Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Does Jackson pay too much for lobbying?

Jackson Mayor Chowke Lumumba asked the Jackson City Council to hire Octagon Group for lobbying services last night. Quincy Mukoro is the owner of Octagon.  The current lobbyist is Worth Thomas.  The request submitted to the City Council set the maximum compensation for Octagon at $135,000.  The term of the contract would be one year.  However, Jackson pays much more money than do other cities and counties in Mississippi for lobbying services.  Check out what municipal and county lobbyists made in 2016:


$123,000: Jackson. Worth Thomas
$76,000: Ridgeland has four lobbyists- Camille Scales Young, Joel Yelverton, James Champion, George Flaggs
$60,000: Tupelo. Clare Hester of Capital Resources Group. 
$35,000: Marshall County. Gary Anderson
$33,000: Diamondhead. Scott Leavenway
$30,000: Meridian.  Beth Clay of The Clay Firm.
$27,500: Gulfport. Scott Leavenway
$27,500: Gautier. Clare Hester of Capital Resources Group.
$27,500: Moss Point. Clare Hester of Capital Resources Group.
$22,000: Biloxi. Scott Leavenway
$19,500: Rankin County. John Milner
$18,000: D'Iberville. Ben Thompson
$16,000: Hinds County. Worth Thomas, John Morgan Hughes
$16,000. Batesville. Ben Thompson
$10,000: Madison. Al Sage

 The City Council referred the matter to the Legislative Committee for further action. 

Kingfish note: Jackson clearly is paying way too much for lobbying.  The Mayor should not increase what we pay our lobbyists but instead should be getting a better deal.  The top lobbyists in Mississippi are charging their municipal and county clients less than half of what Jackson pays. 

Mr. Mukoro was the lobbyist for the Mississippi Municipal League but didn't achieve anything of note in the legislature for MML.  He currently has all of three registered clients: Hope Enterprise, Mississippi Center for Justice, and Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials. 

What will be interesting to see is will the City Council approve the Octagon hire.  Mayor Yarber tried to hire his own lobbyists but the City Council refused to approve them.  The motion to hire them didn't even get a second in the legislative committee.  Ward 2 City Councilman Melvin Priester, Jr. stuffed the Yarber administration and persuaded the City Council to hire Mr. Thomas.  Mr. Thomas also represents Hinds County, Jackson Municipal Airport Authority, Mississippi Power Company, Millcreek (Rehab centers), Altria Client Services, JSU Development Foundation, AT&T, American Red Cross, GovEase, Mississippi Baptist Health Systems, and Blake Enterprises. 

Mr. Mukoro worked very hard on the Mayor's campaign.  They are probably good friends.  One basic rule of politics is reward those who help you and a Mayor is allowed some leeway in doing so.  However, resumes don't lie either and Mr. Mukoro's is rather meager in comparison to what Jackson could hire. 

The Mayor made a big deal about high salaries during the campaign. JJ is not a stickler about such things if the resume justifies the salary.  The resume of the newly-hired Public Works Director justifies his salary.  Others hired by the Mayor have strong resumes.  What typically happens though is unqualified people get salaries they don't deserve.  There is nothing Mr. Mukoro has done to justify paying more than twice as much as what other cities and counties pay the top lobbyists in the state. Jackson should drive a hard bargain instead of being the elephant for another Bud Fox. 


If anything, Jackson should cut what it pays for lobbying and that, my friends, is the bottom line.

27 comments:

Gil H. said...

Serious question here: why does Jackson (or any municipality) need a lobbyist? Isn't it the job of the Mayor and his team to promote Jackson?

Anonymous said...

"Mr. Mukoro was the lobbyist for the Mississippi Municipal League but didn't achieve anything of note in the legislature for MML. He currently has all of three registered clients: Hope Enterprise, Mississippi Center for Justice, and Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials."

This says it all right here. Help your friends, help the collective(whatever that means), and help the cooperative. Its all about appropriating funds among cronies, no matter the outcome. Race fist, performance last.

Anonymous said...

Whatever happened to the mayor picking up the phone and calling the Representative or Senator that represents him and explaining his problem to them?

Anonymous said...

That's $541,000 is you are wondering.

Anonymous said...

Think that Mukoro was an salaried employee of the MML.

Anonymous said...

Heaven forbid Jackson consider hiring a lobbyist with Republican connections.

Anonymous said...

Quincy Mukoro was front and center of numerous efforts to pass M.O.S.T.. How did that work out?

Anonymous said...

For what they are getting? I would say so!

Anonymous said...

