Trenton Second Ward Councilman Joe Foster has resigned from his position, effective immediately, and will not be a candidate for re-election in the April election.
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Foster submitted his resignation on Wednesday afternoon, stating his continued dissatisfaction with the way the city council handled the awarding of its residential waste disposal contract. Foster was one of two council members who voted against accepting a bid from WCA to provide those services. WCA was one of three bidders for the contract and submitted the highest bid. At the time, Foster indicated his support of Rapid Removal, which not only had the lowest bid, but had said it would be putting an office in Trenton and locating its equipment here.
In his letter of resignation, Foster said having been involved in a similar situation in another community in which he submitted what he said was the low bid for better quality and that the city council there was “mobbed” into accepting the high bid, he had vowed not to become involved in a similar situation as a council member. He said he felt that happened with the way the WCA bids were handled. He said he would have liked to have seen a citywide vote on the matter, stating he felt citizens would have wanted to accept the lower bid.
During the public hearing on the waste contract, a standing-room only crowd overwhelmingly voiced their support for the WCA bid and the city also presented a list of several callers from throughout the city who asked that the city retain WCA services. In addition, several councilmen said they had received calls in favor WCA.
Foster’s name has been certified on the April ballot and information is being sought as to what needs to be done to remove his name from the ballot. Rickey Mason is also a candidate for the second ward council position.