The Lumumbas' attempt to bully Jackson's Water Manager ended in total failure Friday as U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate say no way, Chokwe.
The Lumumbas led the charge against JXN Water Manager Ted Henifin two weeks ago in federal court. City Attorney Tori Martin, Rukia Lumumba, and members of the Order of the Sisters of Rukia accused Mr. Henifin of racism, only hiring white employees while picking white contractors, and having "transparency issues." They asked the Court to allow the Mayor to "advise" Mr. Henifin on picking contractors. They also wanted to see all communications between the Court and Mr. Henifin. The Water Manager is an employee of the Court.
The shenanigans began when Ms. Martin asked for a status conference to be held on July 7 to discuss these matters of great concern. Judge Wingate held the hearing and continued it to July 12-13 so he could hear from the "community groups" and Jackson Fire Department officials.
Ms. Martin acknowledged much progress has been made in repairing Jackson's water system but she said there were issues regarding communication and transparency regarding Ted Henifin, the water manager.
The attorney said several organizations are raising concerns with Jackson's elected officials regarding the stipulated order that placed the water system into receivership, how the order is implemented, and JXN Water provides information to the public.
She said the groups dispute Mr. Henifin's claim the water is safe to drink as they allege they are still experiencing discoloration and an odor in the water.
Judge Wingate heard all and questioned all. He took the matter under advisement for a few days and before spanking all in an opinion issued Friday.
The opinion wastes no time in defending Mr. Henifin: "After I listened to the wiser side of my brain, I appointed Ted Henifin." Judge Wingate almost immediately brought up the Colonial leak. He called it a
a massive pipe rupture which was spurting from a 48-inch culvert approximately five million gallons of water per day, enough to serve the daily needs of 50,000 citizens, into the ground! ....
The cost to Jackson in lost revenue was gigantic, about $6,700 per day. $6,700 per day. The leak, I was told, had persisted over a very long time, about SEVEN YEARS! A handy calculator flashed some disturbing numbers: five million gallons a day at $6,700 per day means a loss of $200,000 a month; $2.4 million a year; and a grand total of $16.8 million over seven years.
The leak created a "waterfall" over seven feet high and a lake that was thirty feet deep.
Ms. Martin tried to downplay the leak in court even though it was first reported to the city in 2016. However, the Court said the city "should have known" there was a massive leak from its instruments. EPA reports said the city was losing over 40% of its water produced yet little action was taken over the years to find and fix leaks unless they were bubbling up in the streets.
Unfortunately, some people can't be pleased due to their own racism and the Sisters of Rukia are no exception. Judge Wingate took pains to point out their shenanigans as he slammed them all:
This accomplishment, ALONE, should elevate Henifin and his dedicated crew to heroic status…but the staunchest of his critics can only see Race and Outsider Prejudice. “Ted is white,” they protested. Jackson, they said, is more than 80% African American. As such, they reasoned, Jackson should have its water savior an African American and, more, someone from Jackson itself. These critics inexplicably did not appreciate the inexcusable impact of these racially-charged words uttered in a deep-South State they have attacked all their lives for racism. Lady Justice must have experienced a stabbing pain from these dagger-like words which are so reminiscent of times when African Americans have been on the receiving end. The speakers of these malignant sentences could not justify their statements. They have no experience in water management, and no logical rationale why an African American would be better suited to fix a lingering problem which has gone unsolved for decades by past African American leadership.What? The same people who ran the water system into the ground have no idea how to fix it? The same people who wouldn't hire water operators, who covered up EPA orders, who lied about ordering parts, are suddenly experts on fixing water systems? Shocker! In other words, the Sisters of Rukia have no clue how to fix Jackson's water system but think they have the right to make lives miserable for those who do. Judge Wingate was having none of it as he pointed out Jackson's problems:
the crime problem which has placed Jackson number one in homicides per capita in 2021 and 2022; the fastest shrinking city in the United States as described in the latest United States Census Bureau data², because of white and black flight premised on fears generated by a perceived lack of police protection; a declining tax base; and a challenging water/sewage system, which for decades, has frustrated Jacksonians and caused too many to go elsewhere. (Note to NAACP & Cliff Johnson: Are you reading this? This might tell you what the judge thinks when you claim Jackson does not have a crime problem.)
