Jackson Jambalaya

 Don't you just love national reporters? They parachute into Jackson with narrative in hand, talk to a couple of people, then tell us how things are. Report for America's Michael Goldberg is one such reporter.  He recently whirled into town and set up camp at the AP's Jackson office, anxious to fight for social justice in Mississippi. What could be more noble?

Mr. Goldberg was shocked, shocked mind you, to discover Governor Tate Reeves "blocked" funds to help Jackson fix its water problems over ten years ago.  The Googler reported in the Clarion-Ledger on September 27: 

Reeves, a Republican, blames Jackson's water crisis on mismanagement at the city level. The city's latest water troubles are far from its first, and they have stemmed from decaying infrastructure beyond one water treatment plant....

 As Reeves climbed Mississippi's political ladder, he cited his opposition to financially helping the capital as evidence of his fiscal conservatism. Jackson-area lawmakers say the troubled water system is one example of Jackson's status as a political punching bag for Republican officials, who control the Legislature and the state Bond Commission... Article

Oh, the Bond Commission, is that where the self-annointed expert is going?  This is going to be good.  I haven't had a reporter cooked medium-rare in a while.  Let's get started. 

Water service was also cut off in parts of the city due to a winter storm in 2010. By June 2011, Reeves was locked in a Republican primary campaign for lieutenant governor. As the tea party movement thrust government spending to the center of political debate, his opponent lambasted him for signing off on bond debt increases.

With election day just weeks away, Reeves — who was the state treasurer — appeared on a conservative talk radio show to push his track record as a tightfisted "watchdog" over state legislators eager to borrow. The host, Paul Gallo, wanted to know why Reeves had voted to approve most bond projects as a member of the state Bond Commission. His voting record didn't tell the whole story, Reeves said. For instance, take the millions in bonds the city had requested to repair its crumbling water and sewer infrastructure.

"I've never voted against that because it's never gotten to the Bond Commission. We are talking to the city of Jackson," Reeves said. "If we are not comfortable, we never bring it up for a vote."

The Bond Commission decided not to consider issuing bonds for Jackson water projects that had been authorized by the Legislature, Reeves said.

That is not exactly what happened but then again, Mr. Goldberg is more interested in fitting his narrative then digging up facts.  The so-called rejection of the bonds took place in the summer of 2010, not 2011 and the election had nothing to do with it but checking dates does not fit into modern journalism.  

In response to questions at a September news conference, Reeves said his recollection of what happened in 2010 is that the city never prepared the necessary paperwork to receive water bonds authorized by the Legislature. A document obtained by The Associated Press shows city leaders prepared a proposal in 2010 asking the state for $13.5 million in bonds for water system upgrades downtown. The Legislature later approved a dwarfed bond proposal for $6 million.

But after the Legislature's approval, Reeves and Republican Gov. Haley Barbour initially failed to include the city's water project in the state bonds to be issued in the fall of 2010.

 The Legislature added an application requirement for the bond, which former Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration spokeswoman Kym Wiggins told the Jackson Free Press was "exclusive" to Jackson at the time.* In order to have its application approved, Reeves said the city would need to answer a number of questions about how the money would be spent.

Ah, Mr. Goldberg only read websites that agreed with his politics.  Got it.  Well, Mr. Goldberg should have read this website because JJ owned the story back then as the rest of the media consistently got it wrong.  Earlier post.

Governor Reeves did not vote down the $6 million bond package for Jackson.  If the reporter did his homework, he would have found the legislature included $6 million for Jackson water improvements in the "bond bill" in 2010.  However, Mayor Harvey Johnson just assumed the money would fall into his lap (sound familiar?) and penciled it into his budget.  Let's just say Election Man had an entitled attitude for what he thought was an entitlement. JJ reported on August 10, 2010: 

Mayor Harvey Johnson lashed out at the Bond Commission last week after he learned from the Clarion-Ledger a six-million dollar bond package was not approved by the government body. The newspaper reported on his reaction:

"Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. urged the State Bond Commission today to reconsider its decision not to approve $6 million in state bonds to fund water and sewer improvements.

“We were counting on those dollars,” Johnson said in a hastily called news conference at City Hall. “This is truly a great setback.”

Johnson learned the commission had already made its decisions for a planned fall bond offering by reading about it in The Clarion-Ledger.."

Harvey even made a veiled threat to the state:

"Johnson said another option is to demand state offices in Jackson catch up with unpaid water bills. The mayor said state government owes the city millions in overdue water charges. (KF 2022: Sound familiar?  Mayor Johnson backtracked and apologized just as Mayor Lumumba did last year when he made similar false claims.) ...

There is a reason Harvey was very upset. It seems he counted his chickens before they hatched:

"Johnson said he already had included the money in his proposed budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. He said he was unaware the commission could turn the request down after it had been approved by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

“I didn’t realize that we needed representation at the bond commission,” he said. “Perhaps it was wrong for us to assume.” Article

The Mayor is indeed correct. It is wrong for us to assume. One should always look at the facts and in this case, the first fact to be examined is the law that was passed earlier this year by the Legislature. HB #1701 was passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Barbour....

