Maggie the Meek played yet another game of softball last week at WLBT.
She interviewed Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba about the "temporary" closure of the Jackson Zoo:
We could have some answers as soon as Monday on the new management company for the Jackson Zoo.
Mayor Lumumba said, "Representatives for ZoOceanarium will actually be here on Monday. It is at that time that we anticipate concluding the contract negotiations.”
Because negotiations are still underway, there is no price tag available for the new contract.
The Mayor said, “They’re coming to town so that we can finish that up, and we’re really eagerly anticipating that.”
Mayor Lumumba also discussed how soon ZoOceanarium could get it's license. He says it is all tied to why the zoo closed.
Mayor Lumumba said, “The reason that the zoo was closed is so that we can make the necessary repairs inside the zoo. USDA will come in and first assess what needs to be repaired. We already have a pretty good idea of what that is. Once they do that, then the repairs will commence and they will do their final inspection and we anticipate the license at that point.”
There is a settlement with the Jackson Zoological Society, one Mayor Lumumba says was a difficult but necessary decision.
“The city will be able to protect its collection, that was our primary concern is making certain that we had a collection to exhibit to the public and so now that we have protected that, the case will be dismissed,” the mayor explained.
The mayor says the zoo is poised for change.
Mayor Lumumba said, “The zoo is poised for a new opportunity, new marketing strategies, new management.”
There is no date on when the front gates of the zoo will reopen.
“The zoo will be closed as long as it takes to make those repairs. Our Public Works Department will be working aggressively to make that happen,” said Mayor Lumumba.
The location of the zoo has been an issue, the Mayor says the location has not kept away crowds for big events. Story.
Show a zoo that survives on "big events." Annual attendance fell from 101,000 to years ago to 48,114 last year. That is a "shut-down number." The previous zoo director repeatedly asked for $1.5 million per year but instead had to survive on $800,00 for an annual appropriation. Mayor Lumumba can blabber all he wants about closing the zoo for repairs but the real reason it is closed is because Jackson has no one with a Class C USDA license to operate the zoo. Period.
Of course, Maggie the Meek just sat there and played softball. It never occurred to her to ask why it has taken nearly all year to negotiate a contract with Zooceanarium or why the city didn't require a license of the proposers. Golly gee, the lack of a license just happened to coincide with the need for repairs. It reminds one of the softballs Bert used to ask Mac. Amazing what happens when a teleprompter is removed.
One interesting comment stood out in the interview. Hizzoner said settling the lawsuit was a difficult decision. Um, it was? What was he going to do? Collect $6.35 million from the Board members of the Jackson Zoological Society personally? Yeah, that would be pretty funny to watch. The Meek could've asked that question but that might have been an outbreak of journalism.
There are several facts about the lawsuit that the media failed to report. The Society provided a copy of the annual audits every year to the city as required by the lease. The city didn't read the audits but instead allowed them to collect dust. Those are the same audits yours truly read to discover the misuse of state bond funds. The Mayor has a permanent board member in the person of the Parks and Recreation Director or a representative.
Thus under the Mayor's own arguments, his representative approved of the alleged non-payment of the $6 million water bill and misuse of bond funds for years. In fact, when yours truly blew the whistle and challenged the Zoo Director over the misuse of bond funds in a Board Meeting, the Parks & Recreations Director sat there doing his best impersonation of a pet rock and did not say one word at all. Not.a.word. However, these are just minor details concerning his "difficult decision." He does carry the weight of Jackson upon his brow, after all.
The Mayor has taken a beating over the unexpected closure of the Jackson zoo in the media, radio talk shows, and social media. No contract has been submitted to the City Council nor has anyone said who actually owns the company. However, never fear, Maggie the Meek nor the Council of Cucks are going to question anything. It's what they do, er, make that what they don't do.
43 comments:
Wonder if the one of the owners of ZoOceanarium are the owners of AirWaves Communications that took Hinds County on a run for its money.
I hope that the effect of those exposure is that WLBT will get serious about accountability of not only the Mayor but the city council.
Also would Maggie be so Meek if she was interviewing a white legislator in some unpopular opposition?
"The zoo's been there for more than a hundred years. Right?" Is he telling me or asking me. I hate it when someone makes a statement then follows it with "Right?".
