Thursday, September 1, 2022

Hiring? What Hiring?

 The Mayor might say he is trying to hire Class A water operators and other staff but the EPA tells a different story, right.  The Mississippi Free Press's Nick Judin reported EPA's frustrations as it tries to help Jackson: 

In spite of critical staffing shortages threatening the basic operation of the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant, EPA leadership warned that the City of Jackson has put no visible effort into hiring new employees.....

Kemker and a team of EPA officials have worked closely with the City of Jackson in recent years to address manifest failures in the city’s water system, from lead and copper rule exceedances to turbidity violations. In the past, Kemker has expressed cautious optimism about the city’s progress in upgrading its water treatment facilities.

But just last Friday, she offered a grim assessment of the City’s attempts to address its single greatest need: qualified water operators. Not only is Jackson nowhere near acquiring the necessary staff to operate O.B. Curtis at full capacity, the EPA says it has yet to see the City even try.... Article.

Read the rest of the article as it's a damn fine piece of journalism.   

60 comments:

Anonymous said...

hey at least they posted on Indeed over 30 days ago. Don't know if they did any thing further. https://www.indeed.com/jobs?q=water&l=jackson%2C%20MS&from=searchOnHP&vjk=eaa1e96e01855bad

Anonymous said...

Heck no; they aint studdin' no recruitin'.... they goin' to Florida to party with Crump himself! (not Trump but Crump!)

Anonymous said...

Why should Jackson hire anyone to run the water plant. The state will hire and pay for them. The Drake has out smarted the governor at the cost of the citizens of Jackson. Now he knows how easy it is the state will have to fix the water lines. Next the state can start making the garbage runs for the city and they can forget the fight over who gets the contract.

Anonymous said...

EPA article in MS Free Press goes completely against the "It's everyone else's fault" narrative we have been getting from Hizzonor.

Kingfish said...

Read the ad. For a Class D operator. Only need a high school diploma

Anonymous said...

You can’t just hire someone. You have to look into their background and then you have to interview them. That’s hard because of the corona 19. It aint that easy so stop lyin

Anonymous said...

The bullcrap written on the whiteboard in the background says it all.

"EPA officials told the Mississippi Free Press in a statement that Jackson had failed to implement a two-year term bid agreement in the intervening years in spite of the fact that the EPA requested the plan in March 2020, and Jackson submitted the plan in April 2020."

In other words, if the Lumumbas can't somehow get a piece of the emergency water contract, it ain't happening.

Anonymous said...

Mr Kingfish it is really hard to hire anyone through their process (jumping thru hoops) for these low paying jobs!

It’s just wise to hire high paid contractors on loan from other cities and or states! Put them up in nice hotels, per diem and really good pay until they can get this under control. Just like utility lineman during a hurricane or tornado!

Same for Police Officers. However the Mayor must get his ass in Crime Fighting posture! The Citizens of Jackson can’t take much more of the, turn your back on crime that Jackson Mississippi has adopted.

This shit is going to get someones big mama killed by these lawless fools running around Jackson and Hinds County!

Anonymous said...

@Kingfish @ 1:40

Can they have a police record ? Asking for a friend.

Anonymous said...

Like you're the f*&king expert Melvin. You're a joke.

Anonymous said...

Da Mayor's closing quote in what appears to be a well researched and written article says a lot"

"We didn’t have a contract in place, but were receiving the donations to meet the need. And so we were getting it by donations and not by expense,” he concluded. “That’s where we get into technical violations, which is to say that we didn’t have a contract, but the reality is that we were providing that water.”

The city has not had a contract in place (despite the fact that the plan submitted and approved by the EPA in response to their requirements) - they are depending on donations. He calls it a technical violation.

Fact is, the city has received 'some' donations and provided a few distribution points in limited areas of the city. And those distribution points have run out of water within an hour - with people waiting in line for two or three hours only to be turned away.

The distribution points have also all been located either in south / southwest Jackson or north Jackson. South of McDowell Road or nort of Watkins Drive. Try to find a Fire Station anywhere near downtown on their distribution points and you could win a prize, cause they aren't there.

Putting 40 pallets of water out a day for a city of 150,000 is not a plan, its not an implementation, and its more than a 'technical violation'.

Went by one of the seven sites that the state - Governor's Incident Command team - set up, this one at Smith Wills. Well run, traffic moving through quickly, guardsment there to direct traffic and put a couple of cases of water in the car. There were multiple trailer loads of water at this one site, with additional trailers sitting off to the side. That's the way that one would implement a distribution system for a city of 150,000 --- not with forty pallets of donated water.

