The Mayor claimed the Jackson City Council reappointed him to the 1% Sales Tax Commission yesterday. However, the appointment may not be an appointment after all since a majority of the City Council did not vote for the Mayor.
City Council members Virgi Lindsay, Angelique Lee, and Bryan Grizzell voted to confirm the Mayor's appointment. Ashby Foote and Aaron Banks voted against his appointment. Kenneth Stokes and Vernon Hartley abstained. The Mayor said "Thank you" after the vote. Ms. Lindsay and City Attorney Catoria Martin said he was appointed.
It is a traditional rule in Mississippi government that abstentions are counted with the affirmative votes. The Attorney General ruled such is so in numerous opinions. However, the law changes when such votes involve a Mayor-City Council form of government.
Section 21-8-11(2) of the Mississippi Code states:
At any and all meetings of the council, a majority of the members thereof shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of a majority of the quorum at any meeting shall be necessary to adopt any motion, resolution or ordinance, or to pass any measure whatever unless otherwise provided in this chapter. The quorum required by this section may be established by teleconference or video means as provided in Section 25-41-5(2). Upon every vote taken by the council, the yeas and nays shall be recorded and every motion, resolution or ordinance shall be reduced to writing before the vote is taken thereon. Upon request of one or more council members, any motion, resolution or ordinance shall be read by the clerk before the vote is taken thereon.
The question of how to count abstentions arose before because none other than Jackson Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote, III requested an Attorney General's opinion on this subject way back in 2015. The Attorney General (Opinion No. 2015-00405) ruled a motion must have a majority of the members present to pass. The opinion states:
The general rule is that abstentions are counted with the prevailing side. See MS AG Ops. Montgomery (June 29, 2012) and Kramer (April 11, 2008). However, there are exceptions to the general rule when a statute or a lawfully adopted rule of procedure directs otherwise. The Mississippi Supreme Court in Ezell v. City of Pascagoula.. rejected the argument that an abstention should be counted as an affirmative vote pursuant to a statute that required an affirmative vote of a majority of all the members of the council.
In Ezell, the vote on a particular measure by a six member voting council was three for, one against, one absent, and one abstention. A majority of all the members of that council is obviously, four. The Court said:
At all meetings of the council, a majority of the members thereof shall constitute a quorum, and the affirmative vote of a majority of all of the members of the council shall be necessary to adopt any motion, resolution or ordinance, or to pass any measure whatever, unless a greater number is provided in this act. Upon every vote taken by the council, the yeas and nays shall be called and recorded * * *The Legislature, for reasons which it must have considered sufficient, has provided that the affirmative vote of a majority of all of the members of the council shall be required. There is no ambiguity in this provision and it must be construed as written. In the present case, the affirmative vote of at least four members of the six member council were required to adopt the motion. Other courts, construing similar statutes, have reached the same conclusion.
Section 21-8-11(2) contains language substantially similar to the statute addressed in Ezell:At any and all meetings of the council, a majority of the members thereof shall constitute a quorum and the affirmative vote of a majority of the quorum at any meeting shall be necessary to adopt any motion, resolution or ordinance, or to pass any measure whatever unless otherwise provided in this chapter ..Based on the above cited and quoted authorities, we are of the opinion that an abstention does not count as an affirmative vote when the applicable statute requires “the affirmative vote of a majority of the quorum.”
The Mississippi Legislature, Mississippi Supreme Court, and Mississippi Attorney General all ruled the same way: A measure must obtain a majority of the members present to pass.
The motion to re-appoint Mayor Lumumba to the 1% Sales Tax Commission received 3 affirmative votes, 2 negative votes, and 2 abstentions. Three is not a majority of seven.
Such controversy did not faze Hizzoner. WLBT reported:
The mayor himself, meanwhile, says the measure passed, but even if it hadn’t, he’d still have a seat on the commission.
“The legislation says the mayor has an appointment and serves as chairperson,” he said....
City Attorney Catoria Martin told WLBT the mayor was reappointed.
Lindsay also agreed that the mayor had been reappointed, saying that Lumumba received a majority of votes cast. Article.
Actually, despise June Hardwick's fantasy of making the Mayor a King, it is the City Council who appoints Jackson's representatives to the Commission, not the Mayor. The Mayor nominates the appointments but the City Council is free to approve or reject them. Hizzoner may also be wrong about chairing the Commission. Section 27-65-241(7)(d) of the Mississippi Code states:
(d) The mayor of the municipality shall designate a chairman of the commission from among the membership of the commission. The vice chairman and secretary shall be elected by the commission from among the membership of the commission for a term of two (2) years. The vice chairman and secretary may be reelected, and the chairman may be reappointed.
Thus if the Mayor does not serve on the Commission, the statute says he may not serve as Chairman of the Commission.
Kingfish note: The Mayor can say what he wants but the Commission should not seat him after his current term expires unless he is approved by the City Council, which did not happen yesterday.
22 comments:
The boy king dont need no statutes-
Wow Kingfish. Your hatred of all things Lumumba seems extremely personal and a borderline obsession. Almost like a jilted lover.
1:20 you are obsessed. He is simply reporting the facts, and Lumumba is acting like the dictator of a banana republic.
We should all be obsessed with someone who, apparently, is trying his best to destroy a once great place to live. As much as I post about his incompetencies, he surely cannot be so inept. His actions are intentional and deserve obsession from those who oppose destroying a place where we could all live amongst each other, regardless of our skin color. Friends of mine, black, white, Chinese, and Mexican, who don’t live near Jackson; they have never even heard of Lumumba.
All they talk about is how dreadful it is to have to come here. Some say it’s just depressing to see how terrible things appear. One, said; if not for the hospitals, they just need to burn Jackson and start over.
