The Jackson City Council and Lumumba Administration discussed reopening the Grove Park golf course Tuesday. Water plants are falling apart, the roads need work, everything is under a consent decree, yet Jackson's Solons want to waste money reopening a golf course it closed five years ago.
The Clarion-Ledger reported on September 15, 2016:
Jackson's Department of Parks and Recreation began the process of planning the closure of Grove Park Golf Course as well as identifying personnel cuts on Wednesday, according to city spokesperson Shelia Byrd.
Byrd said the personnel cuts could impact as many as four positions.
The course closure and personnel cuts are in response to the city council's recent adjustment to the FY2017 budget. On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council voted to cut an additional $150,000 from the Parks and Recreation budget. The new budget takes effect Oct. 1.
The Department of Parks and Recreation already had made $1.3 million in reductions for the upcoming fiscal year, Byrd said. Jackson Mayor Tony Yarber responded to the course closing and personnel cuts, saying he hoped the council would reconsider.
"My administration presented a balanced budget that did not include closing a golf course of cutting additional staff at the course," Yarber said in a news release. "Those suggestions came from the City Council. I'm hopeful the council will reconsider."
Councilman Melvin Priester said that from 2014 to now, the city has spent $1.2 million operating both of the municipal golf courses and only taken in $164,000....
Ward 1 councilman Ashby Foote said Thursday that, while he wishes the city could continue to maintain the golf course, “first tier” services took priority.
“I’m all for golf courses and having them available to the citizens, but while the golf courses are a nice thing for the city to offer, they’re not as high priority as police and fire services.”
Over the last 11 months, Foote said the golf course generated $45,000 in revenue. Payroll and expenses of maintaining the course cost approximately $360,000, he said.
What The Kingfish wrote back then is just as true today:
The real story here is that NO ONE wants to close Grove Park. The city is losing OVER $300,000 on Grove Park. Keep in mind that there are not one, not two, but THREE public golf courses in Jackson (if one counts Lefleur's Bluff). This should be a no-brainer for these guys. The roads are falling apart, property taxes are going up, there is a humongous consent decree coming down the turnpike, businesses leave along with their tax revenue and Jackson's leadership doesn't want to close something that is losing over $300,000 per year when there are two other public golf courses.
If I remember correctly, it came out in the 2016 discussion that fewer than 100 people used the golf course that year.
These are not serious people.
54 comments:
I bet the have water pressure in Chalkline’s neighborhood.
I don't think I have ever seen such a "clown show", these people are absolutely nuts!
Does Antar even play golf here? Is this just a prestige thing to him?
There must be a grift involved. Does he have some contractor lined up for a kickback?
Isn’t Lafleurs closed also? Should be good times for Sonny Guy :)
According to this article, Lefleurs hosted 7,000 rounds per year (2019) and cost $190,000 per year to operate. How does Jackson spend twice that for a nine hole course that nobody plays?
https://www.northsidesun.com/local-news-top-stories/no-opening-date-lefleurs-bluff-golf-course#sthash.6LHqmKB5.dpbs
This is the City Council version of "Oh, look over there...a squirrel."
they are also going to spend millions renovating a $300,000.00 building. Credell Calhoun is a crook
Per their website, it was to open Summer of 2021.
It's hard to believe that we have to wait until the next election cycle to make changes. This is criminal.
I mean if the water isn't drinkable, then they can use it to irrigate the golf course. Guess it has to go somewhere. This is beyond incompetence.
No the boil water alert is in effect in his neighborhood also I live in Eastover near him. My family has been at our condo in Rosemary beach bc water situation and tomorrow we are headed back to Jackson if water situation is still poor then I guess we will stay next week in Oxford condo for a few days. Surely it will be lifted by then.
Another "wag the dog" proposal.
No community is exempt from the old saw: all politics is local. No elected official is exempt from political pressure applied by particular, connected constituents demanding personal and preferential services. Black, white, red, yellow. No one is exempt.
Neither the Council nor the Mayor have their priorities straight.
and the Zoo. need to keep that open too..
Never thought I'd see Jackson become an open border Asylum.
This may end in suicide, but at this time they are practicing self mutilation.
WHY are so many people complaining about the direction of Jackson?
The people of Jackson voted and they are getting what they asked for.
In order to make an effective change in Jackson, the people with money, those folks that left Jackson will have to return. The people who left Jackson are now comfortable in their Flowood, Brandon, Ridgeland, Florence, Madison and Gluckstadt locations.
What could possibly entice them to return and give up the creature comforts they now enjoy?
Who in their right mind is going to a public golf course in Jackson to play golf? Do you have to wear a bullet proof vest and helmet? This is a no brainer. Close the course, close the zoo and anything else non-essential until Jackson can respond in an emergency with police and ambulance (see post about 11 year old getting shot), have running water that is safe to drink every single day, and streets that are maintained. Grow a pair and do your job.
