Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba held his regular briefing this afternoon. The video and highlights are posted below.
* The State of the City Address will be held Thursday at 6 PM at the Rookery at 245 East Capitol Street.
* Christmas Parade is December 9.
* Boo at the Zoo will be held October 30 at the Jackson Zoo from 4 to 8.
* Mayor Lumumba congratulated his barber, Robert Turner for the Ravens beating the Mayor's beloved Detroit Lions.
* JPD Chief Wade warned thieves were targeting Hyundais and Kias. 15 were stolen last month. Chief Wade said "there have been some arrests but we have not made the right arrests."
* WLBT's C.J. LeMasters asked Mayor Lumumba about JPD not releasing information about 24 murders that took place for several months. Mayor Lumumba tried to blame Capitol Police for not reporting the homicides in its area of primary jurisdiction.
Chief Wade said JPD handled 97 homicides this year. He said there were 111 homicides at the same time a year ago.
* WAPT's Ross Adams asked about the 1% Sales Tax Commission paying another $850,000 on the Riverside Drive project since the city did not pay the contractor for five months even though it had the funds to do so.
Mayor Lumumba said "It was an expensive mistake... Someone didn't enter the project into the system. Therefor it didn't alert. We have Munis (software program)." The program monitors projects and provides alerts on when payments are due. Mayor Lumumba called the omission a "very expensive oversight." The Mayor said "checks and balances" have been put in place in Public Works Department to ensure such an error does not happen again. He refused to sway whether the employee in question faced any discipline, saying it was a personnel matter.
43 comments:
The mayor, running the only thing he is capable of, that mouth.
According to state law contractors should be paid in 45 days. If not, they could be entitled to 1.5% interest per month until invoice is paid. That could be a significant amount of money but not $850K. So did Hemphill get extra money for late payments? I haven’t heard that from any media reports.
Sounds like the $850K is for Waggoner only. That’s 6% extra based on $14M construction contract! Sounds awful high to me!
After the comment from 5:55, I request that KF close the comments section for this thread. Because 5:55 has summarized things much better than any of us could. His comment was concise, to the point, and dead accurate.
30 days late is an oversight. Even 60 days. But 250 days is gross incompetence and willful neglect. Does he really think that folks would believe that those contractors and engineers never called City Hall to ask “Where’s my damn check?”
Checks and balances in Public Works?🤣🤣🤣
Anyone complaining on here about this timeline of payment has obviously never done business with the Mississippi Department of Corrections.
Who ever would have thought that The City of Jackson would need checks and balances at the Public Works Department?
What could be the first clue?
Let's give credit to the mayor where credit is due.
No I didn't. Honest! I ran outta gas. I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from outta town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake, a terrible flood, locusts! It wasn't my fault! I swear to God!
A friend of mine was called by the city to do a repair job the other day.
The city employee was nice and really needed his help. My friend's answer was he could not do any more work for Jackson because it took him 5 months to get his last invoice paid. The employee said he understood.
I'd love to hold the boy mayor's paycheck for 5 months and see what happens.
615 - catch up. in the meantime, I could say to be quite, in a not as quite rhyming way, but I won't.
The $850k to Waggoner was the second installment of this fiasco. Hemphill got a bump due to the increased cost of asphalt last month. Its been reported in many different venues - go find it.
And neither Waggoner's nor Hemphill's was for interest. Its for the increased cost due to the shut down of the project.
If you want more detail, read the post below. Its there for the literate.
The 5:55 comment should be in the inaugural JJ comment hall of fame
Just cut the mayor's budget by $850,000. That will solve multiple problems.
A simple phone call should be a reminder that I want my damn money! Stop the bullshit and pay the people you owe! Total incompetence in the budget office that the Mayor oversees.
Stop this nonsense!
It was a “clerical error” says Chowke. That’s worth 10% to the “big guy.”
omg
What in the holy hell is going on? Why will none of the news people actually call this dumbass out? Are they afraid of retaliation? He probably tried to get them to give him his commission by holding out.
I can’t get past Boo at the Zoo. That just cracks me up!
Nice crowd shown in the opening picture at the mayoral event.
The city's mascots ate the invoices?
"Bust a deal, face the wheel."
Mayor - is it Capitol Police's fault that JPD doesn't release COMSTAT reports?
The “expensive mistake” was electing Chockwe
Is there a way to charge a mayor with criminal negligence? It seems like it would take any half azz investigator about an hour to find a few thousand examples here.
Why is everyone making a big deal out of this? It is the way the city of Jackson operates due to it's elected and salaried personnel. Look who is running things. Do you really expect any better?