After Judge got through spelling out Jackson's problems from 30,000 feet, he moved down into the weeds of Jackson's sewer problems:
Henifin also showed me sewage problems, where big pipes were stopped up with debris. I saw raw sewage seeping out of the ground, next to a retirement facility and near a public school. Disturbed, I inquired how many such raw sewer escapes did Jackson have. Over 257, I learned. “Why hadn’t Jackson drilled out these pipes?”, I asked. Because the three City trucks for such were in the repair shop and the City had not secured their release. Mind you, raw sewage is backing up in the streets, yards and homes, posing a health hazard of a worrisome magnitude.
Ms. Martin said at an earlier hearing the trucks are now out of the shop. The city purchased a newer one. However, the city only has drivers for two of the trucks as such vehicles require special training. The 257 sewage leaks greatly concerned Judge Wingate as he is moving to consolidate the water and sewer cases, placing Mr. Henifin in charge of both systems.
Judge Wingate said quite a bit in those first three pages but he was only getting warmed up as he moved on the issue of Lumumba meddling. Make no mistake, these hearings were the Lumumbas' attempt to stick their noses into the management of Jackson's water system.
City Attorney Tori Martin asked for the July 7 hearing, claiming the city and several "community groups" had concerns about Mr. Henifin's "transparency." She said the Mayor should be able to influence Mr. Henifin's choice of contractors and have access to all communications between the Court and the Water Receiver. Judge Wingate said no to it all.
However, Judge Wingate gave the so-called "community groups" a chance to make their voices heard in court. Several "representatives" complained about water problems (pressure, discoloration, and odor), hiring a call center in Pearl, accused Mr. Henifin of overpaying white employees while of course hiring too many white employees. They said the water was not safe to drink.
It soon became clear that each group was a front for Rukia Lumumba after Judge Wingate questioned their "representatives."
Judge Wingate said he expected them "to come armed with quantifiable facts, fair assessments of progress thus far, and reasonable expectations for the foreseeable future." However, the Court soon found such was not to be the case as one gets the sense the Court was being professionally kind to the local idiots who thought they were experts:
Not so! Overall, the presentations from Henifin’s critics were either uninformed, short-sighted, clearly political, well-intentioned but naïve, or (as earlier discussed) racist.They asked for more transparency but couldn't define what they thought it should be. The Court said Mr. Henifin spoke at 33 public events and granted numerous interviews to the media. Then there was the matter of the Pearl call center. Make no mistake, the call center has been the source of great fury among these activists. Sources said the NAACP and a certain Congressman made their displeasure known to the Water Receiver as they wanted a call center created from scratch in Jackson.
Judge Wingate took care of all that:
A number of speakers also expressed their immense disapproval that the water/sewage Call Center had been set up in Pearl, Rankin County, instead of within the Jackson City limits. Henifin’s response was persuasive. JXN Water, his company, has contracted with Protel, Inc. to handle customer calls starting on June 5, 2023. From that date to July 10, 2023 (5 weeks), the Call Center has had 10,984 incoming calls (an average of 313 per day). The average “wait time” has been 1 minute and 46 seconds, and average “talk time” 3 minutes and 35 seconds. Prior to this contract with Protel, Jackson City employees, aided by temporary staff, had been handling consumer calls. Their statistics were unimpressive: for the period of March 1, 2023, through April 1, 2023, the Call Center received approximately 682 calls per day. The average “wait time” was 4 hours and 9 minutes. Over 30% of the calls were abandoned after the callers were placed on hold longer than 10 minutes. What troubling statistics! Perhaps, Henifin’s opponents did not place calls to the Call Center when it was under the control of the City of Jackson.
