Jackson Jambalaya

"Sludgehammers" return............

How many times did he say, "We ons fixincomes out heah!" How can he afford a sludgehammer on a fixincome?

If Bernie Sanders had a black brother, this is what he would look like.

Can't throw my money away on a bath...or math tutoring.
This must be a parody or something because Jackson hasn't flown the State flag in many years...they can't have problems.

I saw him with a cart full of items at Whole Foods over the weekend. He must have money somewhere.

I have no problem with someone questioning the validity of their water bill especially with the published reports regarding the new meters. However it would be helpful to have actual dollar figures rather than percentages. If I had been paying nothing then $20 would be a huge increase. Could this be the issue? Damn this could mean I might have to give up my cell phone, beer, cigarettes or some other necessity.

Is his math incorrect or not? Is there a mathematician among us? If his new monthly bill is five times what his old two-month bill was, is that a 1000% increase?

If his old two month bill had been, say, forty bucks. He claims his new one month bill is five times his old two month bill, or $200 (5x40. What percent increase is it? Or even if he meant the new bill is a 1000% increase over his annualized monthly bill, that would be an increase of from $20 to $480, right? 1000%

This was one of the funniest things I have seen in some time. I could never be on the council because I would bust out laughing every time one of our fine citizens took to the mike. And despite being math challenged with the percentages, I can see his point. My own water bill, which had been averaging about $90 every 2 months, came in at $550 for the first monthly bill under the new system. The meter reading was annotated as "estimated", so my guess is that maybe some of Mr. Sledgehammer's neighbors got bills like this also. Since I had nothing better to do on a Friday afternoon, I trooped out to the Metro Center to get them to "re-Estimate" the meter reading. This proved to be an impossible request, and the only solutions was to "send someone from Seimans out to see what was going on". That was 11 weeks ago, and since then their has been no water bill at all. Someone suggested that I just send in the minimum bill of $57.98 monthly, which is about 30% higher than the old bills, or else my next bill, if it is 5x like Mr. Sledgehammer's bill, could be $2500. And I do feel sorry for the 4 poor souls at the water department who are getting blasted dozens of time a day - it's not their fault. But they also have no power or have been given any authority to fix anything.

He must be from the Addie Green school of Public Speaking,

Wobble to the podium......

What about the percentage. The original article by the Kingfish and the fourth post of the day challenged his math.

Sanders is difficult to understand, but if he meant that the first bill was X and the second bill was 2X, then the third bill was 5x the second bill, i.e. 5(2x), that would be 10x the first bill, or 1000%. Even he he was that astute, it would have to be 11x to be a 1000% increase, so he's still wrong.

I, however, tend to think he was just using "1000%" the way a kid would say "a zillion dollars". It's just a big sounding number. If he got it right, then he just backed into it.

I don't believe Enoch actually does the math......I'd go with the zillion dollar theory..........love that hat, though.......

He is a prime role model for all youth. This is what happens when you drop out of school, don't learn the proper English and spiral downward. If I were a youngster and saw this, I would study harder and stay in school

It's alarming, yet sad, to realize that to so many people this man represents a model citizen doing his civic duty.

Actually, what I find alarming, sad, and downright disgusting about the comments on this thread are the snobbish attitudes by you people who obviously consider yourselves superior.If you could do better, why didn't YOU show up at the meeting?

I'm more articulate than the man who did speak to the council, but I don't drive at night (and since there were two random public killings of women in my area of north Jackson last night, I'm glad I didn't leave home). I would like to speak before the council if they met in the daytime and I knew the schedule beforehand. I certainly want to protest the water bills that are not accurate and outrageously high.

I'm a retiree on a fixed income, living in a city that charges extreme and unjustified rates for city services, car tags, and property taxes, yet has a crumbling infrastructure (water and streets) so those of us unfortunate enough to live here pay more for much, much less. Believe me--if the real estate market hadn't crashed and not revived in my neighborhood, I would love to sell my house, leave Jackson--in fact, leave Mississippi. Unfortunately, the house across the street from me is remodeled and sits with a "For Sale" sign, but remains unsold and empty. Who in their right mind wants to live in Jackson, Mississippi? In addition to the high cost of living, crime runs rampant here. Jackson is fast becoming another Memphis.

So tell me, mayor and city council members: when Jackson homes are abandoned and left to rot all over Jackson (reminiscent of Detroit) and the city becomes a ghost town, who are you going to bill too-high prices for water then?

Not respectfully,
J. Denman