Mayor Wins. City Council must produce minutes by Monday.
The Jackson City Council and Jackson First Consul Chokwe Antar Lumumba will square off yet again in court today. Hinds County Circuit Judge Faye Peterson will hold a hearing in Lumumba v. Jackson City Council at 9:30. The issue is the City Council's alleged failure to present the minutes to the Mayor for approval since September 2021. Earlier post. The hearing will be streamed so this post will be updated. This link should work.
City Council attorney Samuel Begley filed a Rule 12(b)(6) motion yesterday against the Mayor. He argued the law prevents the Mayor from seeking a writ of mandamus against the City Council. His motion to dismiss states:
The requirements for bringing a petition for writ of mandamus in the circuit court are set out Section 11-41, as follows:
On the complaint of the state, by its Attorney General or a district attorney, in any matter affecting the public interest, or on the complaint of any private person who is interested, the judgment shall be issued by the circuit court, commanding any inferior tribunal, corporation, board, officer, or person to do or not to do an act the performance or omission of which the law specially enjoins as a duty resulting from an office, trust, or station, where there is not a plain, adequate, and speedy remedy in the ordinary course of law. All procedural aspects of this action shall be governed by the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure.Section 11-41-1 expressly authorizes the Mississippi Attorney General or a district attorney to bring a mandamus action against a governmental officer or board. The statute does not authorize any other public official acting in his official capacity to obtain a writ of mandamus.
Live-blog
Mr. Begley took pains to point out the Mayor filed the petition in his official capacity as he repeated the claims made in his motion.
The Mayor's counsel Jessica Ayers argued the Supreme Court ruled a private citizen could petition for a writ of mandamus. She said the law requires him to ensure the laws of Mississippi are "executed correctly." Mr. Begley said he was acting in his official capacity in rebuttal.
Judge Peterson cited Dupree v. Carroll. She said the City Council had a statutory duty to ratify the minutes within 30 days after the meeting. The City Council approved the minutes for February and January this week.
Lumumba counsel Felicia Perkins said the minutes from September 27 to November 9 were not presented to the Mayor until recently. She said the minutes from November until now had not been presented to the Mayor.
Mr. Begley said the City legal department held onto the minutes from January. He said the Clerk of Council did not receive the minutes until March. He said there is a process that includes the executive branch. He said the minutes pertaining to the garbage contracts in 2022 were approved and transmitted to the Mayor.
Ms. Perkins said "but for this action, the Council would not have started to prepare these minutes."
Mr. Begley said the minutes could "be wrapped up by Monday."
Judge Peterson ruled the Mayor had standing to file the petition as the City Council failed to perform one of its statutory duty. She said the Court will issue a writ of mandamus against the City Council. The minutes from November 23 and all December 2021 City Council meetings will be produced. The minutes will be produced for approval from January and February 4 meetings. The minutes from the remainder of February and March 2022 were approved and fall outside the scope of the writ.
The City Council will produce the minutes by April 4. A show cause hearing will be held on April 11 if they are not produced.
11 comments:
But baby chowke is not a public official - he is a member of the lumumba royal family, a monarch. Only the unwashed masses need to follow Section 11-41-1.
" ‘What difference, at this point, does it make?'
I know that Lumumba is extremely arrogant and power-crazy. Just how wide and deep is the criminal corruption on the part of Lumumba? Is it true that some of his bodyguards/"goons" are JPD officers? Lumumba does NOT seem to have ANY genuine fear of the Lord (OR of the very real place where the Lord does send some people--namely hell). Lumumba will NOT be able to escape GOD.
"And you may find somebody kind to help and understand you
Someone who is just like you and needs a gentle hand to
Guide them along
So maybe I'll see you there
We can forget all our troubles, forget all our cares
So go Downtown
Things will be great when you're Downtown
Don't wait a minute more Downtown
Everything is waiting for you Downtown"
Petula Clark
So why was Mayor Gumflapper sitting on the Council minutes from the Special of August 19, 2021?
Mayor Lumumba won, as he should have. Now we await ruling from Justice Dickinson.
Pyrrhic victory. Going forward Council no longer running the minutes by the Mayor for his blessing prior to approval.
They are all calling Bentley of Atlanta to get the new cars brought over today.
Ain't Organized Crime wonderful?
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) is an American federal law. ... RICO means that the leaders of any group can be tried for crimes if they forced others do the crimes or help with the crimes. The RICO act covers these crimes: Embezzlement. Bankruptcy fraud or other fraud. Wonder when and if we'll hear about this in our little burb.
Didn't the City Council approve all of those minutes on Tuesday? Does this ruling have any real effect?
Do attorneys have their own version of the English language just to sound important? "I don't think there's anything urgent and NECESSITOUS," the City Council's attorney (Begley) said. Necessitous? Why not just say "necessary"? I noticed in yesterday's hearing conducted by Judge Dickinson, the clearest, most direct responses to the judge's questions were given by Waste Management's attorney. Everybody else talked around the questions, invoking legalese constantly. It is a court of law after all, but WM's lawyer knows his stuff & didn't have to hide behind legal mumbo jumbo. The good lawyers don't act lawyerly & regal just to make themselves sound important.
https://www.wlbt.com/2022/03/31/judge-says-jackson-city-council-must-present-minutes-mayor-by-april-4/
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