Make no mistake, Jackson needs water/sewer revenue and needs it now. However, these are the same people who didn't care about such things before so why should they care about it now? It's all about helping their friends and lining pockets, you see.
Next up at bat was the Jackson Fire Department. JFD officials complained a fire occurred when the fire hydrant was dry and it wasn't "properly marked as dry." JFD claimed the mistake happened during Mr. Henifin's tenure, a claim hotly disputed by the Receiver.
Judge Wingate asked the fire officials basic questions about the fire hydrant problem but they were woefully unprepared:
This court then questioned the two firefighters about Jackson’s many fire hydrants. One of the firefighters was asked how many fire hydrants are located in Jackson; how many are tested each year; how many, on average, are malfunctioning; and whether he had any documentation to corroborate his testimony. He could not provide any satisfactory answers to these questions. He acknowledged that he could not point to the location of the fire department’s past records on inspection and testing.Some information on these matters was provided to the Court but the source was a third-party contractor hired by JXN Water in January, not the Jackson Fire Department as it appeared to be clueless about its own operations. The Court noted:
Tellingly, while the City originally estimated that the City contained some 4500 hydrants in its system, Wachs has identified nearly 8000 hydrants, to date. This mapping effort is ongoing. Henifin currently is endeavoring to collaborate with the JFD on marking and inspecting the City’s many fire hydrants. Henifin’s efforts are making a difference Jacksonians should appreciate.It will not be a surprise to one day learn the Lumumba administration tried to bully Mr. Henifin on the fire hydrant issue because it does not want the public learning how many fire hydrants do not work. Transparency indeed.
Judge Wingate saved the best for last as he dealt with the Lumumbas claims of racism. The "irate orators" accused the Water Receiver of "hiring only white employees." However, Judge Wingate injected a dose of reality into their histrionics:
Here are the actual statistics: eighteen (18) of Henifin’s group of twenty (20) staff employees are African American. His leadership team is comprised of six (6) people, four (4) of whom are African-American. His critics again cited misinformation to the court.Of course, we are talking about Lumumba math so 90% black in reality = 0% in Lumumbaland. Judge Wingate said the Lumumba groups were engaged spreading misinformation about JXN Water:
The misinformation continued. Several stated that Henifin’s second-in-command, Jordan Hillman, a white female, was being paid 300% more than her previous City employee salary. Error. She is being paid 185% above her previous salary with the City, not 300%, a figure which was even repeated in the news. This court had approved the new salary for Hillman, as Chief Operating Officer of JXN Water. For good reasons: Hillman is vital to the intellectual challenges presented by Jackson’s water crisis; she works around the clock, often having to address water emergencies in the middle of the night. Her job with JXN Water is temporary.
The Court reported a rather inconvenient - and make no mistake, it is inconvenient - fact for the Mayor:
After sharp questions by the court, the City finally admitted that once JXN Water leaves the City, the City will not guarantee that Hillman will have a job with the City, no matter the expertise she has and will continue to develop in her challenging position with JXN Water. The same applies to all current employees of JXN Water. One would reason that the City would be delighted to rehire all of these employees, who would have acquired more specialized experience. But, alas, the City marches to a different tune.
You read the correctly. The Lumumba administration, the same administration that wants the water system back sooooo badly - after it is fixed, of course - will not guarantee the jobs of the people who fixed the system. This is the same administration that squawked JXN Water should hire all Jackson water and sewer employees so they didn't lose their jobs. It's not about running the water system, it's about payout, pure and simple.
