Tuesday, May 16, 2017

Here we go again: Three JMAA Commissioner terms are expired.

The terms of three members of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority Board of Commissioners expired.  Five commissioners comprise the Board.  One commissioner's term expired over two years ago.




Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson failed to replace four commissioners when their terms expired.  Chokwe Lumumba assumed the purple in Jackson and replaced all four commissioners within a few months.  A term is five years and they are staggered.  Three Commissioners are not serving full terms because their predecessors continued to serve on the Board after the expiration of their terms.



Commissioner Lawanda Harris's term expired on February 17, 2015 - over two years ago.  The tenure of Vernon Hartley expired in February of last year.  James Henley's term expired last February. 

Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber has only submitted one person to the Jackson City Council for appointment to the Board to replace any of these three commissioners.  Earlier post.  A confirmation vote was not held on his appointment.  The Mayor and City Council naturally pointed fingers at each other.   The City Council has not discussed replacing the expired Commissioners as well.

However, a new law goes into effect on July 1 that will prohibit any Commissioner from voting if his term has been expired for more than six months:

21-15-41. (1) No person shall serve in an interim or hold-over capacity for longer than one hundred eighty (180) days * * * in a position that is required by law to be filled by appointment of the governing body of a municipality, or by mayoral appointment with the advice and consent of the council or aldermen * * *. * * * If such position is not filled within one hundred eighty (180) days after the expiration of the position's term, or within one hundred eighty (180) days after the date of appointment if an interim appointment, the hold-over service or interim appointment shall terminate and no municipal funds may thereafter be expended to compensate * * * the person serving in the position. Further, any action or vote taken by such person after the one-hundred-eighty-day period shall be invalid and without effect. If a council or board of aldermen rejects, or otherwise fails to confirm, an individual submitted by the mayor for appointment, the mayor may not resubmit or reappoint the same individual for that position during the remainder of the mayor's current term in office.

 The law is retroactive in counting the 180-day time period.  Thus any Commissioners whose terms expired before January 1, 2017 will be unable to vote after July 1.  Commissioner Henly will not be able to vote after August 16, 2017.

If some Commissioners are not nominated to the board and confirmed quickly, the JMAA Board of Commissioners will lack a quorum by Labor Day.

Kingfish note: That was the news, now for the opinion.  There is simply no excuse for this gross negligence.  This failure to perform a basic duty of government is nothing short of incompetence on full display.   The Jackson City Council and the Mayor deserve equal blame for this fiasco and make no mistake, it is a fiasco.  The Mayor could have nominated people to the Board even if it was clear that the City Council would not confirm his appointments.  The City Council could have raised hell by asking the administration when it was going to submit nominations.  All they do is yap, yap, yap. No leadership, no action, no nothing.  The leadership of Jackson is so dysfunctional that it can't even perform core functions of city government.

The airport has been ignored for many years.  The only time anyone in Jackson government pays attention to the airport is when the state tries to steal it.  The only time the community leaders think of the airport is when one of their friends wants a contract.  Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle.  It is sad that it will take a new law to force these "leaders" to fix this problem but this gross negligence shows why the law is needed. 

There is, however, one person who is probably happy with this status quo: Congressman Bennie Thompson.  Mayor Lumumba appointed Bennie's cronies to the Board.  Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr. didn't hold a confirmation hearing for Mayor Yarber's appointment last year although to be fair, he says the administration decided to "hold off" on having a confirmation hearing for James Stanley.  Bennie's friend and attorney gets paid quite well to serve as JMAA attorney.  Think Winnie the Pooh in the honey cave.  Bennie is  probably quite happy with the current state of the JMAA board, expired terms and all.

If Jackson wants to get serious about keeping its airport, perhaps it should start taking its own airport seriously.

The ultimate irony is that Chokwe Lumumba, Jr. will be able to immediately nominate a majority of the Board of Commissioners when he assumes the purple just as his father did several years ago.

The City Council and Mayor could work together to appoint three Commissioners before July but does anyone think that  will happen? 

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

of course these appointments end when the 2016 airport legislation takes effect, which is after the FAA approves the new entity, which will consist of 9 members, with one member appointed by the mayor and one appointed by the city council.
http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/documents/2016/pdf/SB/2100-2199/SB2162SG.pdf

Anonymous said...

The plan for a Solidarity economy demands that we turn the airport into a co-op. There is enough acreage to also fit a composting station.

