Social media can be a dangerous thing sometimes to one's self. Exhibit A: A Jackson City Councilman.
A west Jackson woman suffered without water over the Christmas holidays for several days. Once her water was restored, she posted on Facebook:
Thank you to the contractors that found my leak hiding in the woods. Preciate it!
A Councilman just couldn't keep his mouth shut and had to chime in but she was not fooled.
32 comments:
Ms. Shakespear sounds like a sharp lady.
Eight years? Grizzell is carrying Chowke's water.
"It seriously takes eight years to learn the job of mayor."
Which confirms what most of us already knew...that this Mayor has had no clue what he's been doing or supposed to have been doing the pat 5-6 years he's been in office. That you, Mr Grizzell for confirming that.
The functioning of the water system should depend on experienced professionals, not amateurs, like the mayor and city council. If you have competent professionals operating the system, turnover in the city council and office of mayor should have little effect on the water system. Unfortunately, neither the mayor and at least some council members haven’t a clue. The water system shouldn’t be the plaything of the mayor’s buddies.
Eight years on the job training? Maybe if people didn't vote for people that have no experience of any kind that would not be needed. Imagine if doctors were treated in the same way. Politician, the only job that does not require any experience in anything and we are supposed to place our trust in them.
The mayor's slogan for his 3rd term campaign: "Now I know the job, right?"
Give it 20 or 30 more years and it will be water under the bridge. Be patient, grasshopper.
Mayor Toby Barker in Hattiesburg had that ship turned in the right direction in one week.
Damn. Ms. Shakespeare must have been a mid-level manager. You don't dish that level of 'fuck you' without some knowledge.
What a moron...Yet they keep getting elected.
Run for office Shakespeare. I'll send you a check.
The maps for the waterlines are located on the 4th floor of the Hood Building. Neel-Schaffer also did a master study in 1997 and 2013 for the entire water distribution system. The biggest issue is there are no competent people left in Public Works that understand how the distribution system works. Unfortunately, I don't see this getting better for the residents and businesses. The bottom line is the Mayor should have kept the assistance from the Governor until the City could get it affairs in order. The Governor was on point calling the Mayor and his staff incompetent. The residents deserve better government.
I agree with Grizzell. No one who doesn't have eight years of experience as mayor should allowed to be on the ballot. Period.
All this information from the Councilman confirms that our present Mayor is not a quick learner and I strongly believe that when the next election comes up, a quicker learner will be elected. This mayor has failed in the basic things that shouldn't even be an item for concern, mainly water, sewer and garbage pickup. The crime problem is way outside of his hulahoop to deal with.
Chowke is a Nobama clone, i.e. his life's experience is "community organizer." Right?
2:55 - I hope you're not serious in suggesting anybody on the mayoral ballot must have 8 years experience as mayor. On the remote chance that you're serious, we now can add you to the 'water carriers'.
And, no...Planning and Zoning has NOTHING to do with laying out infrastructure systems or maintaining files of those who do have that responsibility.
This clown, Grizzell must think a GPS works like a 'metal detector'...you just walk through the woods with a GPS until it beeps when you pass a water line. Then you grab a shelvel and dig to see if it leaks.
It's tragic enough that he votes, but he actually sits in a seat given to him by others who do.
".... I strongly believe that when the next election comes up, a quicker learner will be elected."
Nah. The voters are getting what they want and what they deserve. They will never get rid of this clown. Anyone who didn't flee Jackson when they had the chance is on their own. Too bad, so sad, etc......
2:54 hit the nail on the head and is on to something which hasn't been argued in this thread, except by 12:45. It seems to me 2:54 has the institutional knowledge of where the maps are physically located, whether by being a former gov't employee or having been employed by a firm that did the mapping. As 12:45 notes: the institutional knowledge should not be lost due to a new mayor taking office. Why would Grizzell be arguing in favor of a micro-managing style of governance? Neither the mayor nor any of the council members are competent enough to run any department of the city. They are all politicians.
Where are the lifelong city employees who possess this institutional knowledge? Are they still employed by the city or were they removed/demoted/forced to retire/etc due to a newly appointed department head giving their buddies high priced city jobs at the expense of the proper administration of city services?
I am reminded of when the spillway only had two lanes and to expand it to four lanes was cost prohibitive. It turned out that one of the engineers on the original project in the 60's had retired here, and pointed out that the spillway had been designed and built with the the foundation for the current four lane configuration already in place. Nobody knew, but him. The cost was reasonable and now we have 4 lanes on the spillway.
