War broke out between Jackson Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes and Chief of Staff DR. Safiyah Omari during a discussion of the garbage contract today. Curse words were used while Ward 7 Councilwoman Virgi Lindsey's voice became even more tortured as she begged them to stop yelling at each other. This exchange is one for the books.
Update (8:25 PM): Ok, that was the fun part, now for the real post.
A Jackson City Council meeting over what else but the garbage contract broke down into a screaming match between Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth R. Stokes and Chief of Staff Dr. Safiya Omari.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and the City Council have been deadlocked for months over a new 6-year garbage contract. Waste Management has provided garbage collection services to Jackson for many years. The City Council rejected his choice of FCC six months ago. The Lumumba Administration issued a second RFP as Waste Management filled in the gap for a six month term that expires April 1.
The Lumumba Administration recommended Richard's Disposal of New Orleans. Richard's will provide garbage collection twice a week and provide a free 96-gallon garbage cart to residents. Waste Management submitted a bid that cost more without a garbage cart.
The City Council twice rejected the Richard's contract. However, the administration claims the City Council rejected two separate contracts because one line was removed from the first contract submitted to the City Council.
Not willing to take no for an answer, Mayor Lumumba declared a state of emergency last week and awarded Richard's Disposal a contract for one year.
The City Council held a special meeting today to ratify the Mayor's declaration. The City Council skirmished with City Attorney Catoria Martin over the state of emergency. Ms. Martin said since the Mayor hired Richard's Disposal for one year, a state of emergency no longer existed and the subject was moot. A majority of the City Council did not take too kindly to what it perceived to be lawyer tomfoolery and proceeded to vote on a state of emergency. It approved the declaration but replaced Richard's Disposal with the "current" vendor, Waste Management.
Ward 6 Councilman Aaron Banks complained he had not seen a contract for Richard's Disposal nor had been told what was the cost of the contract.
Dr. Omari accused Councilmen Aaron Banks, Ashby Foote, Vernon Hartley, and Kenneth Stokes of engaging in "maneuvering" and "disingenuous statements" so Waste Management could get the contract (43:00). She said Richard's was the lowest bidder. She said the four Council members were trying "to subvert" the bidding process. The good "Doctor" moved on to attacking Mr. Banks as Council President Virgi Lindsey tried to cut her off in her oh-so-tortured voice. Dr. Omari told Ms. Lindsey "no, no, no" as she kept on berating the City Council. Mr. Stokes had enough and started to call the question.
The Chief of Staff yelled "Don't interrupt me, Councilman Stokes." A fed-up Mr. Stokes yelled back at her "I'm an elected Councilman, no one elected you to shit!" as Ms. Lindsey screamed "Stop it! Enough!". Things settled down for a micro-moment before Dr. Omari shook her finger at the Ward 3 Councilman as she coutinued her harangue: "You see, that's the kind of disrespect that this Council" before Mr. Stokes yelled "You talking to this Council like we're boys."
Councilmen Foote, Stokes, Banks, and Hartley approved the modified state of emergency order while Lindsey, Lee, and Grizzell vote in the negative.
Although the Mayor was in Illinois, he expressed his outrage in a press release tonight:
"Regretfully, today was another example of continuous attempts of a a slim majority of City Council members to circumvent the procurement process and allow our current garbage collection vendor, Waste Management, to maintain a contract that they lost in a legitimate bid process.
Richard’s Disposal won the garbage collection bid. In 99% of cases, the council abides by this well-established and routine practice, where the top bid is selected. But when it comes to Waste Management, who lost out in two separate bidding processes, a majority of the council seems uninterested in the very real ramifications of their decision.
Today, they attempted to circumvent the emergency procurement process when they realized that Richard's would be the emergency contractor. Then they changed their mind and voted to continue the emergency and to amend the order to replace Richard's Disposal with Waste Management. This almost comical attempt to continue Waste Management's service clearly crossed the line of separation of powers.
It is unclear why these council members are so bound and determined to contract with Waste Management. What is clear is that Richard's Disposal won the bid with a proposal that would save the City millions of dollars over the next 6 years. What also remains clear is that Mayor Lumumba retains the right to procure contracts and he would be violating state statute by allowing council members to make those decide and without any compelling reasons. Mayor Lumumba remains totally committed to acting in the best interest of the City of Jackson.
The council should know better. They do know better and the facts and the law are not on their side."
97 comments:
I've heard attorneys speak like that to the Mississippi Supreme Court and been threatened with contempt. This mayor and his people are completely out of line. And Virgi needs a new job.
Dear Mayor Lumumba and Mr. Richard: we don't want those giant garbage cans. And who will make money from selling those curb ornaments?