Carl Newman appears to be a quality hire. He deserves better.

Anonymous said...

Do you wonder why southwest left and people drive to other cities to fly out from? I parked at the airport for 4 nights a couple of weeks ago. To get out of parking, I had to pay $80.00 in parking fees. Please appoint someone with some degree of sanity to be on the commission.

Anonymous said...

When the 5th Circuit renders its decision that SB2162 stands, wave bye bye to the current board members and the majority of those who would be appointed in the future by the kushites. A new day will dawn for the airport, with a regional approach to oversight and governance.

Anonymous said...

FAA won't approve it over Jacksons objection. If Jackson was smart they would be asking for compensation in return for letting go of the airport.

Anonymous said...

Will the next 3 be like the last JMAA appointee?? Sorry, I didn't mean to rhyme but it happens sometimes.

Anonymous said...

9:58,

They just got compensation in the form of the Capital Complex District. Damn, how much more do you want them to waste. They have demonstrated over and over the propensity to screw up anything and everything they come into contact with.

I was sort of neutral on the bill Harkins filed, but now it is looking like he was spot on looking for some new leadership. Good foresight Senator.

What is the over/under on how many people are nominated or confirmed in the remaining term?

Anonymous said...

9:58am, Jackson is not interested in money!!! They are too concerned with making everything black! Welcome to the New Republic of Afrika.

Anonymous said...

FAA won't approve it over Jacksons objection.

Guess again.

Anonymous said...

Have they reserved any gates yet for the new AirKush non-stops to Detroit, East St. Louis and Baltimore?

Anonymous said...

10:16

Your comment about Jackson being wasteful with money is funny considering the state has been doing it for years. Also get off of Harkins' nuts.

Anonymous said...

As a white person, I have to ask: is this what MLK/ Medgar Evers died for? A 'yes' or a 'no' will be a satisfactory answer.

Here you have a group of people who made it through the civil rights movement, gained control of a city only to wreck it and seem PROUD of screwing over their own "people". The only thing they have in their defense is that the inertia towards "breakdown" had already put into motion before they inherited the problem.. They should be ashamed.

Anonymous said...

11:40

As a Black person, I think you have no idea about MLK or Medgar Evers. I also think you should educate yourself on them both, before you bring them up. Stop using MLK as a scapegoat when it comes to anything dealing with race and trying to make a "point".

Anonymous said...

@11:53, maybe "folks" should stop bringing race up every time they don't get their way.

Anonymous said...

10:44, I'll stay with my original guess.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/14/current-jackson-airport-board-says-faa-rule-to-sto/

Anonymous said...

As a Black person, I think you have no idea about MLK or Medgar Evers.

Appeal to Authority. FALLACY.

Anonymous said...

@ 1:45

Maybe you should stop trying to shame people into agreement with your uneducated view of MLK & Medgar Evers murders.

Kingfish said...

Get back to the subject of the post.

Anonymous said...

So is the Harkin's bill for the regional commission, signed by Gov. Bryant, currently on hold (and possibly the still the subject of litigation in the federal court) until the FAA makes a ruling?

Anonymous said...

11:40 here

I'm an educated Redneck (apparently that's a dangerous thing) that lives in the nexus of the absolute shitstorm that was that movement. I went to government funded schools and private schools that BOTH celebrated black history month, I have access to Wikipedia, documentaries, books, and movies.

I'm educated about Malcom X as well and the fact that Betty Shabazz still has issues with Louis Farrakhan. Save being there
for all three of those horrible events, I'm about as educated as one can be on their murders.

Hell, I even listen to Odetta everyonce in a while. Seeing that most of those issues are behind most of us, it BOGGLES MY MIND how a group of people could fight so hard for something and then when they get the chance, they blow it for greed based on cronyism more or less. I turn on the evening news and it's heartbreaking, but I'm numb to it now and that's not a place that anyone should be.

Look at Farish Street for example--- that was a blood oath deal right there. None of it could have happened without the
nod of past black "leadership"--same situation with Siemens. Need I go on?

Now this is article is about the airport board. PLEASE, for the love of what's good in life, appoint people that have more than their own pocketbooks in mind.


Anonymous said...

Unless another airline like Southwest comes here (Spirit, Frontier, JetBlue, or a return of Southwest), it does not matter who is on a board, who makes up the board, or even if we have a board. The airfares, by and large, are far less expensive 2hrs south of us in New Orleans. The only thing that's going to break that up is a lower-cost carrier.