Just for 'shits and giggles', I've taken a screen shot of that "But Back Real Soon" banner.
We ain't got long.....
Where exactly are the funds for the repairs going to come from? The water bill issue seems to stem from multiple leaks the city was supposed to fix but never did. Is the city going to fix the leaks for a new operator? How is the new operator going to make the zoo profitable? Is a business plan part of the bidding process? Is there even an operator lined up? What is the plan if ZoOceanarium decides they cannot run the zoo profitably and pulls out? Does anyone involved have a business degree from a real college?
Mayor Lumumba said, “The zoo is poised for a new opportunity, new marketing strategies, new management.”
Don't lie to us, the Zoo is still administered by the same incompetent Jackson councilmen and mayor.
The current news director has a love affair for Mayor Lumumba. They have lunch every once in a while and the "exclusive" interviews are the news departments way of currying favor with the Jackson admin. Poor C.J. Lemaster fights the city daily for open records, but I am sure the leadership of the news department only provides lip service to him in backing his efforts to get crime stats and other public records.
@7:47am.
I totally agree. That “Right?” at the end is what morons use on more moronic people as a way of getting them to buy their bullshit. This interview is just case in point. Right?
Right is better than "I Know, Right?" But both are plumb dumb.
And, The Department of Pubic Works is going to repair all the deficiencies cited by a federal agency - The same department that fixes potholes, water-main issues and tall grass, right?
This zoo will never re-open.
"The mayor says the zoo is poised for change." I hope the change is that the animals will be running the zoo; that's got to be better than the city calling the shots.
Maggie interviewing Baby Chok is like George Step-on-all-of-us interviewing Hillary.
Can the Jackson Zoological Society rename itself to the Mississippi Zoological Society and proceed with creating a new zoo location as was planned? I know a near-by zoo that's about to have lots of exotic animals for sale cheap.
Stop trying to make the Zoo happen - attendance is down, the place is a dump and nobody wants to go to that part of town. Egomaniacs like the mayor see a decision to close the zoo as a failure, but the majority of the folks who are actually paying for it (taxpayers) want decisions made on sound financial reasoning.
I disagree with just about everything the mayor says and does, and think he's woefully out of his depth running the city, but I could find common ground with him if he began making financially responsible decisions; and closing the zoo is a good start.
How can they not have a reopening date?
Simple, there is no PLAN.
The zoo will not open unless Kellogg steps in. It will never have positive cash flow.
We have plenty of land in this state to make something like this happen. I would much rather my tax dollars go to something like this than an urban zoo on a small footprint:
https://www.nczoo.org
Lubamaba sure does look dapper...that's the main thing mane. As long as he looks good, he must be doing something right.
Maggie Wade interviewing Baby Chok is like airheaded Sean Vanity interviewing Dotard Trump.
Magnolia Wade dining with Lumumba is like the SEC referees Attending a grill-out in Saban's back yard.
If WLBT ran off Woody and Bert, when is it Magnolia's turn to get pink-slipped? And tandem Howard in the same exit-interview.
10:18......urban zoo...isn't that Jackson every day??
Cue the folks yelling "RACIST!"
Some people get a real kick out of calling this mayor stupid or incompetent or "in over his head". But he inherited a busted city with a rapidly shrinking tax base. As a politician he's going to keep trying to put a positive spin on the death spiral, but it's up to the media to feret out the truth. Allen Thompson, Russell Davis or Kane Ditto couldn't pull this city out of it's decline any better than Antar, but at least they wouldn't be called stupid by the Madison Rankin escapees.
In all fairness to the Mayor, that's why I've kept pointing out the bad bond deals. One blew up last year and another one blew up this year. Mayor is having to deal with several million dollars in increased bond payments that Harvey, yes, Harvey, stuck him with.
Truth is, he has a bad hand right now, overall when it comes to city finances. However, there is no move to shrink city government or get rid of assets the city can no longer afford to maintain.
The license required is site-specific, so no company can come in with an existing license that would allow for operation of the zoo, and the license is contingent on "exhibitor shall have demonstrated that his facilities comply with the standards promulgated by the Secretary pursuant to section 2143 of this title:"
There are a lot of other things to complain about regarding the zoo, but for the City to be looking at companies who don't hold a license to run the zoo is not one of them.