Kenneth Stokes for mayor.
vote passes 4-3? I counted 6 Counsel members voting, 3 for 3 against.
Did the Emperor mandate that everyone in the administration memorize that tired Carl Sandburg quote? Good Lord!
What was the motion? Very unclear. More importantly, what is the impact of the vote on the motion, whatever the motion was and whatever the vote was, which was also unclear.
The woman who remained seated while she commanded the microphone, did so entirely too long. She should have been gaveled and thanked for her remarks several minutes before she finally took a breath. She had no respect for order or principles of decorum.
I am a councilman! NO ONE ELECTED YOU TO SHIT!
A supposedly grown man acting like a drama queen. Bless your heart, Kingfish.
At the end of the day, the Mayor is WRONG on this. Catoria is WRONG on this. and it is SAD!
Anybody: Help me understand the effect of the 4-3 vote, what was passed or defeated? Roberts Rules of Order, as practiced here, left me befuddled as to the outcome of the vote, thank you.
Mayor Gumflapper couldn't be there today because he is up in Illinois duping students that he actually possesses a clue.
Chokwe Antar Lumumba, an attorney and the progressive mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, will discuss his plans to revitalize that city based on a concept of “dignity economy” during a lecture next week at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.
Lumumba’s presentation, “From Exploitation to Empowerment: Lessons from Jackson, Mississippi, and the way forward,” is this spring’s Michael and Nancy Glassman Distinguished Lecture presented by the University Honors Program. The talk and reception is from 5-7 p.m. Feb. 24 in Morris Library’s John C. Guyon Auditorium.
The program will also be available for viewing via Zoom.
3:37 PM
>And Virgi needs a new job.
Understatement of the year.
Gumflapping, every time, all of the time.
Lumumba’s initiatives include re-energizing the city’s public school system, bringing 3D manufacturing to the city, collaborating with higher education institutions to develop a plan from prenatal care all the way to graduate school for children born in Jackson, multiyear budgets to meet the crisis created by 30 years of flash floods and COVID-19, and signing on to a carbon tax to address the climate crisis.
3:54 PM and all Lumumba stooges will never amount to shit.
Omari is a liability. Stokes is right.
You go Kennuf - the arrogance, condencension & sense of entitlement shown by the mayor & his administration deserve the level of respect they deserve from City Council members.
Better than comedy night at the Apollo.
If the lowest bid automatically gets the contract, why would the council need to vote on it? Lumumba is a shitty attorney and he hires shitty attorneys. Trying to claim that the council has a thing for WM instead of it being the other way around. Hubris.
It isn't all about price.
Lumumba's absence today speaks far louder than his tired voluminous rhetoric.
4:08 "Dignity economy" references the ability to hold ones head high and even boast as financial disaster, even starvation and death envelopes you and your environs. It is illustrated by a city in death spiral enjoying the ride. Hon.
Chokwe Antar Lumumba will be quite the eloquent expert.
Durn the mayor is up in Illinois talking about how he plans to revitalize the city. If he means by a dignity economy trying to go to work delivering produce to the dollar general and getting killed. Such dignity in the city. Jackson on weekend night sounds like Ukraine.
lowest bid does not always get the bid. There is no law purchsing law or regulation that states that. Price is part of the equation, but not everything. The city attorney should know this she used to work for DFA
How did Richard's score on everything else and how did it come out on the overall scoring?
The entire city government as it is, is disrespectful to the City -- and why I no longer live there.
Chowkey plans to sign Jackson up for a carbon tax? Am I reading that right?
Even if I was in favor of it, I would have a had time voting yea after being talked to like that. But, I suspect she talks down to everyone that way, like a misbehaving 5-year-old.
Had she substituted "Waste Management" for Richard's, and Lumumba for "you all," she would have been telling the truth. She completely projected the mayor's and his administration's sins onto the city counsel members.
Have they just forgotten about the first bid? The one that Waste Management won and the mayor backed out of?
If Virgi voted for this then I promise you she will be out soon
Who in the world would listen to Labumba talk about governing anything? There are student council presidents (lots of them) that would be a more effective leader. Someone please tell me one positive thing he has done for Jackson. Water doesn’t work, crime is out of control, roads are horrible, and he is trying hard to mess up trash collection. smh
Heck bring on those "Big Ass" cans, we can use them for targets!
All in favor of what is before us, that has been amended three times...
VOTE!
FOR WHAT?!
And those poor folks in Illinois were probably lapping that BS up. Somebody should have been able to follow him with another presentation that showed what the real deal is.
