Throwing stimulus money around as if it's going out of style seems to be all the rage these days. A shame good ole Frank isn't Mayor today (not). Check out this December 13, 2008 post:
Given the typical nature of politicians, it shouldn't be too surprising
that when Obama announced he was going to create a huge public-works
spending program in an attempt to boost the economy, Frank Melton was
right there with his list of projects to submit to the federal
government, all 170 ($560 million) of them. If you don't have any idea
what these projects are, don't feel too bad, as the Jackson media did a
pitiful job reporting on Melton's outrageous grab for some government
pork (although Gannett's Washington D.C. reporter did write a short list
of highlights for the Clarion-Ledger. No link to a complete list was provided.).
Complete List of Projects
Reading
through the list of projects reveals more than a few items of pork and
questionable value. Here is a partial list of some of them:
$750,000 for Legion Field Softball Complex (4-plex)
$2.5 million for improving Meadowbrook from State St. to I-55
$1 million for renovation of Viola Lake Community Center
$800,000 for design and construction of Historic Garden in the Farish Street
Historical District.
$3.5 million for Splash Parks
$5 million for Buddy Butts Park Improvements
$3.4 million for design and construction of 30 condo units in Farish Street Historical
District (FSHD) (I wonder who thought of THAT one)
$10 million for FOUR OLYMPIC-SIZED NATATORIUMS
$1 million for Josh Halbert Gardens improvements
$1 million for 509 Pearl Street Building Improvements
$1 million for city baseball fields lighting improvements
$115,000 for UMC Medical Mall Signal Synchronization Plan
$2 million for VA Park Lighting Improvements
$5.5 million for Jatran administrative building (to make LEEDS compliant)
$2.7 million for Playground safety enhancements
$4 million for the impound lot facility
$1 million for solar panels for all community centers operated by city
$1.5 million for Mynelle Gardens
$1.5 million for Battlefield Park
$1.875 million to build 15 units of affordable housing in Royal Manor
$2.5 million to build 20 units of affordable housing in Loginlp Subdivision
$4 million to build 40 units of affordable housing units in Bon Air
$12 million to resurface McDowell Road from I-55 to Hwy 18
$6 million for 18 Jatran buses
$2 million for AVL bus tracking system
$1.5 million for signal improvements at Ridgewood and Old Canton (HUH? It was just done
in the last few years and is working fine.)
Then there are the airports:
$30 million to extend runways at JEIA
$6.2 million for pavement rehabilitation at JEIA
$5 million for installation of perimeter road at JEIA
$15 million to expand International Drive to four lanes at JEIA
$15 million to relocate the air traffic control tower at JEIA
$2,672,303 for passenger boarding bridges at JEIA
Why not just tear down the airport and build a new one. Wait, that IS what they are doing. Had enough? Lets go to Hawkins Field:
$3 million for "access control"
$15 million for runway extension
Olympic
Sized pools? Practically building TWO new airports? Gardens? Private
housing? What the hell are we doing asking the government to pay for
these things, as they are a complete waste of money. Developers are
having a tough enough time without competing against the government
building private condos in the soon-to-be-developed Farish Street
District. We've spent millions renovating the airport over the last few
years, yet Jackson wants to tear it all down and start over again?
The Clarion-Ledger reported: "They
are things the city desperately needs, but we don't have the money for
them," said Robert Walker, Jackson's chief administrative officer."
The city DESPERATELY needs FOUR Olympic-sized natatoriums? The city
DESPERATELY needs to pay for 30 condos so rich folks can enjoy living by
some nightlife? Mr. Walker is honest in saying the city doesn't have
the money for these projects and if there is any shred of responsibility
among the citizens of Jackson, it will NEVER have the money for some of
these projects.
The editorial page at the newspaper abdicated
its duty to inform its readers and hold leaders accountable, as it
referred to building private condos for Farish Street as "Farish Street
Entertainment District needs" and said "They could create thousands of
jobs." No wonder they are losing money and laying off employees if this
is their idea of sound fiscal management. But I digress.
Apparently Melton (surprise) learned nothing from Katrina, as Governor Blanco of Louisiana tried to pull the same stunt with her request for recovery funds. The amount she requested was so high, as she tried to include many creative inventions of government pork, even the Democrats in Congress refused to help Louisiana after Katrina. While there are projects definitely needed on this list, there is simply too much garbage in this request for Jackson to escape any scrutiny.
Think the criticism of Jackson is too harsh? Look at what other cities asked for in their requests: Little Rock: less than 80 projects. Baton Rouge: 40 projects. New Orleans: 38 projects. You read right: 38. Not even RAY NAGIN was as bad as Frank Melton and that is WITH Katrina damage. Birmingham: 28 projects. Cincinnati: 30 projects. Mobile: 12 projects. Jackson requested funding for 170 projects, the longest list out of all the requests.
No criticism needs to be made, as these project requests and Mr. Walker's statements speak for themselves. Nice to know that once again, Melton and his knucklehead have made Jackson the laughingstock of the nation.
16 comments:
and so, what became of the requests - did any of it get done?
How did Frank intend to maintain all of that if he got it? They can’t even maintain what they’ve got, it’s all falling apart.
Can someone tell me who they think was the last good mayor of Jackson? Not trying to be snarky. Just curious when things started going downhill.
Buddy Butts park improvements would have been nice. County gave the city money for it last term, not one rock has been turned over yet.
The Obama administration should have known, "Ask a stupid question....
Imagine if CoJ could’ve pulled it off. And imagine if a few Joel Bomgars had stayed in the metro and pulled off a tech renaissance in Jackson during the boom years following Obama’s re-election. Now imagine still that students graduating from JPS could actually dream of working at a local big tech company disrupting numerous boomer zombie companies that shouldn’t have received stimulus in 2008.
Nope. Unfortunately, Obama bailed out the boomer zombies companies because the original “me” generation knows no limits to their selfishness. Had to save the boomer pensions and 401K’s
And Haley B. threw away over $200 milion of State of MS money on his pet energy boondoggles- Kior, Twin Creeks, Stion, etc. And what happened to the $600 million of Katrina money shifted from housing to the Super Port in Gulfport. Melton just asked for this stuff. Follow the real money...
Money is being printed out of thin air anyway, so might as well print $600 million more dollars to send to Jackson along with a note saying keep the change.
@9:42 - you sound like a millenial - if it wasn't for boomers, you wouldn't be here. Go cry in your pillow in your mama's basement.
These requests are more than 12 years old and were made by an administration headed by a guy who is now dead. I fail to how this is news.
We can talk about how Renaissance was funded with federal disaster relief money if we want to talk about “unnecessary projects” being funded with federal funds. And just in case Rankin thinks it’s innocent, I believe trustmark park and the outlet mall received government funds.
9:42, Joel still lives in the metro and his old company is still thriving and still employs several hundred people in the metro. But what has that got to do with anything?
All of MS is federally funded.
This is a silly conversation.
@9:42–hey Bruce.
2:37 gets it right. that's very rare on this site.
JJ did. It busted some of the Kior stories. Bigger Pie hired a reporter who investigated and questioned Kemper as well as Haley's green projects.
I'd take Frank over Lumumba all day, every day.
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