Monday, May 3, 2021

Chutzpah Defined: Mayor Says We Are "Ill-Informed" About EPA Order.

The coverage of Jackson's problems with the EPA must have gotten under Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba's skin because he ran to WLBT's Maggie Wade for yet another softball interview last week.  The Mayor was at his misdirectional best as he blamed the public and media for being "ill-informed" about an EPA Emergency Administrative Order: 

 


Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba is responding to an EPA report on the city’s water treatment facilities.

The Mayor says there is a whole discussion taking place that is ill informed about the report and what it means for the city’s water. 

Ill-informed? Oh really? If there is an "ill-informed" discussion, whose fault is that but the Mayor's?  It is Mayor Lumumba who covered up the existence of the EPA order for a year until this website broke the news in April.  It is the Mayor who refused to even explain the EPA order to the City Council unless he did so behind closed doors. 

Such behavior is typical of Mayor Lumumba.  He hides the EPA Order and then blames the media and public for being "ill-informed".  Truly a case of reductive analysis. Of course, asking such an obvious question escapes Maggie the Meek who sometimes acts as the Mayor's Prophet instead of a reporter for a network affiliate. 

There is one simple way to stop the "ill-informed" discussions Mayor: Tell the public about it and quit hiding behind closed doors.  Ms. Wade bought into the  Mayor's jive as she called the Emergency Administrative Order a "report"  several times.  The Mayor rarely calls it by its actual name as he instead prefers to water it down with terms such as "letter", "report", or draft", all designed to mislead the audience.  

Maggie the Meek continued:

Mayor Lumumba said, “to the level of conspiracy that it would require, right? In order for us to be giving bad water is not only the conspiracy of the City of Jackson, and all of the wonderful people that work each and every day to make sure that they produce good water, it would have to be the conspiracy of the Health Department. It would have to be the conspiracy of the EPA to allow that to happen.”

 “There has not been a quality test with the Jackson water that has demonstrated that the quality of our water is poor. Right? What has happened is that they have challenged what could happen if we don’t change the process by which we do water. Right? A lot of that is things like how we automate the feed system that puts the chemicals in the water. Instead of doing it through a manual process. We have treatment facilities, one of which is a hundred years old and was never imagined to be automated. So we now we have to retrofit at a very high expense that facility. And that is what is taking place,” said Mayor Lumumba.

No kidding.  No one said the water wasn't safe. No one accused the city of providing unsafe water.  The EPA order said conditions existed that could soon lead to unsafe drinking water.  The EPA order focused on the neglect, worn-out, and malfunctioning equipment at the water treatment plants.  This website did not say the water was unsafe or unhealthy nor did any other media outlets.  

Hizzoner is engaged in a bit of misdirection made of straw, as in a straw man.  The water treatment plants imploded in February as the city went without water for nearly a month. However, the Mayor always avoids all questions about the EPA order and instead says the water is safe.  Maggie the Meek just watched the pitches go by and didn't even try to take a swing. 

The Mayor tells us the EPA continues to work with the city.

“They are more optimistic over the trajectory in which we’re going in today because we communicate, because we don’t hide things, because we’re saying look this is where we have failures. This is where we need support. This is where we need support in terms of resources. Financial resources for equipment. This is where we need support in terms of the people-power that we need to help operate our plant,” said the Mayor.

More mumbo-jumbo.  It is not surprising the EPA is working with the city.  The EPA would rather solve the problem than punish Jackson.  There is a reason the EPA usually does not immediately drop the hammer in such cases.  It tries to work with cities to fix such problems before they become disasters.  However, the Mayor announces such mundane routines as if it is giant news.  

The Mayor moves from speaking gobbledygook to telling outright falsehoods. 

On finding quality workers, the mayor says they must be Class A operators and they are difficult to find.

Mayor Lumumba said, “the City of Jackson’s water treatment facility is the only one of its kind in the state of Mississippi. We have the largest water treatment facility in the state. It requires Class A operators which you can’t get from any other city because they don’t need the same type, they don’t need the same level of expertise there. And so that becomes a challenge in how we find people to help support our water treatment facility.”

