Jackson Jambalaya

This is a joke - management by crisis and the lack of/poor planning (and poor mouthing) on both sides. It's not like they didn't know there was going to be a State Fair, or a budget crisis in the City of Jackson. Solution = ask for state money, what could possibly go wrong other than the security budget will be swell well beyond what is required. Pitiful.

Seems fair

Jackson suffers in several aspects of being the capital city: loss of ad valorem tax revenue from state property, bearing the costs of state events, etc. But, Jackson gets a lot of benefits from being the capital city as state employees, many of whom live in Rankin and Madison counties, commute into Jackson every business day and spend money in Jackson. Jackson would have little purpose in existing if not the capital city. Even the numerous thugs would scatter around the area and dissipate their crime strength.

So, let's just move the capital to another area and be done with the City of Jackson.

3:49 PM Don't forget to let us know where you and the pointy-hats decide to relocate the State CAPITOL. I work downtown and a few commuter meals don't nearly cover Jackson's operating costs either...

Hyde-Smith is a lightweight.

CHS should be ashamed and this is poor mgmt on her part. How much has this entire process cost the taxpayers? I hope she had to pay the COJ attorney's fees because the people of the state of MS paid hers. It is a sad day for state government!

So anonymous @ October 6, 2015 at 3:49 PM: That would be YOUR solution, wouldn't it. please don't pretend that Jackson's problems are all the fault of black people! Just stop, ok? There are those white people, though not all, whom took their money/taxes to the outer realm of Jackson - knowing full well that black people don't have that kind of money. Now, to sit back and laugh and point fingers at Jackson's problems? That is silly to me. Now, I'm not, at all, saying that the black people who are in key positions in Jackson can't be criticized. They very well should. But, all this silly talk about negating Jackson as the capital is not going to happen. If you don't live here or at least, live here anymore, then, your opinion doesn't matter.

QB - did I miss something? I don't think anybody mentioned race - until you did - congratulations on making yourself look like a fool. Perhaps the word thug one of your dog whistles, or microagressions - get over it. These comments only refer to lack of management and planning acumen - nothing more. Take your weak argument down the road.

This is the MS STATE FAIR not the City of Jackson Fair. People come from all across the state and perhaps even from Louisiana and/or Alabama;therefore, it's the state's responsibility to have finances appropriated to pay for city services, e.g., police detail for a non-city event?

There is no great revenue for the city:
1. No one staying in hotels to go to the fair!
2. No one visiting restaurants; eating fair food!
3. No entertainment venues, as the fair is the primary venue for 2 weeks!
4. NO shopping, paying for the kids to enjoy the fair leaves no extra funds.

So if you city of Jackson detractors are still feeling some kind of way, move the damn fair to the fields near Renaissance and see what taxation and fiduciary obligations the puppeteer extraordinaire MHB has for ya!

This is the MS STATE FAIR not the City of Jackson Fair. People come from all across the state and perhaps even from Louisiana and/or Alabama;therefore, it's the state's responsibility to have finances appropriated to pay for city services, e.g., police detail for a non-city event?

There is no great revenue for the city:
1. No one staying in hotels to go to the fair!
2. No one visiting restaurants; eating fair food!
3. No entertainment venues, as the fair is the primary venue for 2 weeks!
4. NO shopping, paying for the kids to enjoy the fair leaves no extra funds.

So if you city of Jackson detractors are still feeling some kind of way, move the damn fair to the fields near Renaissance and see what taxation and fiduciary obligations the puppeteer extraordinaire MHB has for ya!

4:59. FUMNI. Settle down. Damn. Everything is not a "black is oppressed" deal. You and Brad need to chill.

Mayor Phony Yarber folded. A promise to jointly seek funding from the State? What a fool. He's as much chance as Stamps has getting public pee pee stations.

4:44 There was no failure to plan on the state's part. COJ has provided traffic control outside the fairgrounds since there has been a fair, until they suddenly refused to provide it on short notice. She did what she had to do to ensure public safety after they pulled that stunt.

4:59 How curious it always seem to be liberals who introduce race into a conversation. It seems to be an obsession to find racism where it doesn't exist.

The agreement is fair.

No need to bash the Fair Commission or Cindy Hyde-Smith over an expense JPD should have line-itemed in their yearly budget. It's not poor management on the part of the FC or CHS.

Hopefully from now on a % of the monies received by the city from fair ground sales taxes will be earmarked for JPD and their responsibilities during the state fair and the Dixie National.

Last, as Chair of the Fair Commission, Hyde-Smtih will be a strong positive force when it's time to request financial assistance from the Legislature. She might be of slight build but she's definitely no lightweight.

Now, let's all go have a fun time at the state fair!

The city administration was afraid there would be murders, rapes, robberies, kidnappings and carjacking. Oh wait, that happens every day in Jackson with a FULL complement of officers.

8:28
The Clarion Ledger ran a story on JPD not providing security in August as well as many other news outlets. Hyde-Smith waited until the last minute and it is poor management. She or her staff are running those fair grounds into the ground. The entertainment line up at the fair this year is the worst it has ever been. There are no big concerts this year. With all of the bickering about security, the fact that she had no contingency plan and that she is basically having to pay for the security anyway makes her look foolish. I am curious to see what type of financial loss the fair will suffer this year. Of course they will lie as they always do and say it was a record year. I believe CHS is trying to put the fairgrounds out of business herself in an attempt to have a new one located in a different county. Perhaps her hometown? Adult leaders acting like children!!