Does it cost money? Hell yeah. Does it take organization? Of course. Is the entire process expensive and labor intensive? Absolutely. But - its what is done in an emergency, not depending on 'donations' and volunteers.

But that's the difference in being a Governor that acts and a Mayor that talks.

Anonymous said...

Kudos to Nick for a great piece of journalism.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or does it look as if Mayor has deliberately run the water treatment plants into the ground to get Federal and State $$$$$$$$$$? Now, that's a long con.

Anonymous said...

He says he has people getting certified. That does you no good now. Was he just going to wait while the plant implodes.

Anonymous said...

I just don't understand. Why is the mayor deliberately doing that? Is he pocketing the salaries that aren't being used? There has to be a reason behind this.

Anonymous said...

But to watch MSNBC, you would think it is all the state’s fault. National media won’t hold Antar’s feet to the fire and Bennie backs him up. Damn shame.

Anonymous said...

Stop saying 'right' at the end of a sentence. Teenagers do that shit!

Anonymous said...

Damn, they're not even trying.----Funny thing is if he ran for re election tomorrow he'd win in a landslide. I guess if you never fear for your job, you don't have to try. Just wait for things to get so bad someone else will come along and do what you don't want to do.

Anonymous said...

15 years of ignoring the work that needs to be done have caused this. Why you can look at Greenville, Yazoo City, Morton, Carthage, Rolling Fork and see the same damn thing. Don't do it, people are on a fixed income etc. You have to increase it slowly and do the work needed not just worry about it later. Why do you think the Jackson roads are so bad?

Anonymous said...

Jackson has been losing between 5 and 6 people a day for the last 10 years. This includes people moving in, people. Moving out, babies being born, people dying (not only by murder, but also by natural causes.). These numbers are from Wikipedia.

Anonymous said...

He says he has people getting certified.

He said 10 people. Where are they getting the certifications? When will the training be complete? How and what are they being paid while working through the process?

Do you believe it? I don't believe it for one second. The claim smells of Lumumba falsehood, fabrication and outright lie.

Anonymous said...

...if he ran for re election tomorrow he'd win in a landslide.

NOPE.

Anonymous said...

@3:23 and the population being lost has taxpaying ability.

AAAannnnnndddddddd, 100% white! Right?????????

Anonymous said...

He just ain’t interested in a situation where the white man at the state or the white woman at the feds will dictate who he has to hire. Kim Wade was right.

Anonymous said...


Front page of USA today about black city being screwed over by whites. The city has not been given a chance to be a success. All about poor blacks in Jackson not given a chance and white mans fault.

Anonymous said...

It takes money for the mair to go all over the country, and some other countries, telling people how great he is. Where do people think that money is coming from? With the mair and all of the other people running around there just isn't money left for such things as water plants, streets, or garbage collecting. You people should get your priorities in line and leave the mair alone.

Anonymous said...

2:45 - That's exactly what he has done. He considers it reparations.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

He says he has people getting certified. That does you no good now. Was he just going to wait while the plant implodes.

September 1, 2022 at 2:51 PM

Looking at all that was happening both on his watch and prior. My opinion and my opinion alone, Yes he was. It was going to cost the city of jackson a pile of cash that they didn't have, or wanted to come up with, after the debacle with the Siemens deal. They were bleeding cash, didn't want to be on the hook for any repairs and just decided to ride that puppy into the ground and to heck with the collateral damage. He and his entourage thought they could spin sell it to make it look like it was those evil republicans in the state government that wouldn't help the poor poor pitiful Jackson residents out cause the city was 80 plus percent black. If you look at the national coverage, he may be right. Doesn't matter that the destruction of a perfectly serviceable asset took place on his watch due to mismanagement, perception is reality. even supertalk is saying that it is mismanagement and not fraud cause a CPA firm auditied the city's financials. Have anybody ever read the Management Engagement Letter that the CPAs and the client signs? It DISCLAIMS and and ALL ability to find Fraud and pretty much says if we somehow, someway stumble accross it, we'll let management to know about it, but if we DO NOT Find it, don't blame us because an audit is NOT Designed to discover malfeasance. Not sure if it was mismanagement or fraud, but it sure as heck looks like on purpose.

Anonymous said...

Lumumba's lapdog Grizzell now parroting the narrative that the 30 year old OB Curtis plant needs to be replaced. They.Just.Make.Shit.Up.

Anonymous said...

All you need is 1 person that knows the system, one that kinda knows the system, and then get a bunch of 18 years to operate it. That’s how we did on board the ship to make salt water into fresh water. 12 years ago I became a boiler tech in 24 hours, I had never seen a boiler before and told them that and they handed me a manual and said better start reading.

