How many times can a Mayor lie? Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba told the New York Times the state of Mississippi does not pay Jackson for water used. The statement was not true. However, it was not the first time he told this wee little lie. Check out this March 8 press conference.
Mayor Lumumba made the false accusation at a March 8 press conference. The Mayor adamantly stated:
"We don't even get water bills from the state even though we provide water to them. So as we talk about a water crisis, that is a significant note to make. You know, if we just got the money for what we provide you, maybe we might be in a more sufficient place. Video of press conference.
He repeated those statements in the New York Times on March 12:
Its troubles also mirror those of another capital city, Washington, D.C., where large numbers of government properties pay no property tax. Mr. Lumumba said the city “provides water for the state of Mississippi, but we don’t get paid for the water we provide to them. If we simply charged the state like any other customer, we’d be in a lot better position.” Article.
Unfortunately for the Mayor's narrative of blaming the state, none of those statements are true. JJ obtained water payment records for the Capitol Complex, MDAC, and the Health Department. The Health Department paid over $360,000 in water bills since 2018. The Capitol Complex paid over $205,000 since June 2020. MDAC paid over $47,000 since 2019. There are other state agencies in Jackson. Sufficeth to say, the state probably pays Jackson well over half a million dollars every year for Jackson water and sewer services.
The Mayor adroitly tried to say he was misinformed. Earlier post & video. Justin Vicery reported in the Clarion-Ledger yesterday:
Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is walking back statements he made alleging state-owned properties in Jackson were not paying for water....
Lumumba said he sent a retraction to the Times after an unnamed official in his administration pointed out the error. The correction came about a week after the March 12 article was published, according to the Times....
“It has come to my attention that I have misspoken with regard to the state of Mississippi paying for water within the city of Jackson,” Lumumba said. “The state does in fact pay for its water. I stand corrected.”... Rest of article.
Kingfish note: Public Works Director DR. Charles Williams stood next to the Mayor at the March 8 press conference when he made those false statements. The Mayor continued to smear the state in later media interviews. Dr. Williams is a good man and a professional. It stands to reason he would know the state pays for its water. It is hard to imagine the good Doctor not informing the Mayor his statement was wrong in a more private setting. It is also easy to imagine the Mayor making up statements to fit a narrative.
Pay attention to the media at the Monday and March 8 press conferences. No reporters question the Mayor's statement about the state not paying for water. The New York Times "reporters" did not question the statements either. It seems they are just human tape recorders, reporting be damned. Chairdogs. Where is Beeeeeeeeeeert Case or Marsha Thompson when you need them?
Keep in mind the Mayor only issued a "correction" after this website posted the records Friday and said more were coming.
29 comments:
"You know, if we just got the money for what we provide you, maybe we might be in a more sufficient place."
Sometimes the "ifs and buts" actually do turn into "candy and nuts." Fill in the blanks about aunt and uncle.
In the world of rank politics any statement that is not challenged is a fact. If it supports your agenda and you can repeat it without challenge it becomes a convenient fact. The truth is so inconvenient. Thanks KF
Just had to post somewhere. Went down town today and parked at 4 yes 4 new parking meters. All were either broken or full of change? Does the city still control/ Maintain these meters? Just another reason I hate coming into Jackson....
@12:00pm
The state doesn't even pay for the parking meters that the city provides to them, which makes for a parking meter crisis. That is a significant note to make.
You know, if the city just got the money for the parking meters it provides all those white people in state government, maybe Jackson might be in a more sufficient place.
I'm sure Dr. Williams was NOT the source of this misinformation. He's been there long enough to know better. This is on Lying Lumumba.
Tate should have fried his ass when he responded to the Mayor's lies.
The guv missed a good opportunity to really blister Baby Chok's incompetence.
Speaking of raising revenue, the parking meter issue is a good point. What I really want to know is why the state legislators have reserved parking on the curbs facing the state capital? I can't recall if those spaces have meters. Who owns those spaces? If it is the City, of which I am a tax paying citizen, then the State of MS should be paying a parking fee for every day the legislature is in session. Those are spaces that could be metered. I'm not talking about a meter feeding fee, I mean a real fee, paid upfront on the first day of the session. $20/day/space might be reasonable. Anyone know if the state pays to use those spaces?
If it were me, I would've collected the data, held a press conference, and called him out after that New York Times story.
First Baptist across from the state capitol has to spent thousands of dollars every year because the city sewer pipes flood the church basement area. Terrible.
Now, even more is going to be spent by the church to remediate the problem. In other words to protect the church from Jackson S**t.
“If it were me, I would've collected the data, held a press conference, and called him out after that New York Times story.
March 24, 2021 at 12:41 PM”
Getting into a street fight with an incompetent mayor of a failed city doesn’t really gain you many points among people. Nobody takes Jackson leadership seriously
Never argue with a fool. Onlookers might not be able to tell the difference.
Attributed to Mark Twain.
You ever gonna go to a press conference and ask these questions?
As much as I respect Kingfish & Jackson Jambalaya, 1:01 has a point - there's a saying in public relations that goes like this: When you get into a fight with a pig, you'll both get dirty, but the pig will love it.
