, who believe that families and communities engaged in social justice struggles need a team of lawyers, social scientists, community organizers and media specialists to support them in their efforts to dismantle structural racism and oppression.