Like seemingly every other facet of American society these days, when it comes to both the national media and the state’s press, the assignment of blame for the City of Jackson’s water and sewer system woes falls into two distinct camps.
The first camp blames those woes almost entirely on what they perceive as pervasive, endemic poverty and racism in Mississippi, particularly in Jackson, Mississippi’s capital city. The second camp blames those problems on the supposed ineptitude and fiscal sloth of Jackson’s black majority city government.
Both camps can forcefully argue their contentions and both arguments contain undeniable elements. But taken at face value, both arguments alone are erroneous and simplistic.
Both camps also leave a lot of relevant information unpacked in those simple and often intensely partisan arguments – not the least of which is aging water and wastewater infrastructure in which both the pipes and the treatment plants are seriously past their design limits.
There’s the impact of Yazoo clay on breaks in the pipes that reduce water pressure, release raw sewage, and allow stormwater to infiltrate what are supposed to be closed systems.
There’s the constant threat of Pearl River flooding. In 1979, more than 6,000 people in 1,935 homes and 775 businesses in the metro Jackson area alone learned to fear the “big one” — the 200-year Pearl River “Easter Flood” that devastated the city and inflicted over $400 million in damage.
Multiple flood control projects – upstream dams (wet or “dry”), two lakes, one lake, single or multiple weirs designs, dredging projects and widening projects have come and gone due to political disagreements, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers objections, the influence of developers and environmentalists, and that of other interests.
Upstream and downstream critics of flood-control projects to alleviate Pearl River basin flooding claim the only group that doesn’t remember the ravages of the 1979 flood are commercial and residential real estate developers who continue to build in the Pearl River basin flood plain.
Then there are the political influences. When majority-white governments controlled the City of Jackson, they by and large did a better job of operational functions of the city’s water and sewer systems than have recent majority black city governments – that is to say that billing functions were more consistent.
But those majority-white city government leaders kicked the fee and taxation can down the road on broader system maintenance and the portion of the city's water and sewer system in black neighborhoods was given far less attention than those in more affluent white neighborhoods. By the time the city transitioned through “white flight” from Jackson to new developments in Rankin and Madison counties to a true black majority city government, those new black city leaders were handed the keys to a water and sewer system that needed significant, pervasive and cost-prohibitive repair and replacement.
Of those Jackson city leaders in the black-majority city government era, the most focused and productive was three-term Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. – the city’s first African American chief executive. Johnson, who led Jackson to expend or obligate almost $150 million in water and sewer projects in the period between 1997 and 2013 in efforts to forestall the current Jackson water crisis is chronicled in the Online Journal of Rural & Urban Research at Jackson State University Spring 2022 special issue entitled “Implications of the 2021 Jackson Water Crisis: Past, Present, and Future.”
Johnson has been quoted in the media citing those expenditures at closer to $200 million.
The journal article, written with Johnson’s participation, identified the following challenges that Jackson faced during his tenure: “The historic disparity in the provision of municipal services to local residents; A decreasing population and dwindling tax base; An increasing rate of poverty among the water system user base; and Adverse intergovernmental policies that placed the burden of financing improvements on local government and ratepayers.”
State officials point to lax efforts by the current Jackson city government to collect water bills and point to the fact that other Mississippi cities supported and maintain their water systems through local fee systems and bonds. They say legislative support for a bailout for Jackson remains tepid and that’s clearly accurate even while there are portable toilets on Capitol grounds.
Jackson’s water problems are complex – and the eventual solution will require complexity as well.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist. Contact him at sidsalter@sidsalter.com
35 comments:
Sen. John Horhn And Mayor understand that if you had a home on fire for two years at what point would you believe in creating & implementing a plan to stop the fire. Rebuilding the Curtis Water Plant is not the issue . Adequate staffing, repairing, maintaining all equipment is any everyday process. Much like running to Church in times of trouble but setting Jesus on the shelf the other 360 days of the year. It does not take a rocket scientist to know there are issues. MS State I’d full of Engineering Students who would love a job & normally have one when graduating. Yes they must work 4 years under a Licensed Engineer b4 taking the PE exam. There are retired Engineers who may be willing to work with private companies under contract but will not work for you, Mr. Mayor 70 or 80 hours a week when not being paid & against Federal Labor Laws.Privatize now or let the State take over with a receivership those are the two only options 99% of the people see.
Sid Salter is a syndicated columnist and tightrope walker.
Sid sees racism behind every tree.
Tate was going to be dragged no matter what. If he stepped in sooner, he is an asshole racist for thinking Antar can't handle the job.
Now, of course...he's too late...because, mean white guy.
Any solution that does not involve detailed accounting of funds by 3rd party and removal of all minority requirements should be null/void.
