Note: This is a repost from January 20, 2010. Be patient. All will be made clear soon enough.
Did you know that Hinds County just awarded $40,000 to Derrick Johnson to handle redistricting for the county? Neither did anyone else as the item was not included in the agenda for the December 20, 2010 meeting but was brought up at the end of the session (Copy of Agenda) with no notice to the public. Minutes from the meeting state Supervisor Robert Graham made a motion"
"to approve entering into a contract with D. L. Johnson Consultants, LLC, for $40,000.00, to perform redistricting for Hinds County using the 2010 census, pending Board Attorney approval." (See page nine of minutes posted below)
The motion passed unanimously. Supervisor Phil Fisher is away on military duty.
What is interesting is the cost of the redistricting for the county. Central Mississippi Planning & Development District charged less than $18,000 ten years ago to redistrict Hinds County (See page 8). Madison County signed a contract last year to pay Central Mississippi $20,000 for redistricting (Clarke Holmes of CMPDD expressly refused to comment. Calls to Hinds County officials were not returned as well.). Derrick Johnson, who also serves as President of the Mississippi NAACP, has operated D.L. Johnson Consultants, LLC since 2001. Mr. Johnson promotes his redistricting expertise in pursuing redistricting contracts. The question must be asked why Hinds County is paying Mr. Johnson substantially more money than it paid ten years ago or what other counties currently pay.
Looks like voters in Clinton and NE Jackson are in for a redistricting ride.
Kingfish note (2/14/19): The city of Jackson hired Mr. Johnson to perform redistricting during the same year. However, the City Council put out the contract for bid. Three companies submitted proposals. The City Council hired Mr. Johnson but at a cost that was $20,000 less than what Hinds County paid for it's no bid contract.
A complaint was submitted to the State Auditor at the time. However, the attorney assigned to the office, Melissa Patterson (yes, that Melissa Patterson), spiked the complaint and said there was no violation.
11 comments:
Doug Anderson did not know what planet he was on and arguably George Smith never did either. Throw Crystal Wise Martin and Carl Frelix in the mix and one has to wonder how the county ever survived.
But that was 2010. I can't wait to see where this is headed. Things have been so eerily quiet in Hinds County since all those bums moved on.
I do believe Phil Fisher's lawsuit over this fiasco is still alive and likely will still be after the next census is done.
Jerrymandering? We do it it’s called racism
My curiosity is killing me. Why a repost from 2010?
....looks like corruption is creeping back in. They cleaned it all up a couple years ago.
635... you’re kidding...right?? The board of supervisors is to blame for nearly all of the problems in Hinds county to include crime in Jackson
6:35? Specifics? You realize this article is 2010? Let us in on your secret. Things seem to still be going pretty well in Hinds county compared to Jackson. Hell, compared to most counties in Mississippi. Hinds has paved a ton of roads in my area in the last 6 years and replaced about 8 bridges.
Now, the sheriff and the jail and DA? Still a long way to go. But Derrick Johnson hasn't stepped foot in a supervisor meeting since this article was written. He's gone national.
Ok, I think I get it now. They paid a crook to gerrymander the district lines to get the white guy out and that same crook backed a lawsuit to get a legislative district declared racist and illegal (verdict was handed down this week). I'm betting that is the story. There really hasn't been any news coming out of Hinds County since Stokes left and Anderson passed. The BOS is a bit boring these days.
Bobcat McGowan is the best thing that ever happened to Hinds County. I hope he isn't caught up in whatever KF is about to blow up. Loving my roads.
10 years ago having a top profession group like Central Mississippi Planning to do the work in a legal manner for a fair price might have mattered but not anymore. Going forward Jackson and Hinds county are both too far gone and too few voters left to make a difference. Also if I remember George Smith would sign contracts for the County without even taking a vote.
Anonymous poster yesterday tried to post this on the Reeves thread.
I hate to get off the topic of this post, but 10:04 raised a good point on the Senate District that Judge Reeves just held was in violation of the Voting Act. I haven't read Judge Reeves' opinion, but help me understand this. Judge Reeves supposedly ruled that the district as presently drawn does not give African Americans an "equal opportunity" to elect an African American State Senator in that district. But it's my understanding that the present demographics of the district are 51% AA and 49% white. So Judge Reeves is right I guess that it doesn't give AAs an equal opportunity....it gives them more than an equal opportunity to elect an AA. If all eligible AA and white voters voted, then an AA would be elected. Respectfully, just because many AAs in that district just don't vote or maybe even some of them might actually vote for the white candidate doesn't mean that there's not an equal opportunity to elect an AA
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