Water, water, everywhere.... not if you live in Jackson or Byram. Jackson's water disaster is well-known as the city struggles to provide such a basic service. WLBT's C.J. Lemasters and Anthony Warren took a look at Jackson's water problems in a three-part series that broadcast this week. These are not one-minute segments designed for the typical news broadcast but are over six minutes each as WLBT covers the story at a deeper level.
Part 1 recaps the ice storm disaster that took place a year ago as well as the Lumumba administration's problems in operating O.B. Curtis over the last few years.
Part 2 covers the ever-shrinking revenue that is taking place as more and more water/sewer customers such as the West Rankin Utility Authority and Mississippi State Fairgrounds left the system, taking millions of dollars with them. Byram is moving towards establishing its own system as well. Byram's departure would mean an annual loss of over $3 million in water revenue to Jackson.
Tune in tomorrow for Part 3.
45 comments:
You get what you pay for…..uhhh, unless you live in Jackistan
Being someone who has presented COJ with proven self-funding wastewater improvments, it became clear that all the administration was interested in is legal extortion (campaign donations) and minority participation numbers. All one has to do is look at the two recent projects, water meter replacement & the trash pickup deals, and look at who's on those teams and their campaign "donations". ETEC and OG are helping run the show behind the scenes and its not a coincidence that their favorite song is Bob Seger's Shakedown.
Then why does Channel 3 never confront the mayor over his lies about the city water system?
Good job Ludumba
WLBT is the only News Station that does News.
The other News station in Jackson is just for entertainment.
Don't tell me. It's the State's fault this has happened to the waterworks, right?
Not to mention the loss in revenue when customers don't pay their bill with no ramifications whatsoever.
Strange. I've only known the local MSM to reprint press releases. They're gonna get in trouble for asking questions.
Lmao @ 0 comments
The fact that Lumumba was reelected shows that Jackson citizens do not care about competence.
The city engineer went from saying we did nothing wrong from an operational standpoint and that it was "solely due to the storm" to..."we didn't have enough experienced workers to diagnose the problem."
So which is it???
Nothing new in Part 1. Part 2 is good work.
Rez froze over twice in the 90's.....
10:44 - and his constituents will respond "What does competence have to do with him being mayor?"
The city engineer is Chowke's puppet.
The crybaby mayor gets mad when someone gets off the Jackson water system yet also doesn’t want to bother with it
Can’t have it both ways. He just wants people to keep paying for no water
There's just not much to discuss.
The elected leaders are only interested in solutions that include untethered funds for them, and media face-time to further their own careers.
All this at the expense of tax payers, yet the voters approve of them.
You can't fix that. This is just life now for them.
We do not eat at any places in Jackson because they are cooking with the tainted water.
7:54 AM
It’s not like they’re missing your business.
What's the rez freezing over in the 90s got to do with anything?
The title made me dry heave.
@8:23 if you can't figure that out then you probably should step away from your keyboard and refrain from commenting any further.
The only solution for Jackson is to gentrify. I know that's a 'dirty' word, but I'd say look at Laurel to see the benefits. Fucking out of staters in Laurel. When I first heard that it was shocking to me. Considerign the early '00s you could have thrown hand grenades in old downtown at lunch and not killed a soul, there's actual businesses and foot traffic there.
Granted Jackson Metro Area already has out of staters that's not shocking.
8:19 AM
Judging by how things are going south of county line (Marshalls moving to the old Steinmart in Madison among other businesses closing...Burlington), I'd say you're wrong.
8:23 AM
The implication is that a large body of water froze meaning it got colder than the last freeze and the system didn't shit the bed like it did last time.
"Being someone who has presented COJ with proven self-funding wastewater improvements, it became clear that all the administration was interested in is legal extortion (campaign donations) and minority participation numbers"
This is the whole issue with everything going on with the City of Jackson. Mr. Transparent Administration doesn't care about his constituents, he's concerned about enriching his pockets and posturing for a more national position in the liberal/social justice/woke mob crowd. Why do you think he keeps flying off to Atlanta all the time while not mentioning the murder & water crisis going on in his city. He had a mask on at the airport headed to Atlanta that said "poverty warrior". I wonder what poverty he is a warrior for because it damn sure isnt the poverty and living conditions in his own city.
West Rankin: "Hmmm, we can pay more to a city that is far more concerned with which groups do the work. The work likely will not correct the problem, meaning we will have to cough up more money to an incompetent administration and be at their mercy. Or, we can spend less money, build our own new and up to date facility, and bring in our own personnel whose priority will be our residents."
I recall a TV news report in which Jackson's mayor reminded everyone that the city owns all the water lines serving Byrum. He indicated that it gives Jackson an upper hand in negotiating Byrum's exit from Jackson's water system. But I've also read that Byrum's mayor claims those water lines are decrepid & worthless & that he won't give Jackson a dime for them. Ought to be fun.