CL seems like a 7th grade brat raised on hatred and coddled through school because of his race, and possessing a fairly low intellect.
Nothing was accomplished.
The only thing they voted on was to use Waste Management for one more year under the "emergency declaration" while the contract gets sorted. But of course the council cannot make that decision, only the mayor can enter into contracts... So they accomplished absolutely zero.
But it was entertaining.
And what's the problem with having standard trash cans? Like every other major city? Just because it's Mississippi, y'all have to do things differently?
Omari needs to Google “Toni Johnson” to see what happens to people pleading for an illegal deal. Virgi needs a medal for surviving this meeting and she needs to retire tonight. Stokes is 100% absolutely right and I have a hard time saying that. But a staff member doesn’t need to be taking to elected officials like that.
Said staff member is lying and simply saying what she is told by a bought and paid for Mayor. Richard’s was neither cheapest nor best. Richard’s simply scored highest based on a subjective review of proposals by a group who was told to pick Richard’s. Kudos to standing firm.
Stokes should be mayor. He has more common sense than anybody on City council. And more common sense than 51% of dems and Repubs in the legislature. Yes I said Republicans.
So what did they decide? I’m not clear. And is it reversible or is this finally a done deal?
Lumumba’s secretary who kept interrupting the council should be censored. Meaning she should go back to answering the phone at the water billing department. That was so disrespectful and borderline (at best) dishonest.
Kenneth Stokes for mayor.
Stokes is the de-facto mayor now. Whenever there is a crisis in the City, Mayor Boy Blunder goes into hiding.
It’s as if the mayor hates WM because some white people work there. Does he not realize that every single Jackson employee participates in PERS which assuredly has investments in WM? Meanwhile, only Richard benefits from Richard’s performance. And apparently Lumumba.
Please somebody sue over the “committee’s” scoring of the proposals.
What a joke of a city.
Prediction:
The dignity economy Napoleon comes back from Illinois tomorrow and issues an angry statement. Right?
WLBT has a story about this that also includes a screenshot of a memo by the council's counsel. Some folks on here might be surprised by the conclusions.
It's about time someone called out and cussed out Dr. Omari's old arrogant ass.
I'd say more about her but I know KF won't approve it.
kinda funny that our esteemed liar, errr mayor, is a champion for the climate crisis, and Richards openly states they have to buy new trucks to fulfill the obligation/capacity of the contract (non-sustainable concept at that point), the city would require the mega containers (another non-sustainable concept), but then there is this
"Waste Management has the largest fleet of natural gas vehicles in our industry, with 6,536 natural gas collection trucks operating in North America. We support this fleet with our 107 natural gas fueling facilities. Waste Management is unique in that we are both a source of, and an end user of, renewable fuel."
put that in your climate crisis pipe and smoke that punk!!
As far as the lady speaking down to the council, she is way out of line and should be fired. She needs to be reminded she works for a mayor that was re-elected with 13k votes, and the council represents the constituents of the city, therefor they are our voice, therefor that is how she would speak to a citizen as a public servant
Virgi, you are over your head, not qualified, and I have always voted against you, and you are disgrace to the people you represent. if given the choice of voting for you or moving to Stokes ward, I would be Stokes new neighbor in a heartbeat. Please never run again
this whole garbage contract is a disgrace and embarrassment, and every single one of them should be ashamed of themselves, except for the fact that they blatantly show they have no shame!!
PS....I saw what is happening behind the M-bar today, and that is a disgrace and slap in the face to those property owners that something like that would even be considered.....it should have been laughed out of zoning / plan approval 5 minutes after it landed!
Kenneth !
My man !!!!
I have to admit, I'm with him on this one!!!
@6:27, you don't have to wait until tomorrow. Mayor Gumflapper already sent his condescension in from the road.
Lumumba re-energized JPS? Nope.
Lumumba has brought 3D manufacturing to Jackson? Nope.
Lumumba has collaborated with higher education institutions to develop a plan from prenatal care all the way to graduate school for children born in Jackson? Nope.
Lumumba says that Jackson has had 30 years of flash floods? Nope.
Lumumba wants to sign Jackson on to a carbon tax to address the climate crisis? Hell NO.
Lumumba is a fraud? Yes, Yes, YES.
Working Together Jackson is Astroturf. Working Together Jackson does not represent Jackson voters.
Your registration for the webinar below has been canceled. You will not receive any further emails about this webinar.
Topic: Honors Program Presents - From Exploitation to Empowerment
Time: Feb 24, 2022 07:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
The host has sent you a message:
DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS, MAYOR LUMUMBA'S TALK TODAY, Thursday February 24, IS CANCELED. WE WILL RESCHEDULE AND LET YOU KNOW THE NEW DATE.