Its criminal that the Donner Kays and Fat Melvins of the world are exploiting impoverished residents for their own gain and the low IQ voters don't realize they deserve better than these thieves. They, along with the Mayor, are the real racists here.
St. John has competition for the Bloviator Society Award.
Somebody, anybody that pretends to be a journalist...PLEASE ask this joke on camera when he plans to use the Siemens money to fix the billing system.
Ask Tard when he plans to send proper bill, collect payments and cut off for non pay.
Until then, tell him to shut up and sit down at the kids table where he belongs.
The boy mayor got what he wanted and that is someone else to deal with the water issue.
However, I don't believe the citizens across Mississippi are planning on rewarding the failure of baby chok by sending Jackson a bunch of water welfare money that will get stolen.
Siemens.
Perfect article Sid! Perfectly full of excuses, excuses, excuses! Can’t get any better than that!
Question though; just like the incredibly brilliant CNN propaganda article re: Jackson, MS dated 12/28/21, you reference “white flight,” but conveniently omit the reason for said “white flight,” and you conveniently omit that there’s “black flight” as well.
Why all of the flight Sid? The flight didn’t just start with the infrastructure problems; did it?
It’s very sad that many of your students and others will read your piece and be gullible enough to believe that blame is really to be shared, and never know the truth.
OBC is not beyond its design limit. Completely false. 100% fabrication on Salter's part.
Only one white leader kicked the fee and taxation can down the road. Kane Ditto.
This
... the portion of the city's water and sewer system in black neighborhoods was given far less attention than those in more affluent white neighborhoods.
Is unsubstantiated revisionist bullshit.
Name two neighborhoods Sid Salter during the Danks and/or Ditto years, one 'white' one 'black', where the existing water or sewerage infrastructure was dug up, removed and replaced in the 'white' neighborhood at the same time the same infrastructure needed replacement in the 'black' neighborhood and was ignored.
Salter needs to stay in his lane of providing cover to his poultry farmers pals and their employ of illegal alien labor.
If Salter would be honest, for once in his life, he'd be fired by MSU for his honesty.
Truth is, regardless of the underlying causes of a problem, if there are no problem solvers in management, the problem will go unsolved. Forever. Period. That applies to a family, a workplace, a municipality or a sailboat adrift.
Sid has never (and won't) spoken honestly about the decay, (supposed as he calls it) sloth, nepotism, graft, corruption and dependency on higher levels of government....by towns, cities and counties that for years are run by black democrat elected officials. This isn't to say that some levels of those issues are never present with white folks at the helm, but, be honest about the inordinate numbers when those demographics are analyzed.
Nor will Sid address the fact that people of all colors, who can afford to, have and will continue to move away from places like Jackson with the problems that exist and go unsolved (due to inattention, immaturity and inability).
The Sids, Jerry Mitchells and Bill Minors love to fall back on their assumption that 'white flight' causes these problems to worsen and the main culprit in not solving problems is racial. When, in fact, it's flight in general...by every family who CAN, eventually doing what's in the best interest of that family...and in this case, that means getting the hell out of Jackson if you can sell a house and afford one somewhere else. Quality of life and childrens' education top that list of reasons, not race.
When a city has mayor after mayor whose primary goals are based on self-interest, problems will never be solved. This one and the five or so who preceded him fit into that category in my opinion.
Community leaders and problem solvers no longer exist. There are no round-tables, no diversity, no inclusion, no hiring of the best people to attack problems. You don't have any of those when you live in a bubble of denial, finger-pointing, race baiting and reliance on some sort of Fairy-Godmother.
Dear Sid: What, pray tell, does a river flood have to do with water and sewer maintenance neglect?
Sidney outdid himself today with his apologist drivel. Lumumba is a charlatan and grifter. So were his predecessors.
That’s all you need to know. Stop making excuses for their shitty leadership. It’s actually more racist to make excuses for the shuck ‘n jive, then just calling a spade a spade. Because like Kenny says, if you don’t hold them to the same high standard as you would hold a white mayor, you are basically saying that blacks just aren’t as capable as whites.
Hey Sid. I am 29 years old. I have been told my entire life to take responsibility for my actions. I was told this all throughout high school, also during my time at university, and now in my career. Jackson’s city leadership has been majority black for as long as I have been alive. How many US presidents have we had since then? How is it that I have been responsible for my decisions for two decades, but Jackson’s problems are still the fault of white people who haven’t been in power since Bill Clinton was the president?
Sid is being intellectually dishonest because he wants to be perceived as a wise moderate commentator. Nope. Stop lying.
Sid Salter and the rest of the (((media))) have become way too comfortable with their revisionist tendencies. I personally just call them the lyingpress.
Did Salter pen his dribble in an outhouse?
Where is mention of lack of competent planning during five years of the current administration, which paucity even Bennie T laments?
