Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Live from Downtown (Updated)

Report on City Council meeting posted below. 

It's time to watch the Jackson jokers in action as the Mayor and City Council square off yet again at a special meeting today.   The agenda and video are posted below.  



Highlights of the meeting today (All time stamps refer to second video)

* The City Council voted in executive session to seek an injunction preventing Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba from awarding an emergency one-year contract to Richard's Disposal. 

* Council President Virgi Lindsay said the City Council never approved a garbage rate hike.  The money to pay for "these emergency contracts" would have to come from "somewhere."  She also said the emergency contracts are "more expensive."  

* Councilman Kenneth Stokes pointed out (8:17) Jackson's population fell from 200,000 to barely above 150,000.  He said the city had "no choice" but to downsize and merge departments.  He said the state is "concerned we are wasting money" as "they are watching us closely."  He said the administration is "top-heavy" and the city should start cutting at the top.  "We have a whole lotta workers but they paying more at McDonald's," added the City Councilman. 

*  Items #9 & #10 on the agenda dealt with the emergency contract awarded to Waste Management last fall.  The City Council rejected the FCC contract as the Waste Management contract expired.  The Mayor and City Council went to court but settled.  A state of emergency was declared at the time and a six-month contract was awarded to Waste Management for garbage collection service.   The Mayor agreed to the six-month extension.  

The City Council finally presented the September 2021 and October 2021 minutes to the Mayor this month.  The minutes were approved.  However, the Mayor vetoed the emergency declaration and the contract provided to Waste Management even though the company completed the six-months of service.  

The vote to override the Mayor's veto of the emergency declaration passed 6-1 as the prom queen voted in sole opposition to the measure.  Ms. Linsday said (13:10) "I was really disappointed to see this veto. ... The truth is, I consider this disingenuous because we reached a settlement agreement in court."  She said the veto was a "breach of the settlement agreement we reached in court and that we all voted unanimously to uphold."  

The City Council voted 6-0 to override the veto but the prom queen abstained.  

* The parking of Richard's Disposal garbage trucks at Hawkins Field generated no small amount of criticism from Councilmen Stokes and Hartley.  Mr. Stokes slammed JMAA for allowing garbage trucks to park near the neighborhoods in his ward. Councilman Banks said 

“We know the disposal yard is closed on Sunday. Sunday morning, on my way to church, the garbage trucks were running in Brookleigh. They were running down Lakeshore. They were running in Swan lake. They were running in Lost Lake Circle. If the disposal yard is closed, where does that garbage sit? It sits at the airport until Monday,”

Mr. Foote asked how much Richard's Disposal was paying JMAA to use the property but no one, including City Attorney Tori Martin had an answer.  

WLBT filed a public records request with JMAA on March 30 for the contract and correspondence pertaining to the use of Hawkins Field property but JMAA has refused to provide any records.  


28 comments:

Anonymous said...

Free the land-

Anonymous said...

Have you ever noticed how many "emergency" purchases are made without bids?

Chowke the cuck said...

More vetoes, right?

Anonymous said...

Yo greasy palms Chowke, piss poor planning on your part does not create an emergency on our part, right?

Anonymous said...

Free the veto.

Anonymous said...

So which side is Lindsay Virgi on? Item 11 passed with 6 Yea 1 Abstention.

Anonymous said...

Chisel hairdo beardo mayor not in attendance. Hmmmm!?! Can't take a lickin'!

Anonymous said...

Stokes turns out to be the strategic thinker on the Council - he questions why the size of City government has increased so much, with more departments than ever, while the Ja kson's population has declined drastically & while the city continues to lose population.

Anonymous said...

Someone please tell what the hell these overrides mean? Even though the vetos don’t even mean anything. But pretend they did. What just happened?

Anonymous said...

@11:55, Virgi is on Virgi's team.

Anonymous said...

@1:12 I'm with you.
I have no idea what happened and what it means anymore. I'm just ready for this to be over.

Anonymous said...

@1:12--Last year, with the Waste Management contract set to expire, the City went through the RFP process for a new garbage contract. That led to the dust-up last summer where the mayor wanted to give the contract to FCC and the council repeatedly voted it down. Lawsuits were filed. In September (the month before the WM contract was set to expire), the mayor declared a local emergency. The council voted to rescind the mayor's declaration, and then a week or so later declared its own local emergency.

On September 30, the council and the mayor signed a settlement agreement resolving the then-pending litigation and agreed that Waste Management would get a 30-day emergency contract extension to buy time to hammer out final details, and the council would rescind its proclamation of local emergency as long as the mayor would issue a new one for the purpose of approving the 30-day emergency contract with WM.