It's all the same ole jive. As long as the constituency of these "city officials" do not hold them accountable they will wallow in taxpayer money. They will hire friends, girlfriends, relatives, cronies etc. at whatever prices they can imagine. And they can imagine a lot! They don't have to justify stupid spending as long as they spend it with the "right" people. It just doesn't matter. The issue is redistribution of wealth, not efficient government, or education (see JPS). Remember that, and everything falls into place. The problem is, there is no EXPANSION of wealth. In fact the pie is shrinking. But they don't care. They'll get theirs before the whole thing collapses.

Anonymous said...

What use is there of winning an election if you cannot put a little money in your pocket and the pockets of your friends?

Anonymous said...

Jackson can't get anything from this bunch....Jackson ain't their constituency you see.

So save the 123k and use it to buy shovels to fix holes.

Anonymous said...

Paying a lobbyist - even a good, capable one - for part time work more than you are paying the director of public works easily shows what's wrong with this city. And says a lot about this Mayor's priorities.

And doing it at the same meeting is terrible optics; but notice that none of the council members had the vision to see it.

Anonymous said...

You are correct. Way, way, way out of line. And the streets continue to grow very large potholes. The first 100 days are soon to hit the mark with no noticeable infrastructure improvements.

Kingfish said...

Yes, the municipal officials can do their own lobbying but you get what you pay for.

The good lobbyists know the bills, know the procedures, know the statutes. They have good intel and are often mini-CIA's. It's not about wining and dining but providing good information to the clients and being able to negotiate.

Example. Harvey Johnson got rid of the lobbyists for Jackson. He just knew Jackson would get $6 million in the bond bill. The problem was, the people who knew how it worked were fired. It turned out Harvey didn't bother to apply for the money as was required by the law because he didn't known the law. He got egg all over his face when he fought with Tate Reeves and the Bond Commission.

Anonymous said...

For those of you who are so upset about Lumumba trying to hire one of his supporters, do you have the same objection to Trump backing Strange (who has close Trump ties) over Moore in the AL Senate race?

Anonymous said...

Q has had some tentacles to the Siemens folks.

Anonymous said...

He was a salaried employee, dir of govt relations, for the Municipal League. They hire a separate lobbyist — I believe Trey Bobinger. Why should any city, company, or organization hire a lobbyist unl we the lobbyist is favored by speaker, tater, and their republican soldiers. Doesn’t matter. Who is lobbying or not, unless those two support it - it ain’t passing.

Anonymous said...

What's John Morgan Hughes doing for Hinds County that Worth can't?

Anonymous said...

Apples-to-oranges @ 12:37 PM.

Anonymous said...

@12:37pm

There is no way you are serious with that comparison / question.

All JJ readers now feel dumber for having read your post.

Anonymous said...

Quincy is a total joke. He could not even tell you how a bill is passed. This is all about public money getting into the right hands so it can get back to the right people.

Anonymous said...

As someone who has responsibility for evaluating lobbyists in the state in order to hire them, I'd like to say, "Who?"

If I were a deeply entrenched Democrat city, I might would want to Republican up with my lobbyist.

Anonymous said...

This is to lobby the...Mississippi legislature...across the street?

Anonymous said...

just in case you don't know exactly what lobbying is...... it is legalized bribery. cites have their lobbyists, big business has theirs, ask yourself, who is lobbying for you?

Anonymous said...

High hopes for this administration are fading fast. Questionable nepotistic hiring of notoriously horrible workers is starting to show. Just because they worked on campaign doesn't qualify them for seats in the administration.
The powers at be have a hold on this city. Until the movers and shakers are rendered silent it seems the same results are going to be produced.
It's time we get rid of anyone who's been on council for more than 1 term.
Also time we realise the state is watching Jackson burn. Once bankrupt the state will move in and sale off the scraps 1 by 1. Blue dot on a red wall.

Anonymous said...

Well, Mukoro has to add into his price - organizing fundraisers, special events, meals, entertainment, walking-around money, political contributions, strongly recommended "add-on/as-needed basis consultant support services, and other "unique" miscellaneous expenses...

Anonymous said...

First let me agree that the proposed price is a little high.

But let me also set the record straight. Quincy is a sharp young man, who did the MML a very good job. Forget what he may or may not have gotten new for the member cities. Because one of his main jobs was blocking legislation that was harmful to cities, which he did quite well.

As a former member of the MML, board member and Ex. committee member I was always pleased with his work.

Former Mayor Dave Nichols.

Oh and the former is because I chose not to seek reelection.



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