 How does Jackson get this money? Section (b) states:

"(b) The City of Jackson must submit an application to the MDA. The application must include a description of the purpose for which assistance is requested, the amount of assistance requested and any other information required by the MDA"

Did Jackson submit an application? ....  JJ spent several days investigating this story. This columnist has spoken to numerous individuals in state government, local government, and the business community. To put it bluntly, it appears Jackson dropped the ball.

Everyone at the Bond Commission and at the DFA's Bond Advisory Division is well aware of Jackson's water problems this year. They suffer along with the rest of us when the water system breaks down. They do not have it in for Jackson, contrary to the conspiracy theories residing in the logical labyrinth that is Donna Ladd's mind....

 The saga with Jackson's "water bonds" started several years ago. The state found some money available to improve Jackson's water system. Jackson only had to submit an application. The application had to be filed before a deadline. Frank being Frank, it was not filed before the deadline. More money was found a few years later, an application was required, none was provided on time. As one can imagine, the desire to carry Jackson's water (pun intended) diminished as efforts to help Jackson were literally ignored by the City.

The legislature passed the bond package. The bonds are available to Jackson in the form of non-recourse loans. For those of you over at the Jackson Free Press where taxes are rarely paid, that means the state can not sue the city for repayment if it defaults on said loans (Disclaimer: the terms of the loan will spell out the non-recourse features). However, the Bond Commission is hesitant to issue bonds when there are other options available to the requesting government similar in nature....

A few more facts escaped the eager beaver in his rush to judgment: 

The bonds were not denied, they were not rejected, they are still sitting on the table where they await further review. Jackson has four years to obtain the Commission's approval. One factor that hurt Jackson was Mayor Johnson fired the lobbyists representing the city. Lobbyists. They wine and dine politicians, throw money around, and are the privileged class in Jackson. However, the good lobbyists are experts on how government works and what procedures need to be followed when dealing with government. Jackson did not replace its fired lobbyists. Jackson also hired a new public works director a few months ago as well. Jackson thus was left without any true expertise on how bond packages such as this one were handled at the state government level.

Mayor Johnson chose to attack the Bond Commission instead of finding out what went wrong and how the problem could be solved. DEQ and MSDH both told this correspondent late Friday afternoon no one from the City contacted them last week about the loan programs mentioned above. Neither Mayor Johnson nor any of his representatives contacted the Bond Commission as of the close of business yesterday in regards to the bond package. Instead of granting interviews to every reporter in town and running for every camera he could find, Mayor Johnson should have ran down to the Governor's or Treasurer's office to find out what is required to obtain approval and what he could do to make it happen. That is called leadership, Harvey, not lobbying or groveling. You are the borrower, the state is the lender, and the lender has some questions before it approves the loan. What Harvey pulled last week reeked of Frank Melton. Who can forget Frank? Grandstanding for the cameras, making headlines, yet when one looked behind the scenes, nothing actually got done.

Governor Barbour said Jackson could get more money for the same payments if it utilized two loan funds at the Health Department and MDEQ. Treasurer Reeves echoed his advice.  Indeed, Governor Barbour told WLBT:

"Why should we issue $6 million in bonds...for the same amount it took to pay them off, Jackson can borrow $15 million, and the $15 million is 83% federal money," Governor Barbour said.

DEQ administers the Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund Program. There is no maximum loan amount, the interest rate is 2% of below, and there is a twenty-year repayment schedule, and no interest accrues until the project is completed. Highlights of program, Program documents.  The Health Department offers Safe Drinking Water Revolving Loan Funds to cities such as Jackson.  The interest rate was 1.95% and there was no maximum loan limit. The loan is amortized up to 20 years after project completion. 

The problem was Harvey had already included the bonds in his budget and figured he knew more than the lobbyist he fired.  The real history - not the one manufactured by the Associated Press - is the Mayor dropped the ball and assumed he had money in his pocket.  Asking for money is somewhat beneath Hizzoner, you understand.  When he found out he wasn't getting the $6 million, he threw a tantrum and that, my friends, is the bottom line, AP be damned. 

Mayor Johnson eventually applied for the bonds and the Bond Commission approved the request. 

* That statement is completely false.   While complaining about the Legislature supposedly singling out Jackson by imposing the application requirement on Jackson and painting it as racism on the part of the legislature, perhaps you should actually read HB# 1701. If you did, you might see who actually sponsored the bill: Watson, Peranich, Holland, Scott, Clark, Coleman (29th), Reynolds, and Dedeaux. ALL were Democrats. HALF of them were blacks. Yeah, this was a bill passed by racist Republicans in the legislature that hate Jackson. Perhaps you should go ask the Black Caucus why they put this in the bill. Bill (Section 50).