Despite the attempts of the Sisters to bully the Water Manager, several prominent businessmen defended Mr. Henefin. Jeff Good said in a letter to the Court:
I, for one am incredibly thankful for the creation of JXN Water and the rapid and exceptional turnaround of operations that I have personally experienced. To support this statement, let me specifically share three recent water supply and quality issues my businesses have experienced, what we did, what we were told, and what happened.At 6 a.m. Sunday morning June 4th, I received a phone call from my opening manager at Broad Street reporting that we had little to no water pressure. I waited until 7 a.m. to contac1 the leadership at JXN Water (this was prior to the 24 x 7 call line now in place). By 8:30 a.m. they had the water break located (a major blow out on Old Canton Road½ mile from Broad Street, but big enough to drain our building) and by 10 a.m: we had full water pressure. Three hours from phone call to fixed, all on a Sunday morning! This is completely foreign to me, as I was prepared to close our business as usual when we don't have water. Judge Wingate, we have suffered twenty-nine days of closures and more than twelve total weeks of boil water notices at Broad Street over the last four years due to no water pressure, but this time we didn't have to close; JXN Water kept us going.....
Breck Hines (The District at Eastover) echoed Mr. Good's sentiments:
Prior to Jxn Water taking over, we had little to no luck when we contacted the City of Jackson regarding water or billing issues. However, since the Jxn Water call center has opened, our calls have been answered on the first ring and the call center attendees have been extraordinarily knowledgeable, patient, and helpful, with a 100% response rate to our issues within one day's time. This is quite a welcome change and is the level of service we get in other southeastern cities where we own commercial properties.
State Senator John Horhn defended Mr. Henifin. He said in his letter to the Court that Mr. Henifin was frank, forthcoming, and "extremely competent." The State Senator was "encouraged" by Mr. Henifin's use of minority contractors. He said Mr. Henifin is "the right man for the job."
The letters and opinion are posted below.
Kingfish note: What was once a cold war that went on behind the scenes is now a hot war. What is at stake is the future control of the water system. Jackson has no business running its own water system and should go to a public utility district model as used around the country. However, the Mayor and his peeps see a billion bucks coming Jackson's way and only care about gettin' their grub. That is what this is all about.
Note: Expect Tori Martin to file a response. She can't help it. It's what she is. She HAS to have the last word.
82 comments:
The city attorney of Jackson is literally the worst attorney I have ever seen in a courtroom. Can Jackson only attract low-rate legal counsel?
You’d think that after that ass whippin Ms. Martin would sit down,shut up and learn but it is Jackstanistan.
11:21am
Contorted Catoria,
The Mayor's tart;
Cannot distinguish for ya,
a tort from a wart.
But savor that Wingate is a valiant archangel among weasels and wolves. So be grateful.
So Judge Wingate is a racist.
Nothing new there.
Time to replace him with someone who isn’t a bigot!
We demand a Woman of Color!
No more white males on the federal bench!
Judge Wingate has had enough of the Lumumba's and he is in the unique position of completely controlling them at this point.
Finally the people that just want their water and sewer to work have a voice and a big voice at that in his honor.
Bravo!!
Surprised it took this long for City officials to call Henefin a racist in public!
Lumumba and crew DYING to get their hands on $$$$$
Look for the KUSH to strike back!!!!
I reported a leak in October. It was fixed Wednesday. Sure beats the four years it took the City to fix the massive leak in my neighbor's side yard.
The opinion lacks Judge Wingate’s usual polish, which I take as a reflection of just how pissed he is with this s[p]it show circus of an administration. Have also heard the Princeling has been complaining to the White House about Ted. If so, that’s really embarrassing since as a lawyer Antar should know the WH cannot do anything to a serving for life federal judge who decides to keep a (at least somewhat) competent man in charge of the City Water/Sewer.
Antar might do well to remember that Wingate came from Virden Addition long before Yale law school and service in the Navy. Much like Stokes, Wingate’s from the hood and isn’t afraid of calling out youthful blowhards who would $teal from their own community.
I'll be waiting patiently for the follow up report from all the national media that jumped on the Lumumba bandwagon.
