Waste
Management Bribed Dayton council with $26 Million.Waste
Management Bribed Dayton council with $26 Million.At the 1996 national Democratic Party convention in Chicago Waste Management wined and dined the big city Democratic mayors. Greenpeace protested the crass (but common) political activity of WMX to lubricate an openness to their seeking business and landfill approval by these mayors. Greenpeace spokesperson, Charlie Cray, condemned WMX for attempting to buy the mayors.
The Dayton Mayor and the Black Ministers Association were also wined and dined, but theirs took place in Las Vegas at the heavyweight championship of the world. It is not know how much effect this minor bribe had on the Mayor and the association. WMX also hired an important Black political operative for thousands of dollars to seek community support. (compare Nehemiah 6:12) The key maneuver by WMX for their Dayton bribe was to convince General Motors and the Dayton business community that without their new landfill, landfill rates would skyrocket three times. (Actually, when Pinnacle landfill closed, Rumpke of Cincinnati won the contract and landfill costs are less!) On top of this, GM soon announced that it would send its waste by train to the west!
When the Dayton City Council approved the landfill, the Black ministers association was nowhere to be found. The ministers often protest and advocate for the African-American community but not this time. Nevertheless over 500 overflowed city hall in opposition. The Mayor paid for his vote in favor of the landfill. He lost his reelection bid. He campaigned by blaming the landfill on the Federal judge who encouraged the city to negotiate their differences with WMX. The city (which previously opposed the landfill) negotiated all right. WMX offered them 26 million dollars in "host fees," a modern name for a legal bribe!
The sophistication of WMX in gaining support for its landfill proposal from the opposed Dayton City Council reminds one of the story of Samson and Delilah. Samson was an important official in ancient Israel. Samson had fallen for Delilah who was not above a bribe from the Philistines to find out the source of Samson's power. This bribe was for 1100 pieces of silver from five Philistine Lords, a large amount of money. (Judas received only thirty pieces of silver!) Delilah pressed ahead, just like WMX, to find Samson's power and eventually found it. Samson lost his hair and his power. WMX finally zeroed in on the City of Dayton's power by handsomely paying it off. The city council agreed to a landfill in the African-American community right on the edge of the sole source aquifer (water source)! For $26 million the money-starved City of Dayton had fallen in love with money and sold out its citizens. The citizens recognized it and voted a new charter amendment taking away council power to approve future landfills by requiring a vote of the electorate.
WMX used the bribe effectively and the city accepted it as a payoff for them to change their previous decision.(Micah 3:11) Deuteronomy 16:19 is addressed to the ancient officials who made decisions collectively at the gate. In those days they did not have city halls, but they had many bribes by the wealthy and powerful attempting to subvert justice. WMX did just this in Dayton. Knowing that they are the world's worst lawbreakers, I believe that the activity of WMX of bribing governments and officials is standard operating procedure for them. Of course they do not call it a bribe nor is illegal - the corporations have made sure of that at the state legislatures of America. Their way of acquitting the guilty with unjust laws has Biblical precedent. (Isaiah 5:23) But WMX practices bribery in a legalized way and a Biblical sense. They achieved the result of subverting justice with a "concealed bribery" (Proverbs 17:23) by "blinding the eyes of the wise and subverting the cause of those who are in the right." (Dt. 16:19) There continues tremendous wrath and anger against WMX in Dayton and elsewhere because they use the concealed bribe (Proverbs 21:14) STOP WASTE MANAGEMENT!
Richard L. Righter
(A Note: LEAD sponsors the stop WMX campaign. It is a Christian church-based community organization. Such Biblical reflection as above is part of its way of doing its mission. LEAD feels it is important to provide some Biblical reflection on its actions. We hope you are not offended if your commitment if not Christian or religious but secular and of conscience. This reflection could assist you in gaining support from religiously-oriented folks with a strong Biblical orientation.)