Scott's Sisson Trash Plan
Sisson Street trash station task force names Councilwoman Ramos as chair
Also announced today: Calvin Young, point man for the unpopular Sisson Street relocation plan, will “shift” from mayor’s chief of staff to an interim deputy mayor
Above: First meeting of the Sisson Street trash facility task force. (Fern Shen)
At its inaugural meeting following the public blowback to Mayor Brandon Scott’s plan to relocate a North Baltimore trash station into the Jones Falls Valley, the Sisson Street Task Force elected Councilwoman Odette Ramos as its chair.
Ramos said the task force will consider all potential sites for the relocation of the sanitation yard and drop-off center at 2840 Sisson Street so long as it is not located in a predominately Black neighborhood.
“We want to be very thoughtful about it,” Ramos said tonight in sharp contrast to the Scott administration’s earlier plan to fast-track the facility to the Potts & Callahan property in the Jones Falls Valley below Sisson Street.
Moving the hazardous waste facility to an environmentally sensitive area was met by widespread public opposition, which caused the administration to pause its plan to sell the Sisson Street site to Seawall Development, whose co-founder and partner, Thibault Manekin, is a political ally of Mayor Scott.
• Full Brew Coverage of the Controversial Trash Plan
Ramos said the committee will meet next Monday to weigh potential sites for the yard and to hear from the public, including recommendations by citizens for a new location.
Scott had called on the task force to come up with a relocation site by December. Ramos said tonight she was not sure if the task force will meet that deadline and might need more time to formulate a plan.
“There was a lot of very intense and, I think, very thoughtful feedback, and that’s when the deputy mayor went to the mayor and the mayor also said, ‘Let’s just study this a bit more and make sure we’re getting lots of input from all over.’”
Deputy Mayor of Operations Khalil Zaied and Councilwoman Odette Ramos at the first meeting of the Sisson Street task force. (Fern Shen)
Young Sidelined
The push to move the trash facility to the Potts & Callahan site was spearheaded by Calvin Young, the mayor’s former campaign treasurer who was appointed his chief of staff last April.
Today Scott announced that Young will “shift” from COS to interim deputy mayor for community and economic development, effective December 1.
Young was not present at tonight’s meeting, which was headed by mayoral advisor Dana Moore and Deputy Mayor Khalil Zaied before Ramos was selected chair and Samantha Horn, of the Greater Remington Improvement Association (GRIA), vice chair.
In addition to Ramos, the task force includes City Council members Jermaine Jones and James Torrence, Alan Robinson and Valarie Matthews from the Department of Public Works and representatives from eight organizations.
The representatives at tonight’s meeting were Samantha Horn from GRIA, Mary Ann Henderson from Midtown Community Benefits District, Sandy Sparks from Friends of the Jones Falls, John Ellsberry from Stone Hill Neighborhood Association, Kevin Macartney from Charles Village Civic Association, Blaise Ahearn from Hampden Community Council, Keondra Prier from Reservoir Hill Association and Jed Weeks from Bikemore.
Their next meeting will take place on October 27 in the Curran Room at City Hall at 6:30 p.m.
Chief of Staff Calvin Young announces the mayor’s plan to relocate the Sisson Street trash transfer station to the Potts & Callahan site last August. Councilwoman Odette Ramos, behind him, represents the Remington community along with Councilman Jermaine Jones. (Fern Shen)