Whitfield hikes landfill rates
Whatever Happened to Judy Corn?
Is a rate hike at the Walker County landfill a good idea or will it drive away commercial business?
Commissioner Shannon Whitfield’s recently announced that rate increases at the landfill is just one of many tactics he plans to use to haul the county out of debt.
But one Chattanooga business owner said, if that’s the case, he will take his business elsewhere as he addressed the commission meeting Thursday night, Feb. 23.
Whitfield walked into office with a massive amount of debt lingering from the previous administration. The full extent of that debt is not yet known, but the new administration said it easily exceeds $10 million.
At the Feb. 23 commissioner’s meeting, Whitfield said the cost to deposit household waste will increase from $38.50 per ton to $40 per ton. Construction and demolition (C&D) rates will increase from $25.50 per ton to $30 per ton.
“As we’ve told many times before, our landfill’s been losing over $500,000 per year, every year, for the last 16 years,” Whitfield said. “There is an expansion process going on where they (the previous administration) borrowed $1 million from the state to do an expansion. So we are losing a half-million dollars and we are going to borrow a $1 million and we are going to make it bigger? So we’ve got to try to get our landfill operation to a breakeven status at least, where we are not continuing to subsidize the landfill with your property tax dollars.
“.... Some of these haulers on the C&D have rates as low as $19.50 a ton, where the general rate was at $25.50. So this (rate hike) is going to get everything to a level playing field. We’ve come up with $30 a ton, so everyone is paying the same rate, so we are not in the situation that you — as property tax owners — are subsidizing for private business to come into our community and create a financial shortfall to our county. They will be able to pay their fair share of bringing this waste into our county and help us get this to a profitable status.”
Whitfield said other measures to reduce overhead are in the works. He projects the annualized county savings at $255,000 in just operational cost reductions alone.
“We still have a large hill to climb in getting our approval for our C&D expansion,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield also announced the hiring of Pain Gilley of Rossville to manage the landfill.
Whitfield said Gilley is very knowledgeable about the environmental impact of landfills and is familiar working with state and federal guidelines, all the while being able to communicate with the state Environmental Protection Division (EPD).
“His resume far exceeds the job requirements,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield said the rates, while not pleasant, are necessary to get the county’s landfill out of debt.
Whitfield said the landfill should be able to “stand on its on” and its loses not have to fall on the backs of property taxpayers.
“You are not supposed to take money out of your general fund and supplement that operation,” Whitfield said.
Even with the rate hikes, Whitfield still expects the landfill to lose about $100,000 per year.
Whitfield said he knows the new rates may prompt some outside commercial haulers to go elsewhere, and that would be understandable, but there is about an 18-month window in which the current C D landfill will be full.
“So slowing down the flow wouldn’t be all bad either,” Whitfield said. “We don’t have our expansion permitted and we don’t know what else it’s going to take to get that permitted and that is one of the things our new manager is going to have to grab by the horns real quick and figure out where we are to get that done.”
Chattanooga hauler: “This is an excessive increase”
Chattanooga business owner Steve Fraker of Industrial Refuse Service was critical of the rate increase and said his business, as well as other Chattanooga haulers, may take their business elsewhere.
“I’m one of those out-of-state
I have told many Harry Thornton stories. People enjoy reminiscing about his wrestling promotions, and “The Morning Show,” which he originated on WDEF-TV in 1969. Harry knew how to fill an auditorium with wrestling fans, and how to attract TV viewers with controversy.
When I tell the stories, this question often comes up: “Whatever happened to Judy Corn?” From 1971 to 1983, Judy was the “left” to Harry’s “right.” Harry could rant and rave, but it wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining without Judy by his side. Judy provided the counterpoint, and she could dish it out as well as she could take it.
She didn’t know it then, but Judy Corn, still in her twenties, was blazing a trail. Equal rights for women was coming to the forefront, and she was ready to do battle. In those days, it was almost unheard of for a woman to voice her opinions on local TV. Most ladies on local TV were kids show hosts, “weather girls,” or doing housewife shows about cooking.
In the summer of ‘69, Harry appeared on Channel 12 one morning smoking a cigar, and giving his opinions on Vietnam, the moon landing, and civil rights. He was accompanied by Ruth Bloyer, who would attempt to soften Harry’s hard edge. Two years later, Ruth moved on. What happened next would change the show, and change Harry’s life.