The sad part is that if the current leader was given a clean slate with nowhere to look, but up, he would squander everything away before it could even get started.
I don’t really know what Lumumba is trying to accomplish, but his ambitions are obviously guided by the dreams of his father. Is it greed? Is it jealousy of someone or some thing? On a much smaller scale, his narcissistic and racist disposition, is comparable to the like of Vladimir Putin. It takes some kind of evil, to intentionally deceive so many people who believe in you.
I’m just embarrassed about the whole situation. How did we allow someone, so flagrantly self-consumed, to become the mayor of the City of Jackson? I’m not qualified to be the mayor, but if I were out in that position, I would surround myself with people who would guide me and make me qualified.
Chockwe, if you or someone you trust, reads this, It is never too late to do the right thing. Put your ego aside and be a leader for everyone. Don’t try to change someone’s mind. Just, be a leader. As a sinner and someone who believes in the Holy Bible, I truly hope God will lay it on your heart to start doing better. Sometimes, it takes removing yourself from those you think you should trust.
That’s it.
When Jackson has friends like the mayor who needs enemies?
You go, 2:10! The Putin comparison is a reach, but the rest is well reasoned and well written. Quite a contrast from the dumbass troll at 1:20.
Oh, Virgi, you have had your chances. Please do what's right for our city and stand up to the Mayor. "I am Virgi, hear me roar!"
2:10.....
You posted: "trying his best to destroy a once great place to live".
Sorry, that has already been accomplished. Done deal!!! He's just trying to insure that no one will ever want to come here and dig up all the bodies that Richards has been helping him with. Sort of like the Clintons.
3:40 could you imagine the damage this guy could do if given the opportunity? Smaller scale of Putin may not be a reach.
If Mayor Flapsalot wins a seat we will have to rename it the 1/2 % commission once his fingers are removed from the pie.
@2:10 PM
I'll never understand how someone can be so emotionally attached to someone who doesn't know nor care if you're dead or alive. How is that even possible? Chokwe Lumumba is the Mayor of Jackson, Mississippi. If you ask me, it's only the beginning of his political career. You, on the other hand, are one of millions of anonymous comments found on every blog on the Internet. You're a nobody.
Putin is a great man.
George Bush invaded and bombed countries into oblivion over a staged terroristic act and, of course, weapons of mass destruction he know didn't exist. Over one million people lost their lives so the United States could continue to purchase oil via American dollar. And you've the audacity to criticize Putin? Please.
11:54. You don’t understand because you don’t want to understand. No one can help you.
The 11:54s of the world cannot be helped.
Just avoid them for your own well being.
@11:54
Don’t forget that Obama expanded the war into Afghanistan and was the only American president to be at war each year of his term
I’m not defending Bush but you can’t talk out of one side of your mouth. Americans often do this and it makes no sense. It’s kind of like when Americans claim people are oppressed and discriminated against in this country. I find it amusing. Yet people of all colors and religions are risking there lives to get into this great nation of ours. I’ve been here since college and that was 20 years ago. Don’t forget that Obama cut HBCU budgets and trump is the only president that fully funded the HBCU nationally. Plus lowest black unemployment rate under trump. But don’t worry black Americans are being limited and replaced in work force by Hispanics. Like I said I came here from Colombia for college and never wanted to leave. Started business and saw American opportunity that others come here for. Don’t be woke be awake not stupid and privileged by talking like you were.
Too bad Chokwe Lumumba and Catoria Martin can't read. That would be a good skill to have.
Catoria said he is on there, so it is all good. The council members should just vote no next time instead of abstaining.
If the mayor would just stop smoking the dope his mind would clear and he would become the leader that he says he is. But there's just too much dope in his brain.
11:54 : Putin IS NOT a great man . He is a dictator. And if he wasn't targeting civilians then I would say he's in the right due to simple history. This crime is only being committed because Joe Biden is leader of the barely free world. It's not hard to connect the dots here. A real shame our population is to dumb to even try.
@10:36
Putin pulled the Russian people out of the depths after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The only Russians who will speak poorly of him are the mentally ill degenerates like Pussy Riot and the globalist child molesters. This is primarily because Putin promoted and funded the expansion of the Russian Orthodox Church to improve the spiritual health of the Russian people. The average Russian who survived the USSR and Perestroika will have nothing but praise for Vlad Putin. Putin unashamedly serves the interests of the Russian people. After Putin is dead and nobody has to fear Putin, you will see that Putin will still be loved by the Russian people. Ask yourself who’s interests do European and American politicians serve?
I am not a Russian bot and I love the USA. But Americans are seriously brainwashed and it’s sad.
Born in Russia and moved to Brooklyn like tens of thousands of Russians have. In the US most Russians are in Miami or Brooklyn with many Ukraine born in Chicago with the polish. However Putin is a mass murderer and your a mentally ill bot. Roman Abromivich is forced to sell Chelsea DC for $3 billion bc of his close ties to Putin and Gazprom!!! Putin is a tyrant that must be stopped.
Lumumba I came to Jackson to establish an independent black country, located in Hinds County, which was named the Republic of New Afrika.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_New_Afrika
That his son attempts to rule Jackson as if it were his own nation by birthright doesn't really stretch the imagination, though it is disappointing.
3:03 you have been misled. I have family that live in Russia, and trust me, they aren’t mentally ill. Most Russians wish they could leave. I’d like to know where you were educated on such foolishness.
As of last Thursday, our family members have not been allowed to use the phones or social media. They have been cut off from any kind of news.
3:03, You are wrong!
@10:36 PM
I said what I said. Putin is on the verge of connecting the dots and returning Russia to Superpower status. Greatness, if you ask me.
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