UNFINISHED BUSINESS... On Thursday, January 7, 2021, I qualified to continue to serve you as Ridgeland Alderman at Large, and fight shoulder to shoulder with you to stop this absurd garbage dump!!! We have made great strides since I joined the fight in 2008 as your Madison County Supervisor, and continuing the fight as your Alderman at Large since February 2012! In 2010-12, we could not get Ridgeland to join us in opposition to the dump. They were being given false information by some members of the Board of Supervisors who supported the dump. So, we had a small group of fighters in 2011 and 2012 but we had DEQ, and Hinds County, on our side in opposing the proposed dump, and the DEQ Permit Board denied the permit application in Nov 2012 due to setback distances! We thought the dump was dead forever!
Now the staff at DEQ has flip flopped and support the dump with reduced setback distances that do not meet guidelines! It’s all about greed for political contributions, and not about need!!! Sadly, many politicians are looking out for what is best for them, and not what is best for those who elected them!
In January 2008, the Madison County Board of Supervisors hired Eric Hammer to serve as the Board ATTORNEY; previously Eric had served as the attorney for the developer of the dump! Also, the Board of Supervisors hired one of the current developers of the dump to update the Madison County Solid Waste Plan, which established the need for the dump! In the calculations for need, the contractor used numbers twice the national average to estimate residential waste for Madison County households, and no consideration of recycling!
It is hard to win against this kind of corruption and cronyism political decisions. Two members of the Board of Supervisors have voted for the dump numerous times since as early as 1998... Karl Banks and Paul Griffin, who now serve as the President and Vice President of the Madison County BoS! Karl is currently doing everything he can to get the dump approved!
I’ve committed to doing everything humanly possible and legal to stop this proposed dump! The City of Ridgeland has Annexed the proposed dump area, and an appeal to that case is currently before the State Supreme Court.
Tuesday night, the City of Ridgeland Aldermen voted to not be included in the Madison County Solid Waste Plan, those reducing the County solid waste disposal need by approximately 25% since our garbage goes to Scott County! Again, reducing the need for any more dumps Madison County!!!
This is not over... So we are not through yet! I want to keep working for you in helping fight this environmental injustice!
Your Vote and Influence are GREATLY APPRECIATED!
D.I.
D.I. Smith
Ridgeland Alderman at Large
601-940-2710
DISmithJ@gmail.com