@8:55 AM Chowke's mask is classic "virtue signaling."
People are tired of the talk about minority contracts rather than the most qualified.
They could run a special 24 hours a day and 7 days a week and its not going to matter. You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear. They re-elected this guy with 70% of the vote when they had no running water. I think that is all you need to know.
The idea that Jackson can gentrify it's way out of this death spiral is total folly.
The water system in Jackson wasn't well maintained in 1979, so why all of you and the media think this is a new set of problems is astounding to me.
You apparently weren't reading or comparing the water quality reports.
Nor did you pay attention to the Reservoir management.
You did not read the stories after the flood of 1979 in Jackson in detail or you'd have predicted this future.
And, as for the mayor...
Have you forgotten why Mississippi passed a law allowing those convicted federal crimes to run for office?
Did you not notice those you had elected suddenly improving their standard of living all these decades? You had elected officials decades ago who were never successful in the private sector but who, after election had condos in Florida, club memberships and a huge bump in their "standard of living. Some of them hold more important offices as I write.
You gave all those you've elected for decades a " map" and a " green light" and now you are "shocked" and " angry" that current politicians are improving on duping you and furthering their self-interest.
Oh wait...you just are shocked and angry with those who you don't support and who don't look like you. You either can't see "the hole in the ship from your " cabin" or refuse to look. And, you continue to wonder why Mississippi doesn't improve its standing. You rather feel defensive and superior yourself than see the entire State prosper.
Forever, the "Delta", the " Jackson area" and " the Coast" have looked down on each other. The universities aren't just sports rivals, they look down on each other's graduates.
Count on the fact that anytime you let one party have control,anytime you don't hold your party's representatives accountable, you can count on the the future party members to make the past corrupt ones look like " saints" by comparison.
A BRUTALLY HONEST MESSAGE FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO STILL BELEIVE THAT MS IS A DECENT PLACE TO LIVE AND FIGHT FOR POSITVE CHANGE
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Remember, the crew of the Titanic fought hard to keep it afloat, but it still went down. Mississippi has been and always will be a terrible place to live. All the data available supports this and the truth is that facts don't care about your feelings no matter how emotionally invested you all are in the national embarrassment that is Mississippi. Do yourself and your family a favor and leave now. Don't martyr yourself.
"Mississippi was one of only three states to lose population in the latest census, conducted in 2020. If this trend continues through the 2030 census cycle, Mississippi could be left with only three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives."
*UM Center for Population Studies
11:06 Uuummmm....yeah...uhhhhhh...ok.
Not losing seat in 2030.
11:06 in summary: White people stole money and now its our turn.
Got it.
People can only be accountable for their tenure. Lumumba shouldn't get the credit or the blame for what happened under Dale Danks, or Kane Ditto, or Harvey Johnson, or Frank Melton, or father Lumumba, or anybody else. Mayor Lumumba should only be judge based on his tenure.
Having said that, Lumumba is failing badly at water and sewer. He has only made progress in the WRONG direction. He needs to be voted out. They need someone competent to replace Charles Williams, who they all worship for some reason. I guess they are impressed that he has a doctorate. They don't need a doctor. They need some work ethic and leadership and skills. Dr. Charles ain't it. And employees have to be held accountable.
It's a mess, but it's fixable. It will take time, money, hard work, and patience. The folks in charge now are not the answer.
And one problem is nobody who has the work ethic, skill, and ability to fix it would want to take the job. Why would they? Why would you be public works director of Jackson when you could be public works director of one of the nice suburban areas? Maybe that's why they are stuck with Dr. Charles Williams.
You get the government you deserve.
how much did it cost the city when the local hospitals realized that they could not depend on the infrastructure to support basic healthcare needs and acquired their own wells? And for the city to issue the permit, how much did they "charge" each hospital??? (UMC has had well for many years; St. Dominic since 2011ish).....
Slow your roll, KF.
The Garbage emergency is clearly more important at this time.
The esteemed mayor obviously has priorates straight and his constituents approve.
"The only solution for Jackson is to gentrify."
I bet ol' Tom Head is even calling for some that gentrification now that he used to rail against back when it was the new liberal buzzword of the day.
11:06 They get new Bennie Thompson signs in the Delta every 2 years. I worked that area for several years so I know what I'm talking about.
It's not a crisis until Baby Chowke says so.
Look at all the "fresh water" Jackson got today for free.......wonder how they'll screw that up by not capitalizing on that.
Oh well, it'll wash all the doo-poo out of people's yards.
8:17 : Have you seen how WLBT ends it morning news broadcast ? They WORSHIP the Mayor. Worship.
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