Oh really? You sure about that, Mr. Mayor?   Jackson can't hire any Class A operators from other Mississippi cities because they don't exist? Well, yours truly has learned not to trust the Mayor at his word.  New York Times, anyone? 

JJ submitted a public records request to the Mississippi State Department of Health for a list of all Class A operators are in Mississippi. The Health Department provided the list and what do you know?,  there are no less than 62 Class A operators - 17 in Hinds County.  Don't take JJ's word for it.  Read the list below.  


 

Several holders of the Class A license are work for the Health Department, Jackson, and other agencies.  However, 62 is a far cry from saying almost none exist in Mississippi.  There is also nothing stopping the Mayor from hiring Class A operators from another state or raising the salary to make the position more attractive.   The interview concluded: 

Mayor Lumumba says it is vitally important that residents are given factual and accurate information.

“We are, you know, finding how do we ultimately build a plant that is able to respond to not only the requirements of the EPA but respond, not only is updated in a way that responds and deals with outdated technology but also responds to the new challenges that we see today”, said Mayor Lumumba.

Mayor Lumumba says those challenges include weatherization for the water system and that the system can withstand situations like the winter weather in February.

There is nothing stopping the Mayor from giving his subjects "factual and accurate information."  No one forced him to hide the EPA order or go into executive session.  

The interview was the Mayor's attempt at manipulating the news.   The media has been steadily reporting on the Mayor's coverup of the EPA order since JJ uncovered it several weeks ago.  The notoriously thin-skinned Mayor went to his Prophet for yet another softball interview.  WLBT's reporters have been pursuing doggedly working the EPA story as they have filed numerous public records requests and posted several stories.  This interview was a slap at the public as well as those journalists who have been doing their jobs and that, my friends, is the bottom line.

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Maggie comes to me, speaking words of comfort... 


36 comments:

Anonymous said...

Has he mentioned anything about the $60mil(out of $90 mil) from the Siemens settlement possibly going to help the situation? You know, Chuckie, that $30mil your buddy's made off that settlement could do a lot of things in this city, but nope, you were paying it forward for favors. Hell, any atty worth his/her salt could have gotten that settlement, but Chuckie sold out $30mil from his city to give to some people in Chicago. And he wants to harp on choosing contractors or people that are "in the city of Jackson".

Anonymous said...

The mayor knows the cross section mentality of the great majority of his constituents, and they are not college educated, don't keep up with events, are below the normal IQ level, are content to live in a city of squalor, litter and crime, do NOT read this website (or any for that matter), and believe his chronic bullshit and lies, because after all, he IS black.

Anonymous said...

Of course the EPA is "working with" the city -- as you say KF, the EPA would rather work with the city to solve the problem than have to come in and take over the system and solve it for the city.

Just as the EPA has 'worked with' the city on the Consent Decree (the next step after the city fails to deal with an Emergency Order) on the sanitary sewer system. The Consent Decree was issued in 2013, and for the four years of Lumumba's term in office -- nothing has been done to address the issues. Why? Because Lumumba insisted on getting an out of state engineering firm to handle the decree. Of course his first choice - a firm with no experience in sanitary sewer issues but had merged with a minority firm owned by a supporter of Lumumba Senior, was rejected by the city council; then there was his second choice who was no better than the first. Finally the city contracted with an "out of state firm" to manage the consent decree who did nothing to fix the sewer problems but spent the money trying to renegotiate the decree's terms.

Yet, EPA has worked with the city - mainly because Lumumba hired a competent person to manage the system, Bob Miller. But when Miller finally abandoned the job because Lumumba wouldn't take his advice and ultimately cut him out of all decisions, EPA got ready to drop the hammer on the sewer problem.