If you have any question, please contact the host at cgwalker@siu.edu.
KF, Thank you so much for posting this video !
Lumumba paid
Lee paid
Grizzell paid
Virgi paid
Attorney Martin paid
Omari paid
Toni Johnson want be in jail alone
KF, did Lumumba actually duck the meeting? SIU Carbondale has been closed ALL DAY.
SIU Carbondale classes are canceled and offices are closed today Feb. 24, until 6 am Friday, Feb. 25, due to the conditions caused by the winter storm. The Rec Center will be open from noon-7pm.
This is an administrative closure.
STOKES FOR MAYOR! He would be better than the current one and his staff would at least be made up of actual Jacksonians. The arrogance of Lumumba and his staff is sad. Remember when he showed up at a city park for a “town hall” meeting with a huge police entourage?!?
Doesn't the good doctor live in Ridgeland? How is she going to take advantage of all the good things that Chokeway is bringing to the revitalized City of Soul?
Question - Omari is a doctor of what? If she has a PhD it must be a terminal degree or she hasn't earned the title of "Doctor."
8:39 PM
Toni Johnson “won’t” be in jail alone.
Toni Johnson will not be in jail alone.
If I let you tell it, Johnson “want” or actually looks forward to being in jail alone.
Whenever I land on Jackson Jambalaya’s blog and/or comment section, it feels like I’m in outer space seeking some form of intelligent life that has escaped me, thus far.
@9:07 PM
You sound jealous of Mayor Lumumba. Why? You have the same 24 hours in a day that he does. Think about that for a second.
@6:25 PM
Anon commenters on a garbage blog conversate but Jackson, Mississippi is full of demonstrators. 💯
The mayors chief of staff is out of control. 100% emotion,
No brain. She needs to forgive her father
For the dozen or so folks that has asked what was voted on, what was the decision, I didn't see anything - you need to realize that KF only posted this five minute segment of a 45 minute council meeting. There was an item on the agenda to Adopt the Mayors state of emergency declaration which included his awarding an emergency contract to Richard's. In other words, a back-door way to get his way, since the legislative body of our city government did not accept his recommended vendor.
The Council, not willing to go along (at least, not a majority) with this crap from the Mayor amended his Emergency Order by replacing Richard's Disposal with Waste Management. The city attorney tried to argue that this could not be done, and evidently the council said "thank you for your advice, cram it". Whether the City Attorney was correct this time is an interesting question, although she wasn't on the last couple of 'opinions' she has offered.
If you want to play the horses, you gotta get a program. You can't just watch the fun five minute segment and expect to know what all happened. The entire video is available online; KF didn't spoon feed it to you, but gave you the really fun parts - Omari with her mouthing off to the Council and then being told she hadn't been elected to shit!
Enjoy the fun. If you want the details, its there for you if you dig.
And by the way, for the person who only saw 3-3 votes, you missed the fact that Foote was attending via Zoom on the screen to the right. He voted no, making it 4-3 as was declared. Again, watch the entire meeting and you would recognize these little fun facts to know and tell.
Omari lives in Ridgeland? I thought there is a residential requirement where you have to live in the city to work for the city. Dumbest thing ever.... but I thought that was so.
Y'all just wait. When the mayor gets back into town heads are going to roll, butts are going to be kicked. These uppidity councilmen are going to be dealt with. How do I know that? Because I know that the mayor will have a press conference outside city hall. That's how. Questions?
@10:37 PM
Brilliant reply.
@10:41 PM
If you let anons tell it, they can solve every political issue on the planet. Lol. Yap, yap, yap. Jock, jock, jock. I respect Mayor Lumumba cause he at least tries to walk the walk.
Sure makes someone want to move into Jackson 🤣🤣🤣
11:31: didn't bother to read the updated version of this post, did you? Because you typed all that for nothing.
@2:49
Arguably one of the best comments Ever read on JJ. Who knows why semi-illiterate people choose to offer commentary on people, places and things they cannot comprehend. Do they like to hear themselves talk? Because no one else listens to them? They know all the answers?
@7:25
You still believe people read your posts. PURE comedy.
Mayor doesn’t seem to be in town much to attend to the business he was elected to run. Got no time or money to spare flying around giving lectures when the city is no safer than downtown Kiev and lacks basic water and sewer, much less garbage.
Never thought I'd ever encounter anyone who made Kenny look like an elder statesman.
Today's Clarion Ledger has a story that states, "Bishop Ronnie Crudup of New Horizon Church International said the group (Working Together Jackson) has supported efforts for more Black businesses to get city contracts." Crudup was at the meeting to support the mayor's actions.