That's what happened. Of course, after that, there was another 6-month extension with WM, which ran out at the end of March, teeing up the current conflict.

The mayor's office vetoed (1) the council's declaration of local emergency on September 27, 2021, and (2) the council's vote in October 2021 to approve the 30-day emergency contract extension with WM. As to the latter, the mayor's office had agreed to that contract extension and the mayor was the one who formally proposed it to the council and put it up for the council's approval. The votes this morning were to override those two vetos. Both overrides passed.

The overrides don't affect the current controversy involving Richard's. I'm not entirely sure why the mayor would veto a vote he asked for on a matter he had already agreed to. I'm not sure what the practical effect would have been if the WM emergency contract veto had stood. I presume WM has already been paid on that 30-day contract. My best guess is that the mayor exercised those vetos solely as a symbolic expression of disapproval of Waste Management. I'm curious whether he also vetoed the 6-month WM extension.

Free the Veto said...

Make it stop, please. Right?

Anonymous said...

The mayor got the Airport Authority to approve a contract allowing Richard's Disposal to operate from public property at Hawkins Field. Yet the Airport Authority won't make the contract public. This stinks, like so many other things in the Radical City.

https://www.wlbt.com/2022/04/13/jackson-city-council-decries-secrecy-surrounding-richards-jmaa-agreement/

Anonymous said...

Someone should request any emails and any other correspondence between the mayor's office and JMAA concerning the garbage truck operation. Also is that a legally permitted use under the existing zoning?

Anonymous said...

The council voted 6-1 to override the mayors 4/5/22 veto.

This was in reaction to the footnote in the judges order.

The judge said the mayor could veto the councils denial of the mayors contract with Richard’s with the 4-3 vote against the mayor…..stick with me….so now the council said “hold my trash” and voted 6-1 to override the mayors veto of the councils over ride vote.

There is no valid contract for trash collection in jackson now period.

Anonymous said...

Wonder how much money Richards is going to be out of. No way this city council is going to pay them

Kingfish said...

Mr. Thompson is not too fond of the Mayor right now.

Anonymous said...

@ 4:21. No. Need to catch up; granted, it would help if the City would provide a program like they do at the race tracks but that would be asking a lot for this bunch to produce.

The vetos that were overridden today were vetos the Mayor made recently to the votes made by the Council last September. The Mayor and the Council reached a settlement in court to provide a six month extension of WM contract.

Yes, you read that correctly - the Mayor AGREED, in a Court settlement, to this action. The Mayor signed a contract with WM for that extension (October thru March). Now, the Mayor out of some kind of stupidity, decided to veto those votes; probably just to try out the process.

Unlike the veto he claims to have made last week of the non-action taken by the Council (a 4-3 vote against an order) it would be possible for the Mayor to veto the September 2021 action. It was an action of the Council; they voted 7-0 in favor of the ordinance. So while it was the definition of stupid for the Mayor to veto it this week, it was an action that could have been vetoed. Unlike the most recent idiocy.

Anonymous said...

I get it, the reference is to Bennie Thompson, duh, I should have known that.

Anonymous said...

Damn weak attempt by Councilman Grizzel to claim that Waste Management's facility is in a residential neighborhood. Google map the site - Country Club Drive - surrounded by trees. Maybe three houses within a mile of the facility. Totally different than the Hawkins Field area.

Being a toady for the Mayor is getting to be tougher and tougher.

Anonymous said...

Mr. Thompson is not too fond of the Mayor right now.

That makes me smile.

Anonymous said...

Ole Chuck picks the strangest things to get passionate about. If he spent this much time and money on crime and water issues Jackson would the a crime free and cleanest water in the country.

Anonymous said...

At least Stokes said again, "It will smell like boo boo".

I think that was during the (garbage trucks at Hawkins Field) discussion.

Anonymous said...

I see your veto and raise you a veto....this shit is as funny as the comments!!!! Now we know how Richards is coming is so cheap, NO OVERHEAD.....No RENT....NO BUILDING.....Im sure they are dumping down on some deadend road someplace.....beep beep beep beep is the sound to listen for.....

Anonymous said...

When Mr. Stokes has become the voice of reason.....you gotta be skert.....

Anonymous said...

You just have to laugh.

How absurd that this is real life for Jackson residents.

I cannot imagine.

Anonymous said...

I'm sick of Jackson. The taxes are higher than any other city around and for what?
I can't move out. Even if I downsize, a house in Brandon, Pearl or Flowood costs a LOT more than I can get for my house.
So many of us are just stuck in this crap hole.


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