By Charlotte Underwood
JACKSBORO, TN (WLAF)- A resolution to rescind the recently created solid waste board was tabled by county commissioners at Thursday’s commission meeting. The solid waste management board was created in August by the previous commission at its last commission meeting. The “sanitation board was created to oversee the Sanitation Department operations and the sanitation director.”
At last week’s County Commission workshop, commissioner Dewayne Baird had asked for a resolution to be placed on the agenda to dissolve the solid waste board and return the solid waste to what it was before. Baird also asked to have any funding set aside for that board to be rescinded.
TOP PHOTO: Shakira Goins holds up a photo of what the sanitation department previously looked like.
After lengthy discussion with fellow commissioners on Thursday and hearing from the current chairman of the recently created Solid Waste Board Mary Michelle Gillum, as well as sanitation director David Adkins, Commissioner Baird asked to table the issue until the next meeting to see if two more members could be added to the board. He asked county attorney Joe Coker to check into it.
Gillum introduced herself to the commission during the public comment portion of the meeting.
“I am the current chairman of the solid waste board, I have served for eight years on the Campbell County Board of Education, including two years as the chairman. For the last 26 years I have practiced law in all 95 counties in Tennessee representing tax payers against the IRS and the Federal Government. But I am here tonight to discuss the resolution that is on the agenda to dissolve the solid waste board,” Gillum said. She spoke about the legislative history of why the state wants counties to have solid waste boards.
“The Tennessee legislature was looking to have a board with stability, to have staggered terms and that’s what this board does. They also wanted a board that would be insulated against politics, so the sanitation department would be insulated from politics, but probably the most compelling reason to me that the legislature employed this board was because of efficiency, solid waste is something that can impact public health, it can impact your water and it is also something that can seriously impact the environment, so if something emergency occurs we need to move quickly and make decisions,” Gillum said, also adding that she wished it was a larger board.
She said at one point the county commission has been overseeing the sanitation department and at another point, the county mayor had been overseeing the sanitation.
We have never had a solid waste board in Campbell even though the Solid Waste Act has been in existence since 1991,” Gillum said, she also went over why the board was a good idea and actually took weight off the shoulders of commissioners regarding the sanitation department, while the commission is still financially in control over the budget,
“We've met for two meetings, and there's been life breathed into this board. And there’s a lot of things we have accomplished and there’s a lot more that we want to accomplish. We have adopted the policy and procedures of the county commission … we have worked on a mission statement. We have worked on and drafted an employee grievance procedure for employees, Campbell County has no HR department, we have also looked at a director’s evaluation, how can you hold a director accountable without an evaluation process, and probably the most compelling thing we have worked on is a customer feedback, customer complaint process. In closing, we need to look at landfill issues, we need to look at rising operational costs, we need to look at aging equipment, we need to look at a strategic plan, organics and composting and this board is really enthusiastic about doing those things and I would like you to give us that opportunity and I would like you to consider voting no on rescinding this board… we are in a position to be proactive, we can’t do this alone, we have to have county mayor and commission input, so if this board continues, that will occur,” Gillum said.
David Greene said he was glad to see her on the board. He also asked her if she had taken a look at the County solid waste authority board.
She said yes, she had looked at it but was unsure if it would replace the solid waste board and that the county attorney would need to look into it.
Commissioner Dewayne Baird, who requested the resolution, spoke and said he felt there was a “lot of misconception on this resolution.”
“I’m glad you are on this board too, because I think you are very intelligent and very open minded, I’m in favor of the solid waste board, my problem is with how it came about… I would be in favor of it if it was done during the budget cycle or if it was done a year ago. But after an election with 10 new commissioners coming in, it should have been up to them. I also think it should be spread out and have a member from the third district on that board, that is my biggest complaint,” Baird said.
Gillum responded and asked Baird and the commission to “give this board a chance; we have mobilized. Another thing, your hands are not tied on the money,” Gillum said.
David Adkins addressed the commission and asked Baird if replacing one of the solid waste board members with a commissioner or member from the third district would change his mind on the resolution.
Adkins said he was just asking the commission to “make the right decision and do the right thing.”
He asked the commission to “give it a year, give it six months” and the commission would still have the ability to change it. He said the staff at the sanitation department “deserved stability.”
He told the commission that the sanitation department had been “passed around like a political football since the 1990s.”
He said he felt he had made a difference since taking over as sanitation director.
Commissioner Rusty Orick asked Adkins if he was open to guidance from the commission.
“I don’t view this as a Mickey Mouse Board; I want this to be something we can look back on and the sanitation to be a shining star. I created a path for people with concerns or complaints. This is the document I have written, and I asked Miss Gillum and board members to review it and then said I want to present it to commission’s sanitation board. We can all be partners in this, we don’t have to be at each other’s throats, we can work together, it does not have to be the political football it’s always been,” Adkins said.
Orick pointed out that the board was something the legislature had brought into play and said that he was in favor of it.
“I am in favor of giving it a try, If it doesn't work then the commission could come back and rescind it, I think it will be in the best interest of the county,” Orick said.
Commissioner Baird said he wanted to clarify that “Doing away with the solid waste board is not to fire anyone, it is to allow this commission to create a solid waste board if they so choose, if they vote no on it tonight, that’s not going to hurt my feelings," Baird said. He also asked on the solid waste board if one with five members was possible and said that he would like to see a five-member board.
Ralph Davis said “don't do away with it, just fix it. We can't just jump in here all gung-ho and try to tear everything up. If it was done right, then why modify, let's add to it and make it better,” Davis said.
Greene said he didn’t like just three members on a board either, that he thought it should have more members.
After additional discussion, Baird asked to table the resolution until next month to see if county attorney Joe Coker could find out if members could be added to it.
This was approved in a 14 to 1 vote, with Jason Shetterly the only no vote.
This issue will be brought back up at the meeting next month for additional discussion. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-09/25/2026-6AM)