Nonetheless, Kingfish has forced the mayor to do something Antar didn't want to do, which is admit to a brazen lie. JJ will get more of my money again this year during its fundraising dtive.
2:05 PM I think you meant 1:07 PM.
1:01 PM Was about the church getting S**t on.
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. This causes a problem as the politicians tend to make the whores look bad.
Whores may spread disease and steal from and occasionally injure their johns; all too frequently the politician will smile and stab the public in the back while uttering soothing words.
Lumumba is surely a politician.
There may be some politicians who are honest, trustworthy, and patriotic; their number seems small in compared to those who abuse the public for their own nefarious pleasures.
Again, Lumumba is surely a politician.
@1:01
First Baptist Church doesn't even pay for the s**t that the city provides to them, which makes for a s**t crisis. That is a significant note to make.
You know, if the city just got the money for the s**t it provides all those white people at FBC, maybe Jackson might be in a more sufficient place.
I’m really enjoying reading all the faux outrage on display here over a politician lying. Really funny stuff Kingfish, keep it coming.
Kingfish,
On March 19, 2021 I sent the following email to coleman.lemaster@wlbt.com "It sure would be nice if someone in the Jackson media market would report on this. He flat out lied to the New York Times! Please call him out on it!
“Mr. Lumumba said the city “provides water for the state of Mississippi, but we don’t get paid for the water we provide to them. If we simply charged the state like any other customer, we’d be in a lot better position.” Article."
I have yet to hear back from Mr. LeMaster or see anything in the local media. I guess they too are covering for the so-called mayor and his lies.
"...if we just got the money for what we provide you, maybe we might be in a more sufficient place."
A more sufficient place? I thought he went to college.
And as most all of the black professionals have left the city, along with their families, due to the total incompetency of JPS, and are now attending "white schools" elsewhere, the list of mayoral candidates is a sad sight indeed. Absolutely pathetic, so when lightweight Lumumba wins by a wide margin, the headlines all over the country will reflect a solid victory for this kid, and the truth will never be told. He WILL be the next congressman from 2. Can you believe that?
I'm still waiting for this lil' Mayor to provide an update on the poor zoo animals.
12:11 - that's an interesting statement you make about the state not paying for the parking meters that the city provides them. I hope you were saying it tounge in cheek mocking the Mayor.
Fact is, every year, the State of MS pays to the City of Jackson tens of thousands of dollars for the parking meters that surround the capitol square (those meters on the street that are adjoining the Capitol grounds) where Capitol staff employees park while the legislature is in session.
When the legislature is not in session, those emmployees park on the grounds themselves, and the street parking is released back to the city.
How do I know this - because I think it is a crying shame that the state "rents" these spaces for capitol employees to park, when they should be available to the general public who have an interest in what the legislature is doing. Employees could be given parking spaces on the upper floors of the garage at Sillers, or at PERS. Or they could be treated like federal government employees and told to find their own parking space in some private owned lot. But no - these employees, everything from the top lawyers to the lowest janitorial or whatever employees - are given these parking spaces. (Want to watch a real circus, go to the House Clerk's office at the beginning of every four year cycle and see the cat fighting over the spots; which one has bird's roosting above it, which one is hard to get into, etc. Seniority rules, not job position.)
So for three or four months a year, the city collects almost $50,000 from the State just for those meters - bet that is almost half of what they actually collect from all other meters downtown combined.
@1225 - Dr. Williams might not have been the 'source' of this information, but he should have been the 'corrector' of it. But, he learned his lesson in prior times, having been banished for ever disagreeing with the PW director (when he was head of engineering) or having disagreed with the Mayor.
So, he stood there and didnt say a damn thing - just like a good bureaucrat. He should have at least told Mayor Chowke that he was wrong after the first time he said it, but evidently he didn't. Or else, he has no idea about what goes on in the billing department of the water enterprise operation - which is more likely the real truth here.
But nobody - Williams, the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Administrative Officer, The Public Works Director, the Asst Director in charge of the billing department - NOBODY - bothered to correct the lyning Mayor, or else he choose to ignore them because the narrative was so good and he didn't think anybody would call his hand on his lie.
I'm betting on the last - he was corrected but he continued because he liked the way it sounded. Truth be damned.
He WILL be the next congressman from 2.
He's no shoe-in. There are powerful Democrats in the Delta who have no allegiance nor debt owed to insuring a Lumumba coronation. The seat is George Flagg's to lose if he decides to jump into the fray.
@8:44
The first thing you said. It should be obvious.
George is probably older'n Bennie and Bennie ain't goin' nowhere. When Maxine has a bad hair day and calls in sick, Bennie is the most powerful person of color in D.C.
Flaggs younger than Thompson, weighs less. Thompson not as powerful as Clyburn.
@6:51 - big whoop. that and a quarter will get you a cup of water somewhere. somebody please explain what big ben has ever done for this state or country except somehow make his moon-faced butt into a millionaire.
That was a nice long screed about orange man bad someone wrote but it is not getting approved because it has absolutely nothing to do with this post.
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