AirKush to Baltimore or Detroit? If it's a low-cost carrier I'll pay to connect at BWI or DTW--those places have low-cost carrier connections to seemingly everywhere..

Anonymous said...

Let's use this situation as a teachable moment to the Black people who think the rest of us need to educate ourselves about race issues, etc.

There are five commissioners. They are:
- A Community Activist/Radio DJ
- A Retired Teacher
- A Registered Nurse
- An Environmental Consultant/Air Force Reserve Veteran
- A Minister/CPA

Notice that only one has anything that resembles airport or air travel experience (feel free to peruse their resumes, lest you think I'm glossing anything over). There is one essential qualification they all share, however.

Each of them is Black.

This is apparently the primary requirement to be on this board. Don't believe me? Ask yourself this question and be honest: Will the mayor and the council nominate and approve a white representative? Before you kneejerk and say "YES!", read up on James Stanley, whose nomination the city council refused to even vote upon. Stanley is a graduate of West Point and an Air Force veteran. He is an aeronautical, he served as SVP of Klingler Electric, and he's White.

So an Air Force veteran with years of experience in fields that would suit him perfectly for the position is passed over for (and I quote) "an on-air personality at WKXI Radio (KIXIE 107.5FM) with Alpha Media, Jackson’s number one adult Rhythm & Blues radio station."

This is, in all frankness, embarrassing.

I defy anyone (starting with Tom Head or Donna Ladd) to make a reasoned case as to why a Kixie DJ (or any of those currently serving) is more suited to the role than someone meeting Stanley's qualifications.

This is what is known as racial discrimination. Black letter racial discrimination. When one's race is the primary qualification over their expertise, history, experience - that's racism, pure and simple. This is why someone looks at people who on one hand trumpet the legacies of King and Evers and on the other hand promote this kind of travesty and asks how those men would react.

It's a fair question, and one that people - no matter their race - should be asking, because we all know the answer.

Anonymous said...

5:07. What a great, clear, and spot-on post. You said it with no options, just facts.

Jackson is garbage. There is nothing there worth salvaging. But unfortunately the rest of the region has to depend on that airport for travel. So, I hope and pray that the state gets involved and takes care of the terrible situation Jackson's black leadership has left.

Anonymous said...

5:07 here. I need to clarify an omission.

The line, "He is an aeronautical, he served as SVP of Klingler Electric, and he's White," should read "He is an aeronautical engineer..."

Anonymous said...


Harkins for Governor right after Tater or Lynn.

Anonymous said...

5:07 you have to be a bitter person to type that much about an airport. Go ahead and post your resume.

Anonymous said...

It's about racism - institutional racism to be specific - not an airport. You would know that if you had actually read that post with an open mind.

Truth hurts, doesn't it?

Still waiting for a reasoned justification for a radio DJ or a teacher or a minister to be given the nod over a retired Air Force officer and an experienced aeronautical engineer.

Anonymous said...

8:25 p.m., if you think 5:07's post was merely about an airport , it shows that you both miss the points raised (well-reasoned, I might add). The fact that you allege the poster is "bitter" confirms to all that you really don't care about or can't refute the issues raised. You just simply want to lob adhominem attacks, instead of trying to argue and support a counterpoint. Trying to undercut the credibility of the poster with a personal jibe, rather than debating the veracity of his logic is playground tactics. Unfortunately, that juvenile behavior has permeated too much of society and why problems can't be solved. Regardless of the position taken, too many want to simply dismiss said position because of their own personal biases. What's worse here is that most of the posters are only identified by a time stamp. Color and ethnicity aren't known.

These are the times when one should not consider whether Jackson is lost, but how much more than Jackson is lost. In the words of Charlie Brown: "Good Grief!!"

Anonymous said...

I'm the poster at 9:10...first sentence should have read: "8:25 p.m., if you think 5:07's post was merely about an airport, it shows that you miss the points raised (well-reasoned, I might add)." The word "both" should not have been in the sentence. Mea culpa.

Anonymous said...

Since we have a deejay then why not a rapper? We can put Kamakaze on the board because he named himself after Japanese WW2 pilots which is at least as much air travel experience as the others have. Plus when the meetings got boring he could bust out some fresh beats to keep them entertained!!

Anonymous said...

Just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. If "somebody" wasn't so buddied up with Jabba they'd be some strong research and serious revelations, and lots of fun too.


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