The Governor could have put the idea that the City of Jackson would regain control of the water system after it is fixed to bed once and for all. He instead, he chose to wait. Any idea why he did not address that this past session while the iron was hot?
Don't forget Gunn.
11:40am
Your comment implies you are unaware that U.S. Federal Judge Wingate is not only Black but Socratic and patient in his methods, as he gives all the rope idiots need to hang themselves. What a gift to Jackson Justice!
If you live in Ridgeland tear down all of Rukias ugly signs.
With all the esteemed(sarcasm) lawyers that seem to surround little marxists like Drake Jr. you would think if he was in the right, this would all go away by now. Hell, Sista Rukia and all their .orgs they have a plethora of atty's signed up as counsel to further the cause. If every one of them think Lumumba is in the right, why don't they step up and advance the agenda and challenge instead of letting Martin look like the idiot she is. Hell, Sista Rukia has a white dude that lives in Brandon as legal beagle for the People's Advocacy Institute, but don't let that get in the way of them paroting 100% black people as contractors and employees for the water....
12:07 PM
There you go again talking about hangings.
I wish Judge Wingate would put Mr Henifin in charge of garbage collection.
We finally have a detailed set of facts, as found by a federal court. That's the kind of record that matters.
Going forward, anyone who wants to know what really happened can read the opinion. Any reporter who wants to fact-check Lumumba and his crew can just read the opinion.
Who was the congressman that was pitching in for the Lumumbas?
July 24, 2023 at 11:40 AM
Thanks for you opinion Melvin.
11:21 It's not difficult to guess why this poor-man's Agonquin J. Calhoun was hired in the first place!
Is Jeff Good positioning for a mayoral run?
Reporting and no-nonsense commentary unavailable from any other media outlet in Mississippi. Kingfish speaks truth-to-power through his actions and work product, not via vacuous promises and self-promoted attestations of greatness.
@12:26, all paid astroturfing to falsely dupe the public of a level of support and political enthusiasm that doesn't exist.
Without complete access to JXN Water's successes in advance, the Mayor can't take credit at preemptive pressers. When do we enact the independent entities for JXN Roads, JXN Crime, and JXN Schools? Then, all the Mayor will have to concentrate on are his next trips to Washington, Atlanta, and Miami. Wait...that's all he does now!
Great reporting KF; something that the local networks/media have failed in doing. They obviously subscribe to liberal group think and don't want to hurt Chowke's feelings.
Judge Wingate is a class act.
Great opinion by Judge Wingate and great post by Kingfish.
Segregationist
I say let them have it back and when it goes to hell in a hand basket let them figure it out.
How is the water safe to drink for decades when idiot african americans operate the water system, but suddenly a white guy that knows how to operate water systems is brought in and the water is suddenly unsafe to drink?
@12:35
Bennie Thompson, duh.
I have little legal knowledge outside of watching TV, but isn't there some sort of highly illegal racketeering or conspiracy or something that this Mao-yoral entourage should have been indicted for long ago?
Surely most of their day to day activities are illegal and deserve intense scrutiny. Tell me I'm not just racist.
mike drop….
Huzzah!!!
Thank God for appointed judges who don’t have to pander for votes.
How can Ms Martin have the last word when the good judge just muzzled her? Well done, Wingate.
Martin is a fool and proves so every time she opens her mouth.
It won't be surprising to see her file something in response.
Thank you, Kingfish. This is peak JJ, which is saying something given all your high quality work product from the past. The subject matter is truly historic, given the racial dimension especially. Judge Wingate now belongs in the "profiles in courage" Hall of Fame.
Meanwhile, I am more optimistic that "Payback Time" is coming to an end.
To all Jacksonian’s do you want clean water? Do you want a safe and crime free communities? When your lights are out do you want a black or white lineman fixing the problem? Do you want a particular person of color teaching your child or a great teacher of any color/race in a safe learning environment teaching your child?
Just a few thoughts to ponder!
