Jackson Jambalaya

No Parker Wiseman?!?

Sorry, I didn't vote because I didn't see anyone I would vote for.

She has a rather devoted following in Madison, who probably heard of this and made effort to vote. I think Magee would trounce her in county wide election.
OR maybe she voted for self 173 times

There as no great flood from Madison. I know a few people in Jackson that voted for her and told me after the fact.

I can't imagine anyone willingly voting for Miss Mary. That's a mindset out of The Stepford Wives.

Mary mother of God....Who wouldn't vote for her? Don't answer that...:)

Those of you who have negative comments about Mary obviously don't live in Madison and are apparently jealous that you don't.

I live in Madison, but did not vote for Mary.

Obviously Mayor Hawkins has been doing a lot of things right for many years, because Gene Magee COPIES everything she does.This way she has indirectly helped all of south Madison county. That's why people are voting for her!

Parker Wiseman gets my vote also

Mary for Gov!

If there is such a problem with Mary why then does she keep getting re-elected... why does she have such a devoted following... why does our city look the way it does and people want to live here... why can you drive down the street and see progressive growth in such a positive fashion... if there are people who are so opposed to her here then they are more than welcomed to move on out!! The road runs both ways, for the most part, she was here when you came...you knew what you were getting and what you were in for when you moved into our wonderful city... someone who was going to have the backbone to FIGHT for her town, and not back down for no one!! I am for one, Proud to be here and proud to be her supporter and friend!!

Thank you Mayor Mary for keeping us safe and in a well protected area. I grew up in NE Jackson, went to St. A and Prep. Would not move back to Jackson unless I was relegated to the 'hood by circumstances beyond my control.

Drive north from Jackson Avenue in Ridgeland on Sunnybrook Road. It's nice and smooth and well marked. When you get to the Madison city limit, the name changes to Cotton Hill Road, and the road itself turns into something resembling Fortification Street, but not as smooth. Madison is mostly pretty, but it doesn't always work.

I live in Madison, and I think she's an embarrassment. Everyone knows that east/west travel in Madison is the problem, so where does Mayor Mary spend $10 Million? On Old Canton Road, a north/south street. And while some might think her retreat from the "Brickyard mentality" is a good thing, one look at the CVS "Monstrosity on Main Street" should make you rethink that position.

Thank You 11:11- what is that thing they allowed to be built on the corner- it is absolutely a Monstrosity- it in no way preserves the small town atmosphere- it engulfs an entire block of the street- tis an eyesore!

Where is Knox Ross. I figured you were doing metro jackson area, so I won't ask about any others. But to leave mayor Ross off is wrong. He has done a outstanding job in a small town. Knox Ross is someone who does it for the right reasons.
He gets my vote.

I'll admit it. I'm jealous of Madison. I'm jealous of a house of cards propped up by credit cards and fake bullshit. Wanna' go to the spa? Let's go get drinks at AJ's. Last place in the world I would want to live is in the "keeping up with the Jones" Madison.

June 23 11:19 - We did not "moved into our wonderful city". We made a conscious decision to buy outside the city limits in the county. Then she came, annexed us, and raised our taxes substantially. We can't "move on out" because homes stay on the market in our neighborhood for about two years, and no employer is willing to wait that long for a new employee to start. I met her at one of the annexation hearings and she seemed absolutely hateful to anyone and everyone who disagreed with her.

Ask yourself, if you worship Mary so much, why she won't allow apartments? Or widen roads? She had to allow the Old Canton rd widening, if I recall right. Wasn't her idea.

Why should she allow apartments? Look at their track record in NE Jackson. EVERY SINGLE COMPLEX in NE Jackson is a nest of crime. Lochwood, Parham Pointe area, Northtown, all of them are trouble. Ridgeland is finding that out as well. You are barking up the wrong tree on this site if you are going to argue against a mayor keeping apartments out.

You are scrounging If the only thing you can find wrong with Mary is that The CVS is too big and that she won't allow apartments!! Being apartment-free is one of the biggest positives of living here!!!! Madison's home values are rising while Ridgeland is going down the tubes! I suggest you ask a few northeast Jackson homeowners who live in Northpointe how their home values are holding up being next to those crappy apartments! And read the crime reports. Every thug that is arrested just happens to live in an apartment off of Old Canton in Ridgeland! I'll take the big ugly CVS over Ridgeland's and Jackson's problems ANY DAY!!!!!

5:29 is DEAD ON.

Madison's home values are rising? Ha...lulz....

What those supes don't realize is they are helping Mary. They are approving more reductions in square footage, minimum lot size, and buffer zones. As the developers start building smaller and cheaper homes, the nice ones in Madison will eventually appreciate even more as supply becomes more limited.

Oh yeah, in support of June 24, 2010 2:06 PM, they did have to annex more tax base. One of the reasons I chose to avoid the area you spoke of five years ago was that it was obvious the tax base could not support the building growth that was going on. Have they built that neighborhood across from Annendale yet? Do you know why? THEY CAN'T PAY FOR MARY's vision. She is strangling Madison and while she has a new retail off the highway, go take a look at 49 and the businesses failing...