Now, EPA is ready to drop the hammer on the water problem as well. Yes, EPA might be willing to "work" with Lumumba as he says, but hizzhonner better be prepared to do something more than rhetoric, followed by his confirming "rights" if he expects to get anything out of them at this point.

Anonymous said...

@12:11 -- but, but. Those Alabama lawyers had to spend part of that money investing in a piece of real estate in NE Jackson that was in foreclosure. Granted, they were able to quickly 'sell' it to a savvy resident looking to move within a gated community off of Ridgewood Road.

Irony never really surprises how some unusual connection of the stars of the universe tend to line up just right to fit everybody's needs.

Anonymous said...

Astonishing reporting. Thank you!

The mayor is a liar. He is a sneaky politician. He ducks reality and blames the media. What a dick.

Anonymous said...

There's a reason Antar went to Maggie Wade for the interview instead of say, a C.J. LeMaster - Maggie the Meek is guaranteed to give him a puff piece interview. Is there a news director or general manager at WLBT concerned about the station's reputation?

Anonymous said...

Right? Right? Yeah, right.

Anonymous said...

It's hard to believe how many capitol cities in the United States can't accomplish even the most basic government duties. Clean water and safe streets are possibly the two most important functions of government. I wonder if those who travel from Mexico to Jackson are cautioned not to drink the water.

Anonymous said...

Another press conference where the press (which Jamie considers himself a part of) can ask these questions that he didn’t show up at. They are every Monday and yet he can never find his way to them...

Anonymous said...

May 5th will certainly be an interesting council meeting.

Anonymous said...

First of all, the only reason EPA was here in the first place was that Jackson wouldn't correct repeated violations discovered by the MS Dept of Health. Second, there HAVE been tests that have found poor water. The City has had multiple violations of the Lead-&-Copper Rule. Those were caused by low pH in the water and pH monitors and corrosion control equipment were some of the problems that EPA found.
KF, I recommend you do a FOIA to the Health Dept to determine how long they tried to get Jackson to fix the plant before they called in EPA.
GOOD LUCK.

Anonymous said...

What are the odds the EPA calls Lumumba's bluff at the council meeting?

Anonymous said...

So, everybody admits that Jackson’s water is safe. The city is working with the EPA to correct issues that might one day in the future possibly result in the water being unsafe. There is no bombshell story here, just more of the usual anti- Jackson fare offered up as red meat to the Pearl lovers of this blog.

Anonymous said...

Here is a link to information from the MSDOH web page. Not all information may be in there but for those of you interested you can browse sampling results, past violations, etc.

https://apps.msdh.ms.gov/DWW/JSP/WaterSystemDetail.jsp?tinwsys_is_number=317&tinwsys_st_code=MS&wsnumber=MS0250008

Anonymous said...

So, everybody admits that Jackson’s water might not be safe, right? The city is "working" with the EPA to correct issues that might one day in the future possibly result in the water being unsafe, like each time there is a boil water notice, right? There bombshell story here, is just more of the usual mumbo-jumbo lumumbalying fare offered up to hide the extreme incompetence of this administration, Right?

Anonymous said...

That neighborhood in the upper right corner is in Ridgeland. We never had any pressure problems and water was clear as a bell.

Jimmy B said...

When you re-elect a man with 70% of the vote don't complain about the taste of the "Kool Aid" you are drinking.

Anonymous said...

The intro is too long. The report is too long. Kingfish's comments are too long. The posts are too long. This is a shit-thread. Moving right along.

Anonymous said...

“There has not been a quality test with the Jackson water that has demonstrated that the quality of our water is poor. Right? What has happened is that they have challenged what could happen if we don’t change the process by which we do water. Right? A lot of that is things like how we automate the feed system that puts the chemicals in the water. Instead of doing it through a manual process. We have treatment facilities, one of which is a hundred years old and was never imagined to be automated. So we now we have to retrofit at a very high expense that facility. And that is what is taking place,” said Mayor Lumumba.