I want all the services aforementioned provided by the most capable and proven person regardless of color/race!
Mr Mayor, you have an uphill battle. Take a deep breath, do what’s right and tell the people the truth!
Just like The Honorable Judge Wingate.
P.S. you need to get a handle on them dope boys and get them off the streets before a Federal Judge gets a hold on their asses.
And let the Police do their jobs
Just Saying
Now Lumumba administration refusing to repair potholes. Says its Henifin's job. Petulant doesn't go far enough. He's essentially letting Jackson fall to the ground.
By now Mr. Henifin should be able to clearly ascertain that everyone who does not go along with the mayor’s shenanigans is a racist.
@11:40. You've got to be kidding! Unfortunately, you're probably not.
Good for Judge Wingate. I can't to see what he says about HB 1020.
For 2 years we had a 6 Inch leaking/broken water line by Northside Dr. that we had been asking to be fixed by the city at least 8 times. Jackson water came last week with a backhoe and fixed it in 1 day. When our lease is up in 12 months so is water bill to the city.
2:58 if the pothole man that fix the cities potholes is not working fixing potholes then I surmise he got a pay raise for just showing up for work and doing nothing!
Or he may be assigned to Mr Heflin doing a good job fixing the water issues!
"Now Lumumba administration refusing to repair potholes. Says its Henifin's job. Petulant doesn't go far enough. He's essentially letting Jackson fall to the ground."
Please share more information concerning this. Absurd if true!
2:58 Give Mr Heflin an additional $400,000 a year to get a team together to fix the city’s potholes!
Equally as sad as 2:58's statement is that 80% of the voters would side with the Mayah and agree he should not be fixing the potholes and that is is solely the fault of the white man, er Henifin...to fix those and everything else.
Racism and victimhood is taught to COJ residents non-stop from all leaders and media outlets.
Logic and rational thinking? Not so much.
So many of Jackson's residents are cominmg to the realization that they are hostages in a failing social experiment. Clean water and functioning city services are not the priority of this city's administration or the outsiders who influence them. The only hope is that someone who actually values getting the job done will override these buffoons before they completley destroy the city then move to New York or California to become social celebrities.
Amen and thank you Ted and Judge Wingate for being Christian men of integrity, courage and friends of all, no matter of the race or background. Wingate we all know is a truly Southern Gentleman loving all persons. Well Ted welcome to the South where you too are loved by most of us. You are developing Southern charm and talents that you will leave in our hearts when your time with us is gone. Don’t know where you grew up or educational background but would love to hear it. We love you Henry and Ted. Thank you Jesus for your servants!
Kudos to Judge Wingate for delineating facts and truth telling. The truth is nonpartisan; nondiscriminatory and objective. It is not subjective, based on a narrative one wants to promote. The whole country would be better served if ALL politicians had the courage and integrity to tell the truth regardless of who is perpetuating a false narrative that threatens the public interests of us all.
I sent an e-mail to Ted back when he was requesting feedback in the beginning stages. I gave him a warning that he should steer clear of Lumumba. Hope he understands that now.
"Wachs has identified nearly 8000 hydrants, to date." I assume this was supposed to say JXN Water?
Who manages the $600mm that Bennie got for them and has it gotten here yet? Surely they had the good sense to keep it away from his honor, the mayor!
This happens when The Mayor, who is The Lawyer who Knows The Law speaks.
Seven and a half months, minimum, to repair some traffic lights? Seriously, can Lumumba take responsibility for fixing anything?
It has to be new everything in Lumumba's world. They can't even put a new roll of TP in the holder. But Henifin has exposed their lies.
“They told us that swimming pool was going to be open,” Cheatham said.
“It’s just old equipment, old technology that’s hard to fix,” said Ison Harris, the city’s parks and recreation director.
Harris said the swimming pool needs to be replaced, but the city doesn’t have $500,000 it would cost to put in a new one.