Some people get a real kick out of calling this mayor stupid or incompetent or "in over his head". But he inherited a busted city with a rapidly shrinking tax base.
There is NO LINKAGE as you pretend to create. Mayor Yammeralot IS in over his head and IS incompetent. He had ZERO experience running ANYTHING. All he does is flap his gums. The fact that Jackson is busted and dying DOES NOT make him any less so. Your weak effort at amelioration is nothing more than a bad attempt to carry his water.
Effectively paying $6 MILLION DOLLARS for a collection of animals is stupid and incompetent enough. But doing so by wiping that money off Jackson's accounts receivables due ledger while simultaneously shaking down citizens to pay for water they've never used is the height of his political arrogance. PERIOD.
Now he's robbing the special tax collection fund once again to backstop the city's budget. Why? Because Miller spent, without authorization, the last highjacking of funds on items other than what the funds were requested to pay for. The special fund is now nothing more than a freewheeling out-of-budget slush fund. Anybody here that jerk off Senator David Blount complain about that?
I live in Jackson, LOSER. Only a FOOL would believe that only those is Madison or Rankin counties are complaining about Antard here on JJ.
@12:15 What other zoos in the United States does ZoOceanarium operate? Please be specific.
So how does the City get the charity's funds? (Jackson Zoological Society). State statute says any charity going out of business is supposed to give the remaining funds to a like or similar charity, not a city government.
I'm really disappointed that you would disparage and minimize someone as kind and well-respected as Maggie Wade by giving her a diminutive nickname in the header. It's like something you-know-who would do. You're better than that.
The mayor has made Jackson a Sanctuary City for illegal immigrants. I wish he would show as much concern for the remaining zoo workers & the poor animals they care for.
Contact illegal alien pimp Bill Chandler and tell him the zoo workers are "undocumented" and recently escaped oppressive zoos in Central America.
2:14 Sanctuary? What Sanctuary? They would be better off taking their chances in the countryside. Jackson ain't a sanctuary for anything but rats and stray dogs.
Agreed, 2:01! You cannot find a better person than Maggie Wade!
And 7:39 AM - "...would Maggie be so Meek if she was interviewing a white legislator in some unpopular opposition?"
Maggie treats everyone with equal kindness, respect and fairness!
His credit is only due when he addresses the real problems instead of some crap spin.
1. It's the LOCATION dumbass
2. If that is not enough, it's the CULTURE.
It's a Dubai company! Can't Baby Chok and his band of incompetents find an AMERICAN COMPANY?
Oh wait, they can now buy some camels on the cheap.
I have no problem with Ms. Wade.
But these comments have made me rethink WLBT.
There is a lot of truth in what has been said.
Enough about the Jackson Zoo fiasco. Wishing the poor animals (and employees) only the best.
But I've got to ask . . . what happened with Walt Grayson leaving WLBT for WJTV ?
Not trying to derail the thread, just curious.
Grayson was one of WLBT's best assets.
Did "channel three" run him off too ?
Ms. Wade would not treat a white person any differently.
WLBT has a long history of running off the best. Goes back to Woody, Stephanie and Bert. Then Walt. They operate on the Clarion-Ledger business model of talent-retention.
"Kingfish said...Ms. Wade would not treat a white person any differently."
We all have an opinion.
5:11, you're talking about DemocRATS aren't you? Cynical Sam resembles that remark.
They would rather live in cesspool,than admit their system of buying the dregs of society votes with give away programs isn't working.
Poor dogs having to live there.
Side note, more of a question. Is the planetarium going to reopen?
More importantly...Did it close? Equally as important what and where the hell was it?
I know sportbetting is legal in Mississippi, but can we bet on the continued collapse of the City of Jackson?
I would like to bet against the Zoo ever opening again. I also would like to do gum flap bingo during Antard's state of the city. We all know his favorite platitudes and social justice speak. Let's have a drinking game!
I corrected this sentence for you:
"We all know his favorite platitudes and social justice speak, right?"
Should have followed the recommendations of previous zoo management and moved the location of the zoo. It’s doomed now sad will be closer within 2 years if not sooner.
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