Well...I think a contractor should jump for joy if his invoice is lost in the mail and calling to remind that you haven't received payment would be stupid.
Just let that interest rate add up! 1.5% every 6 weeks guaranteed return on money is fabulous!
The big guy is smiling because he gets another 10% ($85,000). Right?
He's been one of our most expensive mistakes him self.
Rukia still hasn't paid her property taxes. Her bottled water grift must be having cash flow problems.
"Tell the Mayor I'm bringin a septic tank sewer pump truck and an industrial sprayer to fertilize City Hall if I don't get my fkn money!"
I'm surprised at the number of commenters here critical of the Contractor and Engineers for not bearing the hardship of being unpaid.
The mayor is Exhibit 1 in how to run a city into the ground through brute force.
"615 - catch up. in the meantime, I could say to be quite, in a not as quite rhyming way, but I won't....
October 23, 2023 at 8:37 PM
You write so badly, it's impossible to know whether you actually meant "quite", or if you meant "quiet".
Treating 'Quite' and 'Quiet' as if they were the same word, is a charming old peculiarity of a particular sort of Mississippian. In 'The Ponder Heart', Eudora Welty preserved for posterity, the pronunciation of 'Mrs.', as "Mizriz" (a speech peculiarity of that same sort of Mississippian). I'm wondering, now, if I'll run across one of Welty's characters saying "quite", when the word should be "quiet".
Less than 5 people seated prior to the beginning.
Melissa Payne & the Mayor sounded like they were beginning a church service.
The Mayor slinging backhanded compliments, then not knowing someone's actual name he's known for years but calls him Pimp.
I couldn't listen past 6 minutes.
Great "Weakly" Press Conference
Chuck is like a bad SNL skit character.
Such a joke.
"An expensive mistake". Probably the most bullshit comment/excuse ever attempted by this Mayor.
This was not a mistake. The city knew for months that they were not paying these bills. The city knew when the contractor withdrew the workers and equipment from this site (along with several others) because they had not been paid.
A "MISTAKE"??? No.
Incompetence? Not giving a shit? Total mismanagement? All three and more. OK. But not a 'mistake".
The contractor was sending in monthly bills. The project manager was holding monthly meetings with the city regarding the project. Included in those meetings was discussion about not getting paid. And the city did not a damn thing to resolve it.
Yes, Mayor. There is a "mistake" involved here - and it has been an expensive one. But that is the citizens having elected you to be the Mayor and the folks you have hired to run the city departments -- folks that don't give a damn about getting the job done. Starting with your COS/handler and going down the ladder.
11;32 - congratulations on your excellent deduction skills. Despite 8:37's misspelling, misusing, or autocorrect miscorrection - you were, in your infinite wisdome and using your deductive skills, able to determine what he/she meant with their blog comment. Your equating people's comments on a site like this to novel pieces written by a famed writer sets a wonderful goal for all of us to strive to achieve. Thanks for your attentiveness and concern.
This makes no sense, but honestly, nothing regarding our current mayor is transparent, above-board, honest... I'm sure somewhere someone is making a lot of money out of this "mistake". Meanwhile, the homeless, empty businesses, crime, deteriorating homes, and flight keep piling up.
other peoples money....
The mayor is an expensive mistake. There,I corrected it for you.
Are the citizens planning to picket the office of the Mayor to show their extreme displeasure in his inept leadership and ultimate theft?
Are they actively promoting a sane candidate who can defeat this lunatic next time?
Anyone?
(crickets)
Got it.
Waggoner is the most expensive contractor in the Metro! Why would anyone hire them? Oh, I forgot that MadCo’s own Gerald Steen runs with them!
Waggoner's fees for this work are similar to the other consulting engineering firms that can handle a project of this magnitude: Neel Schaffer, AJA, Michael Baker, Civil Tech, etc.
They are no more than the fees charged by the notorious IMS, which was the firm hired by Yarber to be the "consultant" for all sales tax projects, including of course the notorious Ridgewood Road disaster that they 'designed' and failed. Granted, IMS does little work for the City of Jackson anymore, but they are the Hinds County engineer. Wonder is the name of its founding partner, John Calhoun, had anything to do with that. But guess that's about as relevant to this discussion as 1:47's comment about Madison County and Steen.
The issue here isn't Waggoner or their fees. Granted, all consultants and all contractors typically charge the City of Jackson more because they know how hard it is to work with them, to get the projects moving, and to get paid timely. Result is that the fees are higher than for other areas - whichever contractor or whichever engineer is involved.
>Someone didn't enter the project into the system.
imagine that.
How is this a mistake??????? The FBI need to investigate this radical mayor and anyone involved.
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