Had the opportunity to serve jury duty in judge Wingates court several years ago. Always appreciated how he conducted business in the courtroom. I have even more respect for judge Wingate now.
425 - Bennie had little, if anything in getting those dollars. Should be thanking Wicker. And further thanking him for putting language in the bill that keeps Baby Chock's (and his cronies) hands off it
Yes, it's here and Henifin is spending it.
Is it time for some good old fashioned public shaming yet? Like every time you see one of these clowns in public, point and laugh as one would at a clown. These are not serious people and they should be treated accordingly.
I would also like to thank Judge Wingate and Ted, as well as the Cap Police, the owners of the great restaurants, bars, and brewery in Jackson, and the doctors that continue to work in Jackson. I can’t imagine where Jackson would be without y’all.
JXN Schools sounds like a great idea. JPS plans to spend two million dollars give or take on having teachers go to work for five additional days than normal. Two million that could be spent on desks, HVAC, athletic facilities, etc. JPS also needs to be investigated for students that missed a lot of days of school yet graduated. It’s appalling.
Great post. Good information for someone like me that lives outside of Jackson. I get my info from our local news. Also do not know Wingate. Have heard his name in the past. Surprised Chuck hasn’t rallied the NAACP, Bennie and Al Sharpton to his cause. They will surely attack the judge with his racist brush. I can see protest coming. All this white folks attacking the poor black city of Jackson. MSNBC will send a crew to run a week long special. So sad. I think a thank you is all that is needed.
@8:27pm
You can be assured that Chokwe, desperate to get some of this funding into his cronies’ bank accounts, has some more moves up his proverbial sleeve!
Could it be...that the reason that there is a lawsuit against the COJ for breaking the MetroCenter lease is because Socrates and Walker aren't getting any contracts from the millions going to the city for the water repair? Hmmmm.
9:02 and with a straight face with NO TOUGH QUESTIONS by our local "reporters".
11:08. Correct. None of them is worth a sh*t as far as being reporters. None are. Ross Adams use to be. Can you even imagine Maggie, Howard or Melanie being "tough"? LMAO.
Does the city attorney's office still have 15 so-called lawyers?
10:21 110%. This is a money grab between friends and the COJ is funding the "going to get mine" funds. Lumumba is using the COJ to distribute money to his friends. It's a form of their idea of wealth distribution. You can see it plain as day. They aren't suing because they are mad at one another. Hell, that was most likely the deal all along of they had to break the sweetheart lease deal. This has been set up since they signed the lease. All you have to do is look at the Simens lawyers payout, Richards, other contracts, and all the crying from the Lumumba camp because they won't let him pick his contractors for the water fiasco. This has nothing to do with Lumumba trying to help the City of Jackson, and all to do with him enriching his friends, who in turn are most likely slipping some in his back pocket.
Wow. Judge Wingate just gave a spanking to the Mayor and his sister and their so-called supporters. Most of us have seen the Mayor's blatant racism displayed, but now someone in a position of authority has finally called him out on it. Sadly, the Mayor, who claims to despise racism and to fight against it, has become the same thing he complains of, a blatant racist. Thank you, Judge Wingate, for your courage and doing the right thing. Enough is enough of the Mayor's racist shenanigans.
Mayor, neither you nor your water staff knew what they were doing when it came to fixing the water system. So please step back and get out of the way, and let the experts do their job. This is about fixing the water system so the citizens of Jackson can have safe and reliable drinking water and not about you and your fragile ego. Just thank everyone presently working on the system for their hard work and efforts, and please stop interfering.
Adams is the Lumumbas' lap dog.
LOL, they can't play the race card with a black Judge.
If Lumumba wants to look racism in the face all he needs to do is stand in front of a mirror. The spoiled man child. He’s a embarrassment
I never knew a place as Jackson Ms where leaders of the community influence the people of the community to complain about help from outside sources that are doing a job that the city has not done in years just because of color!
