Jackson Jambalaya

These are thinly disguised kickbacks. The intent is that the councilmen will go to the recipients of these payments and squeeze them for "campaign contributions." Then they will direct the allocation of and take full credit for the the community contributions. This is how important contracts have been handled for years, it's just a little shocking to see it in black and white. Shame on AECOM for agreeing to this extortion, the cost of which would have been borne by the taxpayers of the City of Jackson.

The best qualified waste water management company hands down in the state is Hemphill Construction

Even a blind person could see what is going on. This is what the people of Jackson want. If anyone tries to help them out of the hole they have dug all they get in return is called racist.
Give them the city of Jackson but move the capital city to a more honest area.

Why stop at 43%

Make it 100%

That way you will be able to see the sewer line being routed through a school cafateria

Did you notice Yolanda Jones-McElroy the wife of William McElroy listed in the proposal for Community Benefits? I guess the McElroy's are double dipping. Isn't she a Yarber appointee? Smell like corruption to me.

Insanity. At what point as a society did we start thinking that mandating participation and other "local economy development" and o things of the sort will benefit a community economically more so than the ACTUAL WORK and PROCESS of hiring the best firm and making sure that said firm is unencumbered when managing PUBLIC GOODS with potential to affect our environment and safety such as wastewater.

Am I just ignorant an unaware of models where this is working? Are we just approaching it incorrectly in Jackson?

Jason Goree has a BIG hand in this stuff too. How in the heck does he keep slipping through the cracks??? His sister was on the first proposal submitted for AECOM, LaShundra Watson formerly LaShundra Goree. He is also close friends with Andrea Jones. Her father is George Jones who grew up with Tony Yarber. Jason Goree's sister, Telisha Goree has been seen all over the place with Tony Yarber. Every where he goes, she goes. She has been known to sit in on alot of his meetings and out of town trips. Telisha has also created various bogus engineering companies recently certified through the City of Jackson to go after engineering contracts. That whole group needs to be taken down. Next up it needs to be Tony Yarber and his puppet Jason Goree. Both are as crooked as they come. These people are driven by greed. They care nothing about the city of Jackson and its people. We have been deceived. There are so many components and different people involved in this whole scandal that its ridiculous. The indictment of Jones is only the beginning. This thing is like a drag net, its going to pull everyone in. THE HEAT IS ON!

We're still missing all the connections with the two women who have been charged with Medicaid fraud, detailed by Anna Wolfe in this morning's C-L. There's so much corruption here that you get dizzy and then sick. Yarber and half the people connected him ought to go to prison.

I agree with an earlier comment that Hemphill ought to get the contract. The city hired them to fix potholes in Belhaven and it took about two days.

I dread the prospect, but I'm expecting Gannett to move Ms. Wolfe to another paper any day now. She's a star.

Here's an idea - hire the best person/organization for the job, regardless of their racial makeup (irregardless for y'all in Niknar), present a realistic plan which includes penalties for non-performance, and get shit done! It is the very definition of racist to exclude highly qualified people/organizations from access to critically important work based solely on race.

Qualified folks will create opportunities for themselves - they don't need government to "create" them.

I'm so tired of this shit...

This is learned from the days of the " good old boys" and continues or did y'all not look closely at the meat packing plant etc.?

Kudos to the council for rejecting it.

Maybe one or more on the committee actually understands why the American public is so damn angry!

"irregardless for y'all in Niknar." and it probably sailed right over their head.

Holy shit.

Holy crap! This sounds like a high schooler's first resume:

Andria Jones, Stakeholder Engagement/Public Outreach

Ms. Jones is a strong planner and problem solver who readily adapts to changes, works independently and well with others, and exceeds expectations. She is able to juggle multiple priorities and meet deadlines without compromising quality. Ms. Jones has a demonstrated ability in business development program implementation and program evaluation. She possesses a thorough understanding of executive administration, operations management, and workforce development.

That is indeed a WHOLE LOTTA nothing, but I guess you can't put "experienced at defrauding the federal government" on a resume.

@1:33, no, it didn't sail over our heads, despite us being a bunch of no talent rednecks with smooth streets, water that doesn't run in the streets, and a bank account in the black, and city reps that aren't constantly the laughing stock of the south. Nice try though. Happy property values to ya'.

Are Yolanda Jones-McElroy and Andria Jones sisters? Related?

The ENTIRE I-55 reconstruction project between Meadowbrook Rd. and Canton Mart Rd.---underground pipe, roadway, curb and gutter, retaining walls, BRIDGES, you name it between the Right of Ways was a 32 Million dollar job in the late 80's early 90's.

Don't you know the white boys at AECOM were just laughing when they came up with Jackson 5.

"I dread the prospect, but I'm expecting Gannett to move Ms. Wolfe to another paper any day now. She's a star. "

Gannett may have an opening at the Detroit Free Press. Their editor called for the murder of any state legislator who voted in support of charter schools in Detroit. They haven't fired him yet, but, come on - even Detroit has to have some standards :-)

Oh. My. God.
Hell has just frozen over.
I actually agree with something that spilled out of Burke's keyboard.
Anna Wolfe is, by far, the best reporter at the Clarion-Ledger (sorry, Pender, you've been bumped to 2nd place). She's too good to remain around here much longer.
Enjoy actual reporting while you can.

Glad that all this shit going on in the Yarber administration (or lack of administering) is coming to light, but there are some folks that seem not to understand the difference between apples and pigs feet.