OB Curtis is a little over 20 years old since it was completed at it’s current capacity and only a little over 30 years old from first being built. Nit even the reservoir is 100 years old

The “process by which we do water” has been effected more at Curtis than waterworks

Anonymous said...

@4:00PM
Your shitposts are improving Melvin.

West Jackistan said...

Well "you know" Antard you keep Gum flapping g about needing support, but you are the f'ing mayor and it is your job to do it. Quit your punk ass whining and do your damn job.

Anonymous said...

So who bought property inNE Jackson gated community. There is a Distinct difference between an ORDER and Report. When you are ordered to pay a fine through the court for example you have no choiceutherwise it will be demanded and levied in other ways. EPA has been gracious for the the citizens who are not getting what they are paying for by mishandled funds & not repairing equipment required like when the. mayor’s car breaks down & needs repair!

Anonymous said...

4:15,, there are two water plants that serve Jackson (along with several wells in South Jackson).

One of them, the one located on the east side of I55 at WATERWORKS CURVE (note the name, it might help you understand). The Fewel plant - it has been discussed here several times as well as that one you refer to (O B Curtis). Fewel is now almost 110 years old. Granted, it has been updated since its first construction, and a large part of it has been taken out of service.

But -keep up. The Mayor makes plenty of mistakes on his own (either ignorance, or lies. Or maybe both.) But in this case he is correct when he said "ONE OF WHICH is a hundred years old.

Where the Mayor is wrong is in his statement that it was never imagined to be automated. It has been renovated and updated several times over the past five decades and during many of those updates, there was some imagination put into place with the intent to add automation.

Anonymous said...

The real problem with the list of class A operators is that none are on the mayor's donor list.

Anonymous said...

As a Jackson resident from l950 !!! to 2017 I am SO GLAD TO reside in Flowood

Anonymous said...

Well whose job is it to properly inform us of what goes on in City Hall? Who was it talking about a transparent administration??
Hmmm.... oh, I know, It was Chokeme LeMumbles....

Anonymous said...

It seems the Mayor has been loosing his composure for a few months now.

And Ms.Wade is nothing close to the journalist that she once was.

I'm not saying that to discredit her, Maggie used to be one of the best local broadcast journalists within the state.

But times change,and people change.

She no longer holds the title of (one of the best reporters)
'In Mississippi'.

Sorry Ms. Wade, nothing personal.










Anonymous said...

I recall when Yarber was mayor, he came to speak at HOA meeting. I asked “what is your 5 year, 10 year plan?” I almost fell to the floor laughing when he started talking about Jackson was on the I-20 corridor and high-speed rail project we would see. Jackson’s problems go well past Lumumba. These dudes are all about looking good and shucking jive. No real substance.

Anonymous said...



"These dudes are all about looking good and shucking jive. No real substance."

True.

But give em' credit ... they are experts at giving each other meaningless & fancy awards to each other.

Anonymous said...

8:26, Maggie's been at WLBT for 39 years. She's been front and center of Jackson's downhill slide for almost four decades. A lesser person would be in Whitfield, so lighten up.

Anonymous said...

Chutzpah?

Sounds like more yid loving nonsense from kingfish.

Anonymous said...

@4:00pm Sigh, another Millennial/Gen Z that hates reading....they just don't have the concentration or attention span.

Anonymous said...

I’ll informed definition - lacking adequate or proper knowledge or information, as in one particular subject or in a variety of subjects:
The public is ill-informed of the danger. Maybe since the Mayor is a college grad with criminal law degree, he may want to brush up on this! No way does anyone BELIEVE Jackson or he was Ill Informed. Nice Try!

Anonymous said...

@6:52
I don’t hate reading. But i don’t have the patience for boomer bloviations.

Anonymous said...

Dang the EPA order was for us. I thought that was about another city. MY bad

Anonymous said...

" i don’t hate reading. But i don’t have the patience for boomer bloviations. "

Well little one, it's kind of odd that you are triggered by "boomer" comments.
Most people your age are out with their friends ... enjoying life and such.


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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

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