City Commission Tackles Garbage Crisis

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It was a packed house at Benton Harbor City Hall Monday night as the city commission set out to address a trash crisis that began last week. The city’s trash hauler, We-Cycle Industrial Sanitation, didn’t pick up the garbage because its $39,000 monthly payment from the city was made not to We-Cycle’s current owner, Robert Edwards, but to Virginia Huddleston, a former employee. Huddleston is in a dispute with We-Cycle over correct ownership of the company. During Monday’s session, Mayor Marcus Muhammad and Pro Tem Duane Seats debated whether to just pay We-Cycle again, this time handing the money over to the person currently in charge, Mr. Edwards.

“If we don’t pay them — even though a check went out to the wrong person — regardless of that, we still have to pay the group that we’re in contract with,” Muhammad said. “Otherwise, we’re in breach and the trash stays on the curb while we figure out who’s going to do it.”

Seats was at first reluctant to issue another check. He also took Huddleston to ask for waiting until there was a new city manager to try to collect payment. For his part, Interim City Manager Ellis Mitchell said at the end of the meeting that no mistake was made when he authorized the payment, but didn’t elaborate. In the end, the city commission voted to pay We-Cycle Industrial Sanitation $40,000 to get the trash picked up immediately. The body also voted to give We-Cycle 30 days’ notice of termination if its issues aren’t resolved. Commissioner Mary Alice Adams abstained from all trash-related votes because Huddleston is a relative.