Kingfish said...

Where did BG do that?

Anonymous said...

Antar is so out of his depth that it’s frightening. If the Governor hadn’t acted when he did, there’s no telling what kind of chaos would have erupted in the city. Even with EPA and State Health breathing down his neck, he dodged and deflected. Remember what he touted week after week after week through 3 boil water notices? The weatherization project at Curtis scheduled for “October completion.” As if that has anything to do with the price of tea in China.

I caught on to Antar’s dog and pony show awhile back. It’s basically a repetitive, almost trancelike drumbeat of vague and nebulous abstractions peppered with a handful of trendy grouptalk catch phrases. It goes something like this: “Let me reiterate that I am endeavoring to build a coalition of the willing, joined arm in arm, dedicated to the sorts of collaborative efforts that will bring about the restoration of dignity to the citizens of Jackson.” That’s it. That’s what Antar has to offer. And it’s 100% TOTAL HORSESHIT.

He didn’t even have the sense to realize it might be a good idea to keep official records of all those unaccounted for hours when “contract” Class A operators filled in at OBC. Assuming, of course, they ever existed. With Antar’s history of veracity, the EPA is probably not jumping to that conclusion.

Anonymous said...

An untrained high school drop-out can start stocking shelves
at Hobby Lobby for twenty bucks an hour,

( twice as much as most City of Jackson positions ).

Right ?

BTW, I hope Antar has a great time in Miami this weekend.

Right ?



Anonymous said...

I’m glad Chokwe is gone this weekend. Things progress when he’s not here

Anonymous said...

Training requirements for Class A water operator in the State of Mississippi are on page 60 or so of the attached document from the American Water Works Association: https://www.awwa.org/Portals/0/AWWA/ETS/Resources/Final_Report_Compiled_2.19.18.pdf

If Jackson had started training operators in 2016, they could POSSIBLY be certified class A operators now. With HS diploma or GED one would have to pass the exams and have worked in a Class A waterworks for 6 years.

Check it out Kingfish, dont take my word. Then you can double check with Mr. Mayfield at Ms. Rural Water Assn.
Lumumba is lying again.

Anonymous said...


I blame EPA as much as I blame the City. Has EPA fined the City of Jackson for the numerous violations EPA continues to allow?

Anonymous said...

What happened to the 50 million gallon raw sewage dump story that Kingfish reported on? Ordinarily that would be a huge story but it seems to lost in the multiple water fiascos. Is Eastover Lake and Twin Lakes affected? We have people living around these lakes. Any Federal EPA agents taking samples and testing or did we just forgot about this story?

Anonymous said...

grizzell the parrot: https://twitter.com/jallen1985/status/1565405723357503489

Anonymous said...

Again, Clinton/Mayor Of Jackson Democratic Party campaign opportunism and spin:

2016: "Clinton has focused on issues impacting cities, such as aging infrastructure. She visited Flint, Mich., Sunday to highlight a crisis involving a similar problem affecting Jackson -- high lead levels in city water.

Yarber, who won office in a special election in April 2014, noted those efforts in his endorsement."

So when a normal MSDH report on lead, done all the time in normal cities but under scrutiny as Jackson failed and continues to fail to follow simple procedures and documentation, came out, they FREAKED and LIED.

The report said stagnant water in a vacant house "reached screening levels." Not that it was unsafe, but that it barely registered, so they screened again.

Folks, water sitting in pipes for years gets a small amount of lead from solder. That's why sane folks run the water for a bit in an old place.

But the Ambulance Chaser Brigade, local Magnolia Bar and Dem "trial lawyers" are always on the look's out for the Next Big Payoff, just like Flint. They just swap Clinton for Biden and LuMumbler for Yarber. No facts needed.

And 6 years later, they have another false narrative: to tie in 25 years of Black Mayors not maintaining a new plant, and to paint it as Whitey's fault instead of theirs. For personal and political gain.

Read the USA today article. And think about what our Fake News MSM does every campaign.

Anonymous said...

I was in a social setting tonight. I asked two reasonably intelligent black residents of Jackson what they thought of the water situation. They both defended Lumumba and blamed it all on Tate Reeves.

Lumumba would win in a landslide if running again today. You all better hope Benny lives a very long time because Lumumba will follow him in Congress. He will win even though he doesn't live in the district. Than won't stop him.

AOC, Talib, Ilhan, Pressley and Lumumba in Congress. That is a very scary thought.

Anonymous said...

