Tennessee mayor refuses to sign recycling contract

Tennessee mayor refuses to sign recycling contract

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

Concerned about not wanting the government to force "personal ideologies onto everyone," a mayor of a city in Tennessee is refusing to finalize a contract with Waste Management that includes a curbside recycling collection service.

Michael Dinwiddie — mayor of Spring Hill, a city of about 30,000 people, about an hour south of Nashville — won't sign a contract with Waste Management, which has already been approved by the town's aldermen, because he has heard complaints from citizens about an additional $3.58 monthly charge for curbside recycling, reports The Tennessean [1]. He is planning on sending out a citywide survey in the next city water bill to gauge citizen interest in the new service.

"I do not believe it is the government's role to force its personal ideologies onto everyone, especially when it involves increasing the rates that our residents have to pay for a service," Dinwiddie wrote in an email to aldermen and city staff obtained by The Tennessean. "Recycling is important but should be voluntary, and if there is a charge for the service, then I want the residents to have a voice in the matter."

He indicated in the letter that if a majority of residents indicate that they don't want to pay for the service, then he will take action to modify or rescind the contract. If they are willing to pay for the service, then he will ink the contract.

In August, Dinwiddie called his constituents "gullible sheep" on his Facebook page, reports News Channel 5 [2].

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