Rankin...Rankin....Rankin...Give me an R...A...N...K...I...N....

We just don't give a shit about your precious little mindset of we are better than someone else. Welcome everyone and you have a much more diverse society. Keep attracting the Jones and guess what? You all look the same.

Ridgeland is Jackson redux. Its a dump. Just look at the crime and in support of KF here, it appears that Apartments are the culprits....just read the news. I don't advocate no apartments, I advocate don't overbuild apartments and then drive the market into the toilet. Take a look at Pine Knoll to Lake Harbor on Old Canton. Its dangerous. I lock my doors when I cross County Line. Then I roll down the windows when I get on Spillway!

Mayor Mary does do her best to keep poor folks out of Madison. She also manages to keep clean, high tech industry out of Madison, which puts the tax burden on the backs of the still-working homeowners, as the (many) retirees are pretty much exempted from the ad valorum tax. While I agree that some things are right about Madison, I disagree that we have to put up with the crap that The Little Dictator crams down the city's throat.

Madison is unsustainable. There is an old saying in the planning world that "residential roofs don't pay for city services". Commercial and industrial development is what carries the significant financial burden in a town.

So, the morons who crow about how "Ridgeland is a dump", and "Jackson is going to hell" don't realize that their little city with all of the required architectural features is a parasite that derives its life only from the existence of the places it despises so much.

I love that, in Mississippi, when you want to say "blacks" or worse, you just call them "thugs", so that your racism is veiled.

Mary keeps out apartments to keep out African Americans. Duh. And everyone that lives there is super happy about it.

6:33, you are the one who sounds like a racist. Jealous, huh? Mary Hawkins Butler is a great mayor. The best ever. Apartments are fine, and there are plenty of them elsewhere. I lived in them most of my life. So why don't you just try to make that chip on your shoulder go away? You would be a lot happier if you weren't so envious.

Madison is full of classy and intelligent African Americans who contribute greatly to our community. They make great neighbors and friends. They have intelligent children and hold good jobs. They pay taxes and they obviously love Madison and are trying to get away from the "thugs" too. And by the way, thugs come in every color! It just so happens that most of them live in run down apartments, don't pay taxes, don't hold jobs, wait around for a handout and continue to ruin the communities who had good intentions when they allowed apartments. Mary is smart enough to see that. It's not rocket science!

So when is the diversity parade going to be held?

I'm the torch carrier on Madison is a foolish dream and Ridgeland is a dump. All of you missed the points.

6:33 That is the most intelligent observation I've heard on this site in a while. The Madisonites here are going to try and do exactly what they did, blab, deflect, take in a spa in Ridgeland, drinks at Char/Julep in Jackson, then go to Church on Sunday and make sure that they look good.

I grew up in Jackson, have lived in Ridgeland most of my adult life. While I do not agree with her style, Mayor Mary fights very hard for her city. Mayor Gene has no spine, he doesn't even fight for his city! So I am voting for the late Mayor Frank Melton, at least his heart was in the right place and he was quite entertaining too.

I don't go to Char, I don't go to spas, I don't use credit cards, and I don't think Madison is perfect.

However, when I look around and compare what Madison has vs. NE Jackson, Flowood, etc, I remain happy with my choice to be a property owner and resident. Very low crime, stable property values, engaged law enforcement and city officials, and an extremely active and educated citizenry. If you don't think there are any non-white people in Madison, talk to my neighbor. He's a Harvard educated lawyer. He is also African American. Talk to the numerous Asian American families who live here.

It's not all perfect. I don't like the Walgreens either, and I think there should be some smaller square footage options for empty nesters.

Mary Hawkins Butler has done a great job. It will be interesting to see who follows in her footsteps when she retires one day.

This is 6:33 again. I didn't say that Madison had no African-Americans. I'm sure it does. It just doesn't have many middle to lower income AA's, the kind that might have to live in smaller homes or apartments to get into the better public school districts.

Of course it's okay in your tortured logic to allow African-Americans who are college educated, like the neighbor who is a "Harvard educated lawyer".
But, that's a silly point. No doubt there are some AA's in Mississippi who are able to attain education and the material wealth that will allow them to enter the gates in Madison and buy a 2,900 s.f. home. But, I think that if you're honest for a bit that you'd agree with me that such a scenario is the exception as opposed to the rule.

My point was that, in Mississippi, and in the metro-Jackson area in particular, crime is attributed to the "thugs that aren't contributing to society" (to paraphrase many posts on this site and elsewhere). "Thugs" is code for African-Americans. It's clear as day. It's just a shift from the sixties and seventies when popular social pressure finally caused white people to stop using derogatory terms in public such as the N bomb. Now it's just a code word.

Most of the people who post these comments talk about Jackson being overrun by "thugs". Well, we know two things: Jackson is a majority AA city, and the large percentage of property and violent crime is committed by AA's in Jackson. Those are facts, and they are unfortunate. Ergo, when someone says that Jackson is overrun by "thugs", well, they mean it's overrun by AA's.