A sample of two? LOL Thank goodness you were able to determine they were "reasonably intelligent". You racists are unbelievable.

Anonymous said...

The mayah is untouchable, and he knows it. He can say anything, true, or not, and no one will challenge him on it. Not only will he not be fact checked, it will be parroted by every legacy media outlet.

If the Rev. Martin Luther King could see what has become of his people. So much for the content of character quote, right.

Anonymous said...

You can all write the long racists screeds, but it don’t matter. The Mayor and the Democratic Party have successfully turned this into an issue of Mississippi racism. Mayor Lumumba has been elevated to a national Civil Rights Icon. He will become more rich and powerful. And you will all still be Niknar trailer trash talking like country fried hayseeds and being a big hilarious joke everywhere you travel. Country come to town! Yeeeeeehaaaw!

Anonymous said...

September 2, 2022 at 7:59 AM, highlight one of those racist screeds for the class. Give us an example of what a weak mind calls racism.

Anonymous said...

@1:18 AM
that is because these individuals only see things through the lense of race. Black mayor White Gov. The mayor could literally do nothing and still win re-election. You have to understand the old Rush Limbaugh quote the goal of socialism and the left is to make everyone equally miserable while the govt lives well. There could be concrete evidence the mayor was complicit in the destruction of the plant and the black citizens wouldn't care.

Anonymous said...

"Can they have a police record ? Asking for a friend." Sure you can, as well as your friend. Believe it is actually a requirement for city employment.

Anonymous said...

Antar strikes me as the kinda guy who’s never had to roll up his sleeves or break a sweat in his life. It almost makes sense that he’s all about reparations and handouts. I expect that he’ll keep his weekend engagement under the guise of “critical outreach” while everyone else does the real work. After all, why stick around when you have a golden opportunity to pander your systemic racism narrative to yet another unsuspecting audience far removed from home, “RIGHT?”

Antar’s in between a rock and a hard place of his own making. He’s going to manipulate the hell out of the optics and try to create his own version of the OJ Simpson jury.

It’s early days yet. I’m gonna have to pace myself.










In a city that works! said...

@ 7:59am

And you will still have piss poor city services, piss poor education system, and piss poor tax base to boot! That's radical and worth watching some hayseeds be a joke huh?

Anonymous said...

Regarding "training requirements" to become a certified operator in Mississippi, there don't appear to be any beyond the basic education/experience for each class, and the requirement to attend the state's "short course" for operators prior to taking the operator exam. Note that the experience requirement is a minimum of one year in a facility of the appropriate class, without exception. The AWWA does not govern this, it is by Mississippi law and regulation.

https://sos.ms.gov/ACProposed/00014601b.pdf

Anonymous said...

I can't believe Donna Ladd even allowed this to be published as it goes against her narrative that all these problems were caused by systemic racism. It's nice to see the media begin to place blame where it goes, on the incompetence and mismanagement of those in power.

Anonymous said...

"The Mayor and the Democratic Party have successfully turned this into an issue of Mississippi racism."

So, there's a sense of pride and accomplishment in that? Deflecting incompetence and graft by claiming racism where none exists? SHAME.

Anonymous said...

Psalm 31:18: Let the lying lips be mute, which speak insolently against the righteous in pride and contempt.

Anonymous said...

Chokwe sees the movie Idiocracy as inspirational

Anonymous said...

Why, Kingfish? Why do you let black racists tar everyone but you rarely let responses to their bullshit?

EverythingIsAConspiracy said...

Just keep focusing on the mayor. Can you feel yourself getting sleepy . . . s l e e p y . . . s l e e p y . . .

Anonymous said...

A couple weeks ago, when Antar used a little white lie about Flint to wave his arms and declare that “when you lose control of your water, you lose control of your city.” One of my biggest concerns is that he’ll launch a legal battle when the state doesn’t return control back to him. He would fuck it up again in record time.

Anonymous said...

@9:46 This is my big fear. What's going to happen when all of this is fixed?

Anonymous said...

7:59 - I believe you've posted here before about the mayor becoming "more rich and powerful." He's a public servant (purportedly) - how exactly is he going to garner this wealth and power? Is he involved in graft and corruption? In cahoots with the "dope boys"? Please enlighten us.

Anonymous said...

I can't believe Donna Ladd even allowed this to be published ...

ONLY because it is, right now, Biden's EPA.

She still has uttered a peep about 52,000,000 gallons of raw untreated sewage being KNOWINGLY discharged into the Pearl River.

Anonymous said...

“We can have no sympathy with those who seek the power of government to advance their own personal interests or ambitions.”
― Woodrow Wilson


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