Amen and Amen, Mr. Drane!!!!!
Look around the state of Mississippi at all of the poor, small towns that has little tax base. They responsibly collect the fees and repair/replace failing systems without crying things such as racism, white flight, etc. Some or all of these excuses may be true, but at some point the problem has to be addressed by actually doing work to improve it and not just paying yet another consultant $100,000 to STUDY it.
When "leadership" fails and mismanagement abounds, NOTHING will get done.
8:58 AM, can’t believe your comment with Kane Ditto’s name was approved. A comment yesterday pointing out that Jackson’s demise started with a white Democrat, without even mentioning his name, was censored in a way that would make Twitter’s commie staff (Siru Murugesan’s words) proud!
Lot’s of comments blaming the incompetent’s running Jackson, and rightfully so. But Jackson’s demise all started with whitey leftist Democrats, aided and abetted by a leftist propaganda media.
Again I say, it's gotten hard to tell if Sid's columns were written by the Ghost of Bill Minor , Jerry Mitchell, or who, exactly. He's been hanging around the marxists at his university too long.
I'm in the ineptitude and fiscal sloth camp-
and that camp is really crowded.
8.45 is 100% correct. any plan where money is mot managed accounted for by an outside agency is out. Sorry no water bills for 4 years and $4000 water bills for some. Get that fixed and we will talk. But to spend millions fixing something you will not maintain is crazy
If Sid worked for a company that did/tried to do business with the city of Jackson for one month (if he was honest) he would be writing an entirely different article. Myself and the hundreds of others who have seen up close what the real problems are could fill him in but I'm sure that wouldn't fit his and his "media outlet's" political agenda.
White flight out of Jackson started in the early 1970’s as a result of more extensive integration and a growing black population. Middle and upper class black flight started 30 years later as a result of increased crime and poor public education. The results of both are a depleted tax base and inadequate funds to maintain the infrastructure. No mayor, black or white, has come close to solving that dilemma.
Blah blah blabbity blab blab blah. This column of Salter could have been reduced to solely the last sentence and he'd have made his point. How much, Kingfish, do you have to pay for Salter's fatty tripe? The odious Ted Rall was by far more interesting to read than the tub-of-wordage Salter.
Harvey Johnson came close to solving it. He attempted to run off any/all legitimate business that was in or coming to Jackson, eroding the tax base by removing the businesses but also the employees of said businesses.
Unfortunately, those administrations that followed, seemed to think that was a good idea also.
Don't think Dale Danks was a leftist. Either as Mayor or by today's standard.
@ September 7, 2022 at 12:12 PM
Quite an overly simplistic view of things, Mr. Mayor.
Not a resident but have family that do reside in Jackson. Bottom line the past is past and whatever is done cannot be left in the hands of any of the current leadership. If allowed, state takeover of water, police and fire for complete overhaul is the only option. This circus needs to be stopped as this affects the metro area as a whole. It will only get worse if you do not
Just My Thoughts
As someone who has two degrees from Mississippi State University, I am embarrassed that the institution has such biased thinkers as Sid Salter on staff. I give a lot of money to charity, but none to MSU.
Then again, I suppose I make a quarterly gift to MSU on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 with my quarterly tax payment.
Rarely, if ever, discussed is the fact that Industrial Development as a whole, suffers statewide, due to the mayor's incompetence and the media attention his immaturity commands. Compounded by the ignorance of the local media, we have to deal with the race-baiting of the 'national media'. It's damning and has sunk our ship.
Imagine being the COO, CEO, CFO team of any company in this country seeking to locate an appropriate location to drop anchor and build an operation from the ground up. You have a management team of 16 senior folks, all with families who would have to relocate and all who are well advanced in the salary scale for their occupations.
Your team has received promotional materials from multiple states, including the State of Mississippi, perhaps from independent, private and local industrial development folks, the governor's office and various state agencies. Those folks will fly your team in and give you their best sales pitch.
Would you even look up our state capital on Google based on what you know and read about Jackson, our flagship city?
Salter said nothing of any consequence. Everything he said has already been said 1,000 times. Also, where is the evidence that white Mayors did not to fix waterlines in minority areas? Did he go back and review work orders from 40 years ago?
"Also, where is the evidence that white Mayors did not to fix waterlines in minority areas? Did he go back and review work orders from 40 years ago?"
No, just like Mitchell and Minor before him, he LIED, thinking nobody would notice....Well, except the usual race-baiters who take notes and report such lies.
I knew Sid personally when he was at MSU as a student in the late 70s/early 80s. This column is nothing new, this was what he was saying in MSU's student paper back then and when he was running the paper in Forest. This is the standard for Sid Salter...
I asked the columnist about Siemens. He said it was a secondary problem.
Post a Comment