Similarly, when people here talk about how Jackson has "poor leadership", that is again coded racism. Jackson has a black mayor and mostly black city council, except for Jeff and Margaret. Saying that the leaders are lacking is saying that they are black and, therefore, not fundamentally up to the task on the basis of their race. Am I painting with a broad brush? Yes, in the same way that people who proclaim Jackson to be "in decline" are.

The problem is that, in the suburbs, the reaction has been to move heaven and earth through city planning functions to keep lower income AA's from moving out of the inner city and into their precious suburbs, because they don't want the jeopardize their neighborhood or property value.

Continued below.

Mary has achieved her goal of alienating AA's by requiring ridiculously large square footage minima (until the real estate crash and necessary rezonings), a continued moratorium on apartments, and the refusal to allow any business development in the city other than certain retail projects that she personally puts her stamp on.

Well, guess what? The suburbs keeping AA's out isn't helping Jackson in the "slide" that everyone crows about. It's hurting it. You're taking the money out of the city in the form of tax base, you're building little fiefdoms nearby that exist but for the existence of Jackson, and you're complicit in the failure of the state's capitol region.

If Jackson was gone, would there be a Madison as it is currently constituted? A Ridgeland?

The bottom line is that you live in a metro area (and state, as well) that is majority African American. You can't build fences around your home, move out of areas as AA's move in, support policies that prevent lower-middle to lower income people (like AA's in Jackson) from moving in, and then claim that your actions aren't race related.

The saddest part of the whole affair is how the entire Jackson metro area has such an inferiority complex about it in the scheme of things. All the suburbanites live in the outskirts of Jackson, a major metro area that they dislike, or at least decry its downfall. In turn, the people who remain in the city and try to make it better are constantly having to defend their choice of residence. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain to people that my home in Belhaven is not in a demilitarized zone, and that we felt safe as could be there. That begins to wear on your psyche after a while. How is that a way to live? How can you be happy living in a place in which you identify negatively in all aspects? What a drag.

Your Choice-

I live in Madison. I feel safe. I like my job, it is on the Parkway. My commute is short. My neighbors are nice. I have an asian couples, an Indian couple, and a family from Pakistan living on my street. Oh yeah, two families of AA's. There are a lot of white folks too. Majority white. FYI, our kids play together, and most attend (or will attend) the local schools. Some go to private schools. My mortgage is high, but it would be a wash if I lived in Hinds County (or close to a wash) because of taxes and car tags in Hinds. Money was not a factor in choosing where we settled. Having grown up in a moneypit, I wanted a new house with fewer problems. My choice. If you like an older home, your choice.

I choose to live in Madison. I wasn't from the Metro area, and we picked Madison. But we don't ignore Jackson. We are good neighbors. We like Sal and Mookie's. My wife likes Kiefers. Went to the Natural Science Museum a while back. Can we not co-exist?

6:33-
You misunderstand when you think that the square footage minimums and expensive homes are meant to keep only lower income minorities out of Madison. What they do, in effect, is to keep out all lower income persons, regardless of color. It has nothing to do with race. It has to do with income.
There has been economic flight out of Jackson for years. Regardless of color.

7:58 PM you are correct. What is interesting is, the growth that Madison is experiencing is going to eventually end up depending on the tax base. I still haven't heard if the development across from Annendale is a GO. Sorry, I digress. The point is, growth is great. But at what point do you begin to develop the community? At what point do those who have chosen to live there come together and develop a common purpose or again community? The answer is, in a growth scenario, not until they are done growing beyond their means. If this recession is not a lesson, then I guess it is lost on those who pursue growth at whatever cost. Madison, in my mind, has grown too much. There are commercial pockets that are hurting, dying, just like Ridgeland is experiencing. The difference is, Ridgeland has come to realize this and is attempting to reconcile the deficiencies. In this regard, they are way ahead of Madison. I believe, eventually, Ridgeland will figure it out and overcome the dilapidation with investment b/c they are more willing to risk success rather than failure. Control is wonderful on the upward slope, it diminishes quickly on the slippery one. Madison is already, check out the outlying neighborhoods towards Canton, suffering the same decline that many cities like Madison suffer....we need tax base, we will build to suit that tax base, apartments, 1800 sf houses, now 1500 or smaller...just to satisfy the governments thirst for growth. Think about it. Don't react to it.

9:26 you are confusing Madison County's thirst for growth with the City of Madison. The City is not allowing such small houses to be built. The County is.
Also, when you ask about the neighborhood across the street from Annandale, are you referring to Reunion? It is going just fine. The parks and swimming pools are full of kids when I am there, and I know people who are about to build a new home there as we speak. It has developed pretty nicely so far. Not sure if it is going at the pace that the developers had originally hoped. I would imagine with the economy probably a bit slower. Still, it is a beautiful lively neighborhood.

I'm talking about the dirt road across fron Annon-dale. And every house I looked at in Annon-dale had foundation issues.

Dirt road across from Annandale? There is Reunion Parkway, which is paved all the way to the school. Not sure what you are talking about. And yes- a lot of homes in Annandale have foundation issues. That neighborhood sits right on top of a lot of Yazoo Clay.