Mike Barber: Landfill opponent

Chris Brook, staff attorney at the Southern Coalition for Social Justice who is representing residents opposed to reopening the White Street Landfill, says he received an unsolicited phone call today from the Wyndham Championship.

The caller was Mike Barber, a former Greensboro City Council member who proposed researching possible cost savings from reopening the landfill back in 2008. The council is preparing to vote to select a private company to operate the landfill as we speak.

"He urged me to tell you that you do not support what you are doing tonight," Brook told the council.

Brook told me during recess that Barber told him he opposes the action to reopen a limited portion of the landfill partly because it's divisive, but also "because there's an opportunity to save money that doesn't involve reopening the landfill. He encourage council to look at the alternatives writ large, but he specifically noted that there was a proposal that would keep the landfill closed and save $3.5 million."

I've got a call into Barber and hope to speak with him soon.


4 comments:

anon said...

WOW! Just WOW! Seems like someone is trying to rehabilitate himself to make a run for office again. Whatever it is, he must realize he will need some black votes.

Collards said...

They Mayor said Barber called him and he read a sentence attributed to him. I wish I could remember what he said, vague and neither confirmed nor denied his stance on the landfill.

What difference does what Mike Barber thinks about this make to him or anyone of us at this point.

He may have started the ball rolling, but I would not attribute the reopening to him.

Jordan Green said...

I don't have the mayor's exact quote, but he said something to the effect that Barber told him he was concerned about remaining capacity of Phase III being used up and leaving the city's bargaining power with a private company being diminished and that Barber commended the council for finding $5 million in savings.

The mayor also contradicted Chris Brooks by stating that Barber told him he was returning a call from Brooks rather than initiating the communication.

Brook said afterwards that the meaning of Barber's words were "clear as a bell" and that he kept detailed notes about the conversation.

I hope to get Barber to clarify these discrepancies.

Greensboro Bear said...

Wait, so the Mayor says Brook instigated the communication with Barber? How did a civil rights attorney in Durham get Barber's phone number if not through Barber?