A lot of Jackson residents drive to Clinton, Flowood, Brandon, Madison, etc. every day and night to shop and eat in places where mayors didn't need 8 years to learn their jobs.
Grizzell, you shouldn't try to bullshit people smarter than you. Stick with the Lumumba people and no one will know you're dumb.
4:31, you are correct in your assumption about the resident knowledge that should exist - but the last remaining reminents of that knowledge basically left the city's employ during the Yarber term when the Director of Public Works (K Powell) basically ran them off due to her management style. You can still find them nearby, look at local engineering firms and neighboring cities; and they still have that knowledge. Chockwe did good at the beginning by hiring a competent manager of Public Works but the existing staff did not like having a non-engineer - and worse - a white one; at the helm. Didn't take long for this Mayor to decide he didn't need the advice of someone that wanted to solve problems rather than play his Games of Thrones of non-disclosure of EPA problems and he left the radical city. The current PW department is now down to one engineer who has been around for a couple of decades but until this fall had never been involved with water or sewer - mostly a traffic engineer. Its a good thing that since he is now in charge, the city is no longer in charge of water. (Doesn't do us much good about the sewer issues, but one out of two isn't bad???)
When you have a Mayor that is in charge of running the city that doesn't give a damn about running the city - it doesn't lead to maintaining institutional knowledge. It did do a good job of maintaining 'institutional positions' when he took daddy's choice for the top job (until it was shown she didn't have the proper educational requirements to hold it) and put her in charge of running the water treatment plant - and even after that wouldn't give her the support to do the basics (purchasing chemicals, hiring required staff, replacing parts.)
Trying to find someone that knows if the maps are available is hard; having them look for them is impossible.
Who is this lady? Absolutely needs to run for office. She gives a damn!
Policy and procedure is policy and procedure.
New "leaders" want to change everything "dynamically" or "radically" just because they can, when decades old systems and personnel that worked just fine could have carried on doing what they were meant to do...which is serve the public. When idiots who have no understanding or respect of personnel management and adherence to policy and procedures, they inevitably force everyone to quit or retire. While the appointed/elected idiots are having press conferences about what they're accomplishing/achieving - operations are falling apart. But you better keep your mouth shut about it, or you'll lose your job.
That's Mississippi in a nutshell, not just Jackson.
Typically, in municipal governance, the department heads report back and make recommendations to the mayor and board. They then take their reports and make decisions and pass things that need passing to get it done. Never should a mayor or board be directly involved with the utilities and public works of a city.
Pontificating, bloviating, grandstanding, race hustling, naming it and claiming it, camera hounding .... that's all easy as hell and worthless. Governing is hard work. It takes brains, drive, effort, energy, humility, a lack of concern over credit, a willingness to keep going when things work against you, and a concern for the plight of one's fellow man. And the City of Jackson elected an asshole adept at ALL of the first 6 characteristics and actions and literally none of the other characteristics.
City of Jackson Vacancy Announcement
Position: Mayor
Status: Internship
Duration: 8 years
Minimum experience: Community Organizer
MS. Shakepeare is right,course, but she is unaware that there have been administrations that destroyed such records after their party lost.
Not only that, storage after decades can become a problem so files are hard to find or damaged.
Some employees take home a manual or have it in a truck and forget to return it or die and their spouse throws it out.
It's a real world of human error and we are not talking about documents likely transferred to computers but paper. And, paper deteriorates when not climate controlled.
If you go to city offices (license plates is a good start), you will NOT see "state of the art" equipment.That they do as well as they do is miraculous. And,our Capitol has been denied funds many of the other towns get for over a decade now and that includes sufficient qualified employee salaries for the described job.
You might as well expect someone to do fine capentry with a hand saw and saw right out of trade school.
The pipe system was old and outdated in 1979.
Our politics these days are about unrealistic expectations and the silly notion that hostility actually works better than co-operation.No one can give an example of a functional government at any level where those in government where "us" vs "them" worked. Reagan didn't do it. Thatcher didn't do it. Only tyrants run government that way and as Putin demonstrates, it doesn't end well.
"our Capitol has been denied funds many of the other towns get for over a decade now" . . . by failing to bill for water services.
Grizzell is a JOKE!
I could become a surgeon in 8 years.
Chuck cant learn to collect water bills in 6.
@2:07:
Good one! LOL!
The Jackson mayor and city council are full of excuses…among other things. Those that vote for them believe every word.
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