His comment shows what many have thought all along - this is all about race. It doesn't matter how qualified or not, or competent or not, Richard's Disposal is, the only thing the mayor cares about is that it is black-owned. The residents of Jackson be damned.
I read the story about Shock-Way's Illinois speech. He listed all his accomplishments as mayor. I didnt see anything about his courage in governing
over the most dangerous geography in America.
Nobody likes grammar nazis.
We aren’t writing English dissertations here.
Just commenting on local jackasses and taking the piss outta the blog owner.
American English is a bastardization of the Queen’s English anyway.
You are all ignorant yanks to the rest of the world.
Someone on the copuncil shoul;d ask the mayor if he has heard of this thing caled ZOOM.
Then again maybe the hardworking mayor enjoys a well deserved get-a-away.
This lady is a true idiot. Lumumba administration thinks they’re entitled and not public servants. Example I was at the Manship eating with a guy that lives in CCJ and owns a company that employs over 100 people in the city and one of the mayors cronies parked in fire lane and then mouthed off to him when he asked him to move it then the mayor came out asking what’s the issue and had the nerve to ask my friend who he was and what he was doing. He said I’m paying your salary and employee people in the city you claim to run
They’re Hoodlums all of them that travel around in his entourage.
Lumumba: "Regretfully, today was another example of continuous attempts of a slim MAJORITY of City Council members . . .".
Why does the mayor HATE democracy?
Well you live long enough the council clown becomes the voice of reason. Heaven help Jackson but I give up.
The mayor is a total embarrassment.
By now all decent people should have taken their losses and gotten out of Jackson. Human life is worth much more than the loss on a house that is going down in value every day. Hell just give it away and run, now.
Lumumba is a joke. This waste contract process has been botched by HIM. His chief of staff deserved what she got in this meeting and more. I never thought I'd say these words, but kudos to Kenneth Stokes for standing up to this BS. At least Stokes lives among and is touch with his constituents. Meanwhile, Lumumba is busy hiding behind his gates in NE Jackson, and galivanting around the country talking about "initiatives" that have absolutely never happened, getting ready to run for Benny Thompson's seat when he retires. The "man of the people" is more isolated from the actual people than even many of the wealthiest Jackson families. SAD!
"A fed-up Mr. Stokes yelled back at her "I'm an elected Councilman, no one elected you to shit!"
I use to deplore him, but now I have suddenly come to admire him.
For the third attempt: What is it that causes Virgi (I don't know her or who she is) to vote to please the mayor in this and other matters? Seriously. Kingfish has shit-canned this question two times already.
Boy Mayor is concocting his next fantasy trip into circular reasoning to escape the humiliation he deserves.
Has an actual detailed proposed contract with Richard's Disposal ever been examined by the Council? It's easy to put cost increase contingencies into a proposal which explosively increase its true cost.
Gumflapper was up in Milwaukee just before Thanksgiving blowing his hot air for over an hour at a Poverty Summit.
Must of have been nice to get a short respite away from that 4000+ sq ft 4 bedroom 5 bath ramshackle house behind that gate in Eastover.
Gumflapper and Rukia know ALL about poverty, right?
Virgi's all about the CID. She's read the JJ coverage when Kingfish highlighted that Lumumba said explicitly that passage of the CID would allow spending from the general budget to be redirected away from Belhaven and spent in other parts of the city. Quid Pro Quo.
She didn't have an opponent in her primary.
On the flip side of the coin, a much larger city is scrambling to bring in WM to solve their problems caused by a smaller provider being unable to deliver on promises.
https://fox17.com/news/local/wm-arrives-in-nashville-to-provide-trash-services-to-49000-homes-amid-trash-crisis
I saw Rev. Crudup is now speaking up for the mayor and Richards. That has to mean Crudup and Socrates will be getting a cut at some point if the city uses Richards, because they are not fans of the mayor.
The comment at 9:09 is an excellent example of what Lumumba II is really about.
Omari, with her arrogance on display, perfectly represents this administration.
To really understand what these people stand for, one need only observe them. Their conduct speaks much more loudly than their words (and that's saying a lot).
Virgi's inability to express a single thought in less than 5 minutes is shocking.
Crudup? Show me a Rev who is NOT on the take.
Kenneth is right.
And Banks for Mayor!
Lumumba and his entourage double park at every place they visit… he’s a true idiot
@8:54 AM
What?
I don’t need your validation.
Crudup the crook is the key to all of this folks. FOLLOW THE MONEY. THE DIRTY MONEY.
Get out of the that Circus City
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