Hemphill, while a very good contractor, has no connection with this AECOM proposal. Hemphill is a contractor - they actually 'do the work'. And while they have recently been given a contract to repair 'utility cuts' throughout the city, they are not 'patching potholes'. Realize that both unrepaired utility cuts and unpatched potholes both tear the crap out of our vehicles, they are different animals.

212:32, Hemphill did not patch potholes in Belhaven - and if you think that they did and that they completed the work in two days, please drive around the streets of that neighborhood and explain to me why it is impossible to drive a straight line down any of them due to the potholes. Get on here and praise Hemphill, but don't make up crap and think that it will be eaten, swallowed and enjoyed.

AECOM proposal is to do the engineering work - determine what is needed, design it, and supervise a contractor to do the work. AECOM's proposed cost was $2.5 million - for the first year - but is not a guaranteed sum. Looking at their history in other jurisdictions, the actual bill would probably be closer to $10 million per year. After all, they have to give 40% of the total away to Hizzoner Tony's pocketbooks while teaching his protegee (bagmen?) subcontractors. The actual cost of doing the consent work will approximate $400 million. Thus - apples and pigs feet.

Want to see the real corruption arise? Wait until Hizzoner tries to push through a contract for his chief fundraiser - CDM - to do the consent work. No telling who all will be on that subcontractor/mentor list.

There is never any money left to "do the work".

I don't think Consent Decree Management includes design. They review plans for value, appropriateness and scheduling. Local engineers should be awarded design. Of course, local companies can do better and with better teams what this proposal is offering. Social services are not what the average taxpayer wants on their monthly bill.

AGAIN I will ask where are ANY of the so called "watchdogs"?
Like the all famous corrupt Jim Hood? Can not believe he does not go
after these guys because they all left him (Hood) out of the loop of free money.
AGAIN when the "citizens" elect CORRUPT people DO NOT be surprised when you get CORRUPTION!!!!!!!!!
Kennuf is going on what 18 years and Hood is what--at about 12 years now then there is Bennie. COME ON WHAT DO YOU EXPECT ?
Jackson (majority or should i say "minority") has exactly WHAT THEY ASKED FOR !!!! The rest of us have to pay and put up with the crap.

How can Andria's father grow up with Tony Yarber since The Mayor is about 37 or 38 and Her father is in his 60's! You people are really trying too hard

Jim Hood.

Funny.

What's it all about, Alfie? Does anybody even really care?

If any of you are waiting for Yarber's asshole to tighten up based on all this information, think again. Nor will any of the other playahs give one hoot in hell about the revelations posted above.

I had no idea the mayor was so corrupt. Disappointing ...
First the fishy mortgage that Houdini made disappear and now this obvious fraud...

There oughta be a law

This would be good news if something were going to be done about it. I highly doubt it though. The endless stream of moonbats has sucked the blood out of integrity all across the board.

At first I laughed because it's so ridiculous. Now, I'm just sad.

And I may be from Niknar, but I'm not one to believe that this kind of crap is relegated to the confines of city gov't in Jackson, MS.

Hard to believe Sam Hall hired Anna Wolfe.

Anna Wolfe is a great reporter and no the Clarion Ledger won't keep her long. The CL is an excellent stepping stone to bigger things for talented journalists. Emily Lane and Emily Le Coz were also outstanding, and both got offers too good to turn down.

Time to bring in the Feds.

11:49 - Don't forget Afi Odelia E. Scruggs or Rebecca Hood-Adams!

Feds will not do anything ; time to leave and get at least 200 miles from Jackson.Let them tear it to the ground to steal what little is left. This is long past being funny and get gone now. Madison, Brandon , Clinton are too too close and get far away right now.

Jim Hood will not do anything because he doesn't want to anger his voting block when he runs for Gov. in 2019.

Hmm,apparently a minority entity can go out, set up a business with no performance track or employee workforce, bid on a contract for the city of Jackson and get it if you are a "connected" minority. Interesting that so many of the "connected" parties have less than stellar records and some are saddled with legal problems. Even more interesting is that some of the contracts have stipulations to train a workforce???

As someone else has already mentioned, use the most qualified company regardless of race, color or even what bathroom he or she may want to use, and a company that has a trained and competent workforce that can do the work. It may cost more initially, but based on what we have seen with past administrations, it will likely be less expensive in the long run.

7:37, I agree with you. Every white person and well educated black person in Jackson needs to move 500 miles away because Rankin and Madison County will be just like Jackson in 10 to 15 years. I do not know why people can not see what is going on---there is no place to hide !!!!! Think about your children and grandchildren---WOW there should be no question about what to do.

People will get tired of it one of these days. They may have to take action themselves to get anything done. Some day yelling racist will not work like it does now.

Sadly Jackson is following the modern ghost-town scenario and those who can change it are determined to watch, rather than fight it. The flight of money from a city is a killer plain and simple. Whether the town is called Tombstone, Detroit, East St. Louis or Jackson, none can long survive when maintenance far outstrips the city's income. A hardline commitment to protecting investment, and to maintaining the public school system prevents this scenario. Jackson did not have it. Other cities have faced the same fork in the road and a painful decision to cooperate for survival was made. Not in Jackson. The races have always been too far apart to cooperate in this hellhole. Now, just watch the dominoes fall.

The people of Jackson like it that way. No help is needed unless it is to hand over cash without any records or question on how it will be used.