Judy Corn had just moved to Chattanooga. The Nashville-born daughter of a United Methodist preacher, she had opinions, and wasn’t shy about expressing them. haulers that is filling up the landfill,” Fraker said.
Fraker asked Whitfield to explain how the county is losing money at the landfill, to which, Whitfield said, “All of the above,” including labor, past mismanagement, lack of efficiencies, and low rates, to name a few.
Whitfield told Fraker the new manager would be addressing these issues.
“This meeting directly impacts me and my business. I’ve been in the trash business since 1991,” Fraker said.
Fraker said he has been “pushing his trucks” to the county landfill for 14 years.
“If it’s labor, we need to look at labor. If it’s fuel at the landfill, then we need to look at cost-saving programs on fuel. If it is loans, if we have bought too nice of equipment, or if we have not acquired the equipment through the state’s surplus equipment, maybe we need to do that,” Fraker said.
Fraker said if the landfill is losing $500,000 annually, then that would amount to about $41,000 per month, to which he said, he finds it hard to believe the county is losing that much each month.
“A hole full of trash is a money-maker. ... The more trash you put in that hole, the more money you will all make,” Fraker said.
Fraker believes that the rate increase is too much for his business and he may take his business elsewhere and believes other commercial haulers may do the same.
“This is an excessive increase,” Fraker said.
Landfill employees present at the meeting said there are about 7 commercial haulers who use the landfill at this time.
Whitfield, who took office Jan. 1, noted the need for changes at the landfill even before his election.
During his campaign, Whitfield said, “It should be going the opposite way. We should — over time — be able to take money from the landfill and give back to the county. See, we have got it in reverse order currently, because it’s losing money. If it’s profitable, we can take and use it to offset property taxes — not, to the model that it is currently under, to increase property taxes.” She heard about a job opening at WDEF. She met with the program director, who said he needed someone to spar with a crusty old broadcaster with a strong personality. She met Harry, watched him on TV, and thought to herself, “I could do that.” She took the job, and settled in for a rocky ride.
After the initial honeymoon period, things got noisy. Harry hadn’t drawn an audience by being polite, and to him, Judy was easy pickings. She had other ideas. She would “fact check” him long before that became a common term. Harry would quote hearsay as fact, and Judy would challenge him to back it up. When she proved him wrong, he wasn’t happy. Harry didn’t enjoy getting upstaged by an upstart.
After a series of arguments, both on-camera and off, Judy told her father, “He doesn’t like me, and I don’t think I like him. I’m not sure this is going to work out.” Her father said, “Judy, there’s something good in everybody, including Harry. You need to find that good in him, and embrace it.” She took the advice to heart. “Underneath that gruff exterior, Harry was a good man,” she said. “He worked hard, and he wanted to the show to be a success. I did learn to like him. We didn’t always agree, in fact we almost never did. But I liked him, and would even grow to love him.”
The relationship wasn’t without its challenges. Spending 90 minutes a day arguing in front of thousands of people created tension.
One day after the show, Harry was talking about his wrestling matches. Feeling comfortable with her co-host, she said, “Now come on Harry, all that wrestling stuff is fake, isn’t it?” He turned several shades of red before retorting, “Now listen here. That’s how I make my living, and you’re not gonna talk like that, do you understand?” Message received. “I never brought it up again,” she said, “and from then on, when he talked about it, I would just sit there and smile.”
Other controversies erupted, and Judy would leave the show a few times during her twelve-year tenure. She always came back because, “Harry told management he didn’t want to work with anyone else.”
Harry retired from the show in July 1982. He had congestive heart failure, and the doctors told him he’d better slow down, or he wouldn’t live much longer. But just four months after a tribute-filled final show, he was dead at the age of 64. “I visited him at the hospital on what would be his dying day. None of us knew that, of course. He had big plans on travelling with his wife Helen. He smiled, and told me, Kid, we had lot of fun, didn’t we? I said we sure did, kissed him on the cheek, and that’s the last time I saw him. Later that night, I got a call telling me had had died, and I was devastated.”
Judy leads a quieter life these days, although she admits she sometimes misses the excitement of sharing her opinions on live TV. “Oh yes, I have a lot to say, and I think a show like that would draw an audience in Chattanooga. Maybe now, more than ever.”