Jackson Jambalaya

Thanks KF.
I read through several of them and it's not a cut and dry thing.
I no longer live in Ridgeland (I know that will negate my opinion for most), but I did live there for about 30 years and most of my family is still there. I also used to work for the city so I always stay interested.

One woman made it very clear in her email that her view is that MGM and city hall is basically "on the other side of the tracks" and that they should listen more to those neighborhoods that have the highest mean income. That's nice - talk about perpetuating a stereotype.

I don't know if it's ignorance or arrogance, but how in the hell do you live near/on HCP and think that it will keep a "small town" atmosphere? Aesthetically the building designs and such are restricted to give "a look", but if you're looking for true small town atmosphere, then move to Flora or Camden or Farmhaven. Hell, move to Star. There is give and take wherever you live. Just depends on how much you wanna give and how much you wanna take.

It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to look at HCP (now or 20+ yrs ago when it was built) to see that it isn't designed as an arterial line for bike trails, bunnies and kite flying venues.

I struggled through most of them, and found it interesting that the early emails pertained to a proposed Costco development by Dick Ambrosino (God rest his soul). So he had introduced them to this spot.

@7:34
Thanks for speaking up for us peons that live on the east side. Everyone knows that we don't pay property tax and we are exempt from paying sales tax and therefore we shouldn't have a say in what goes on in Ridgeland. Heaven forbid what will happen if I am caught driving around on the Holy Ground west of HCP that belongs exclusively to the high brows over there. Why, they will probably have my lowly non-Mercedes vehicle impounded on the spot.

Thomas Bobbitt is a landscape architect. Used to have a big firm (probably 50 employees) on Highland Colony Parkway. He lives in Bridgewater and has helped develop it. Nice guy, honest guy, good man.

Based on KF's brief summary, it appears FBCJackson past/present members were vocal with email opposition. Doesn't reflect on the church itself, but interesting nonetheless.

If anybody has read through all these emails and the only thing they care to comment on is the one email that does sound snooty, then their bias is obviously showing. Why not comment on all the emails that show our mayor and other city officials going out of their way to conceal facts and be deceitful about what was going on with the Costco project? If you are a citizen of Ridgeland, that is what you really ought to be concerned about. You may think it is OK now because they are sticking it to somebody else, just remember the same thing will happen to you if a developer ever comes calling in your neighborhood. We need to look beyond this "East v. West" garbage and ask whether this is the way city business ought to be conducted.

Madison got a Sam's, no objection. Madison has allowed Krogers and Home Depot to be built closer to subdivisions than the Costco will be. Crickets. I live in Dinsmor and I welcome Costco. The Renaissance and Butler Snow building have added value and stability to the West side of Ridgeland. We have an elementary school and a private school that also bring traffic. I do not understand what the big deal is. HCP was built for commercial development.

8:47 nails it. This is about how the city deals.

Set aside whether you want to buy 36 pairs of tube socks for $10 or whether you live east or west of I-55. The lying, inside dealing, and conflicts of interest in this deal are disgusting. If someone exposed a record of this kind of conduct in a Delta town (or in Jackson), all of the commenters here would be condemning the "crooks" and "thugs" that were involved. If it was in Madison, we'd all be smugly and knowingly nodding (or shaking) our heads since it confirms what everyone wants to believe about them. But since it's in Ridgeland, it's an east/west, us/them deal, and the conniving city officials get a pass. Y'all are something else.

There are sure going to be a lot of emails sent by the mayor today after this came out. D.I. and the mayor et al call people on the phone so you can't get screwed over.

... it appears FBCJackson past/present members were vocal with email opposition. Doesn't reflect on the church itself, but interesting nonetheless.

Then AxeGrinder why bring up their church affiliation at all? Why didn't you dig into and report on the church affiliations of the other non-FBCJackson email participants since you find the church connection "interesting nonetheless"?

April 7, 2016 at 8:47 AM +1000

Still trying to recover from the last batch. Man, those YODER boys are something else. How many of them are there anyway? Assumptions, lies, false conclusions leading to more false conclusions...

What exactly did the rezoning do? Just add a gas station?

How about a Tesla station? Would that be better?

It doesn't take a wild imagination to figure out what group of people the precious Dr. Ley was picturing in his lovely community when he referred to increased human traffic...

The Lester person needs to look up the definition of a bully [a person(s)who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker] before she instructs her children. She's got the players backwards.