The Honorable Judge Wingate a Navy Veteran was nominated by President Ronald Reagan in 1985. People he can see through all the untruths the city officials are alleging.
The process he put in place to get your services running efficiently is working!
Now we need to bring in Federal Officials to oversee the Police Department to see why Nothing is being done about crime.
People it’s really something is wrong when the dishwasher don’t want help. Somebody is doing some shigity in your face and you can’t see it!
\
Just saying, I really don’t know what I’m talking about I got to get off the ole Smokey Moonshine
@11:31 PM...What's your thoughts on CJ Lemaster's reporting?
All progress will come to a grinding halt if the water system is turned back over to the city under a Lumumba mayorship. No matter how many times Chokwe Antar gets publicly exposed for being no more than a common fraud, he continues to dupe his circle of hardcore malcontents.
Fyi to 1:08PM — I read the Judge’s order online yesterday. It was either WLBT or WAPT.
As for the any perceived lack of “polish” to the order, a couple things should be kept in mind. This was basically a status conference turned quasi-hearing by Judge Wingate, and the order reflected that appropriately. I suspect Judge Wingate chose to use everyday language as opposed to detached legalese in order to remove any ambiguity or room for interpretation. It’s like he was talking directly to Lumumba and his foolish pawns. Judges generally do not write their own orders. Attorneys for the parties submit proposed orders or the Judge’s law clerks prepare them. I have a feeling Judge Wingate wrote this out longhand on an old-fashioned yellow legal pad all by himself.
In the WLBT3 news today, an elderly, well spoken black woman in (West?) Jackson recounts her horrors of having the edge of her 60 year old family home sitting atop a ruptured City sewer main for TWO years. The accompanying visuals are awash with the rotted remains of the home flooded with nasty, stinking gray sewer. She moved into a rented room two years ago.
Reportedly, the situation is in litigation. JXN Water and Judge Wingate must know of this and similar catastrophes the Lumumba Demo-ministration has refused to fix for two years.
Why can't JXN Water find a way to personally sue Lumumba for the consequences of his incompetence and dereliction, including billing, management and basic performance?
If that is the house I'm thinking of, the Court knows about it.
The problem is the house should have never been built in the first place. It was placed on top of a main sewer line. The story says that but the reporter doesn't really get what that means. They can't really repair the line without tearing up the house, so it was said in Court.
Mayor almost 2 terms in office and the people can’t get basic services by your administration. Now we can talk infrastructure all day and mo money all day and minority contractors all day and your choice all day.
We just want a safe city with basic services that we pay for. We don’t care how we get it, through black, white, brown cinnamon people. Just give us basic services.
Now when a Judge orders you to do simple task for your citizens don’t pout and throw a hissy fit.
We need decorum and action to get things fixed that have been broke a long time!
Now Mayor I don’t care how you do it, you need to make it happen.
Now Mayor everyone knows who the players and criminals are in Jackson. Let JPD do their jobs and get these fools off the street before this mess spill over into your gated community surrounded by body guards!
Mr Mayor what exactly are the police in your city doing? It’s way out of control, fools hanging out the window of a moving car shooting at people. Dang I gonna need one of your body guards to go out to eat at the Piccadilly’s!
You know Mr Mayor, I support you, but you go to take action against them criminals. Jackson is going to be like New Orleans 1 month after Katrina. I counted 6 cars on the interstate by the super dome. Deserted!!!
KF Thank you for your updates and no a house should never have been built there! Great job!
@10:20 - KF - Regardless of whether it was supposed to be built there or not, the county issued a parcel number and taxes have been collected on the property. A permit had to have been issued by the city to allow construction of the house in the first place. Shouldn't she enjoy certain protections based upon those circumstances? Am I missing something or am I in the wrong in my understanding here?
Not disagreeing with you at all. The problem is the city should have never issued the permits in the first place. They might get another house when all said and done.
Aye. You could very well be right about that. What a mess.
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