U.S. District Judge Chokwe Antar Wingate is hauling JXN Water Manager Ted Henifin before him Wednesday after Mr. Henifin said he was going to raise water rates in December. The emergency order states:
Mr. Henifin, the Third-Party Manager under the operative Consent Order, has voiced an intention to increase the water rate for water users of the City of Jackson. The thrust of his announcement is that he intends to submit a formal notice to the citizenry on November 15, 2025, and that the new fee will take effect on December 15, 2025. At present, his intended approach does not have the endorsement of the Mayor, City Council or even this court. Indeed, this court is on record as stating that before any water rate increase should be submitted, JXN Water should endeavor to exhaust all other alternatives. To date, controversy still plagues the Siemen’s settlement money. To date, large apartment complexes still owe huge unpaid sums. To date, many citizenry still have no accounts and cannot even make payments. To date, some of those citizens are reluctant to risk coming forward to open new accounts for fear of facing overwhelming past due sums, or that they might be imprisoned. This court aims to address these matters, as well as JXN Water’s billing and notice procedures. Additionally, this court needs an update on the parties’ recent effort to obtain 54 million dollars from Congress; the status of the sanitation account; and whether moneys from the sales tax can be utilized. This session is hereby scheduled for Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 9:00 o’clock a.m. in Judge Wingate’s courtroom in the Thad Cochran Federal Courthouse. If more than one session is necessary to address thoroughly the matters at hand, this court will schedule a follow-up. Parties unable to appear in person may request a zoom link.
Stay tuned.
Kingfish note: Siemen's settlement? Judge Wingate has been "investigating" since early July. Perhaps Judge Wingate should get off his ass and settle that matter once and for all. Perhaps he is waiting for AI to do it for him.
Judge Wingate has followed Mayor Lumumba's lead as he opposes rates increases and stops JXN Water from cutting off customers who owe hundreds of thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, Mr. Henifin posted a projection of what will take place if the rate increase is not approved. It is not a pretty picture.
34 comments:
Math doesn’t care about feeling or political agendas. Either the city and the residents will pay or there won’t be any water or anyone willing to work to fix it.
Henifin has disclosed up-front what will happen to JXN water without additional money. Personally, I would suggest that he quit pushing a rope and just let it collapse with a nice big "I told you so".
The judge appears to have comprehension issues, and it makes you wonder if he needs to be removed from the bench. This is just sad.
The judge and city need to read the order Jxn Water has to go by. It doesn't
say he has to get court approval. It was
given to him when they all signed the
order.
Where is he getting some of his info
that is in the order. Could be the city
feeding him with it.
The order said the raise doesn't have the endorsement of city or council. It
doesn't have to.
It's my understanding the federal govt.
can't work during shutdown. They part
of this case. They want be able to take
part in hearing.
I want to hear what state and federal
govt. have to say.
I think the judge is listening to the city
instead of Mr. Henifin.
He's the reason apts. owe large sums of money. It's not on Jxn Water.
I bet the city didn't even read Jxn Water
report.
Hey Butt Head ... they said Wingate.
Huh Huh Huh.
F'ing Wingate would rather the system crash and burn. If he wants that massive can of worms definitively resolved before giving his blessing then he owns the collapse. Kudos to Ted for forcing the showdown.
Well, Wingate has held exparte meetings with some of the parties.
The old goat Wingate (78 years old) needs to retire ASAP. Right?
You mean the city KF.
Exparte means he hears one side. No
meeting with Mr. Henifin I bet.
I wonder if he ever talks anything over
with Mr. Henifin or just believes what
someone is feeding him.
KF the party being the mayor.
I don't believe he talking to feds or state.
Henifin came to get the job done. Not kiss BPS ass.
Party as the city. Horhn loves to down
Jxn Water like Lumumba.
The order does not say Jxn Water has to get judge ok to raise rates. A lawyer
read it and said he doesn't need court
approval.
King - how many employees does JW have? Hasn't Ted signed large, expensive contracts with 3rd parties rather than training personnel?
Kudos to Ted for forcing the showdown.
Hear, hear. Wingate's backseat driving has gone on long enough.
If Wingate does the right thing Jxn Water wins this fight.
Judge fights Mr. Henifin wins.
Impeach and Replace
I was actually hopeful Judge Wingate would not act in a manner similar to the government of Jackson. I now don't know why I thought that. This is like watching a building burn with no one willing to extinguish the fire.
Name of that judge says it all🙄🙄🙄
Seems to me that they could do better to agree to wipe the past due amounts and get everyone into the billing system. If there's a need to go case by case to pursue collection of past charges, then the same billing statements that JXNWater has now will certainly be good enough for this purpose. If they don't have sound records to prove that a past due balance is owed in court, then it should be wiped anyway. Then raise the rates so that I can stop worrying about basic fucking services being solvent. Between the COJ, JXNWater and the federal government being shut down, I wonder if there are any grown ups at the wheel anymore.
I believe the Safe Drinking Water Act REQUIRES utilities to have a billing structure that will provide enough revenue to provide water safely and effectively. If the judge prevents that from happening; then the judge may be in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act. If so, EPA should fine him $25,000/day for every day that he is in violation.
Wipe past due amounts? Then how about a big ol' rebate for those of us who have been reliably and faithfully paying their bills every month for years?
Wlbt did a public record request to get
the documents the city sent the court
about the Siemens settlement but still
have not received them.
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