"So if you city of Jackson detractors are still feeling some kind of way, move the damn fair to the fields near Renaissance and see what taxation and fiduciary obligations the puppeteer extraordinaire MHB has for ya!" October 6, 2015 at 6:40 PM

If by, "puppeteer extraordinaire MHB", you mean Mary Hawkins Butler, I think you should know that she is the Mayor of MADISON. "Renaissance at (whatever)" is in RIDGELAND. Madison begins several miles up the road from Renaissance.

OK; So, the city will provide ten and the other side will provide ten. Will we know the difference? Will they wear different color caps? Will they all have the same rules of engagement? Will those not on city payroll (at the time) be in patrol cars or otherwise have access to JPD equipment and resources? When one of 'the other' group shoots somebody, will the city be liable or will Hyde-Smith be? Or is Hyde-Smith simply reimbursing the city for the overtime costs?

Does Jackson have a police-union?

Let's draw a parallel. Madison has a ton of residential construction going on and has had for years. Dump trucks and low-boys hauling heavy equipment have torn the roads all to hell. None of these equipment operators is buying gasoline in Madison, and, if they do, they're fools for paying the price.

Additionally none of them is/are pulling those trucks into our restaurant parking lots or buying groceries here or paying taxes here. So, the City of Madison suffers the brunt of all this heavy traffic and the roadwork alone will cost half a billion, IF they ever get around to repairing them.

Of course you might say that all these additional rooftops will eventually make it all up by paying taxes. But, by then, hundreds of other rooftops will be for sale as people begin to exit the place. Roads in Madison will NEVER be repaired.

Jackson should be reimbursed for their expenses. Moot point with me though. I swore last year that I would never take my kids to the fair again. And this year, there is way too much racial aggression for me.

No one threatened me last year. I just didn't feel safe.

At least, at the end of the day and after a long night at the fair, Cindy Hyde-Smith can slip away to her "apartment/house" on the Ag Museum's property. Sounds like a pretty big perk to me - the people of the State of Mississippi paying for a place for Hyde-Smith to stay when she's in Jackson. PEER - where are you. Stacey, you of all people should want to look into this. No other state-wide elected official has a state paid place to stay when they are in Jackson!

Agree with 6:04 to stay away from the fair. Too much racial crap going on across the country for a man to feel comfortable taking his wife and children into that environment, esp after dark. Remember the mob attacks in 2011 at the Wisconsin state fair? WISCONSIN of all places!!!! Safety concerns are probably preventing many across MS from being fair-goers, and the missed tax revenue is exactly why Yarber can't justify paying the JPD overtime bill....downward spiral.

7:40 - in the near recent past there were plenty of higher-ranking folks living rent-free in houses on state hospital property. One even bragged about how much money he was saving because he and his wife no longer had a mortgage payment. By the way, he and his wife both work for the state and moved from their house in Madison county. I'm not sure if this is still happening, but I was pretty pissed when I found about it.

No state-wide elected official should have a place to stay when they come to Jackson - they need to pay for it themselves! Mike Chaney drives from Vicksburg to work. Hyde-Smith should do the same - after all her campaign fund bought her a brand new Dodge Charger - just like the official car she drives.

So I guess you'd like the Governor to move out of the mansion, maybe that can be one exception, huh??

There is "leakage" of this sort scattered throughout state gubmint -- between the cars, "modified" hours, unverified telework, interesting living/travel arrangements and free meal programs. I bet the Governor could make a lot of friends (ahem, voters) if he took the perks away from the higher ranking folks and awarded performance bonuses to the rank and file. And in the interest of clarity, showing up every day shouldn't be considered "performance."

You can bet your sweet ass Jim Hood does not use his personal funds to pay for lodging when he blesses Jackson with his presence.

Kudos to Jackson for standing firm. I don't live there, but they were right about this one. I didn't hear of any of the suburbs stepping up to host the state fair for free (and all that comes with it).

6:48; What do you mean by 'for free'?

KF,

There are a tremendous number of events held at the fairgrounds as well as all over the City of Jackson which receive extra policing from the JPD.

Seems to me we could all have a more informed opinion on this subject if we were clear on how the decisions are made as to what events the JPD (or any municipal police dept) provides extra services for. I would think if they are going to suddenly ask for payment for services they have provided for free for years, we need to understand why they are not asking for payment (if they aren't) for any number of other special allocations of resources.

Just a thought.

How many times do I got to axe whether the Black Redundant Rodeo folk have to pay for poleece protection at the same venue? I'm willing to bet a plastic-saddle that they don't. And neither Lee Vance nor Phony Yarber will ever request it either.

Stacey (Auditor) or James (PEER),
Grow some balls. Get on this case. The Ag Commissioner should NOT have a free tax payer paid house to shack up in. She should pay ALL utilities, ALL upkeep, and fair market value rent on her sweet diggs. Why do y'all pick on others but turn a blind eye to this type of corruption???? She has campaign contributions and a salary to support herself. Get on this case. I'm sure her bestie (the lunatic Rep from Lincoln county-Becky McCrazy) would support an immediate investigation.

@ 11.29. I don't think her hometown could host the State Fair. There are not 20 officers in Monticello.

What a dumb comment.

Now that the fair is over, what was the attendance this year? Usually they have been crowing about the numbers a day or so after it is over. The weather was excellent, so I am guessing it was not so great. Anybody heard?