They need a sign that hangs above all city meetings. "focus on Streets and Water and People's safety." Once people feel they can shop dine play in Jackson with no fear of danger to their family, people and businesses will return.
I'd like to echo what @9:16 said - please explain why you stay. Inquiring minds really want to know.
They can't help it. They were raised in the Democrat political tradition of pretending to be all things for all people no matter how impractical. Prioritizing budgets and making hard decisions would make them no better than....Gasp.... Republicans.
Beyond comical - The facilities have already been pillaged for the new copper wiring and they have to repair the vandalism. Plus they can't find enough people to work there. Sounds like a recipe for real success!
@ July 7, 2022 at 8:42 AM
Don't call me Shirley.
Frank Zappa imagined the world ending in paperwork or nostalgia, but I say it ends in nonsense and chaos.
The state just did the same thing, trying to dump money into a new redesign of the Lefleurs Bluff course in Jackson.
Cart jackings anyone ?
You may get through 9 holes if you have 9 lives. Kevlar golf bag and an Uzi "iron" highly recommended. Buffoons worried about golfing in the middle of a war zone. Typical.
You have to understand. These are the same people who decided to raise the coast of garbage collection when they do not even have a contract with a garbage collector.
There's just something about that whole Lake Hico area that has spurred a lot of interest lately.....perhaps it's the electric plant.....for when Oprah gives all Jacksonians a FREE NEW TESLA!
Crazy is the nicest word for these people.
Sadly, 9.16 AM is correct:
Paying attention to and discussing anything coming out of the City of Jackson government is good entertainment, but yields nothing.
You have to understand that the mayor and most of the city council are working from a completely different framework than most of the people commenting herein. Competence, efficiency, effectiveness are not part of the equation. First, it's politics, so that usually rules out the above qualities anyway. Second, this is Jackson, MS, so the politicians are bottom of the barrel. These are ignorant politicians. And I use the term "ignorant" not as a pejorative but as an accurate description of these characters. Think of the most stomach-turning national political figures you can conjure up (Nancy Pelosi, Lindsey Graham, Chuck Schumer, Mitch McConnell) - those people are almost completely self-serving and get nothing done, but even then are infinitely smarter, savvier and more skilled than Jackson's mayor and most of the council. What can you realistically expect from Jackson's government?
Here's a hypothesis - and this is not sarcastic in any way: Those members of the city government who are in favor of renovating and reopening Grove Park are very likely thinking of the plaque that will be placed on the wall that will have their names engraved on it when the work is done. And that is more important to them than safe drinking water, effective police protection or reliable trash pickup. This is the mindset that you have to understand in order to realize what has happened to the city of Jackson.
I do not see the makeup of Jackson's government ever changing for the better. The population of candidates who are willing to run and serve in these positions is small and self-selects for the dregs of the political gene pool. And the majority of the voting population in the city is too easily sucked into the demagoguery and political hand-waving of those dregs so that even if a competent candidate did run, they likely wouldn't stand a chance of winning.
@10:21 For the WIN!!!
If a candidate ran for mayor on a platform of:
"I'm here to improve water, sewer, drainage, roads, crime, and schools. And screw everything else."
Would that candidate win? Would that candidate lose? Would skin color make the decision rather than the platform?
When people who have never been to Mississippi see these kinds of things they think My God, and this is the capital city. What must the rest of the place be like? I run into this quite often where people visit for the first time [somewhere besides Jackson or the delta] and they are very impressed.
11:31, A white man could run for city office and offer to use his own personal life savings to fix every road, water system and criminal problem in Jackson...and that man would not win.
We get the government we deserve, indeed.
Wait to see who gets the contracts to renovate it and to manage it. That will tell the story.
Jackson, the bold new city. I know that because I heard the mayor repeat that time after time at the air port in Rankin county this past weekend. Also
1. You almost can’t navigate the streets.
2. You can’t drink or bath in the water.
3. There apparently are very few lights in city facilities for youth activities. However many of these youths find “other” activities to do on their own.
4. Sewage is openly released all over the city.
5. Drag racing takes place on at least I 55 north, because I was in the middle of it. P.S. no cops around.
6. Highest per capital murder rate by a long shot in the country.
7. Property values are dropping even during the worst inflationary period in decades.
8. Maybe there is hope however, because these city representatives, especially the mayor, go to many luxurious “seminars”, often out of the country for implementing their new and progressive programs.
11:33. actually the people i’ve met who intentionally go
to the delta for tourism get exactly what they want to see-the place that birthed blues. it’s
not “nice” but that’s the allure
visitors usually like jackson-fondren, the museums, restaurants..: they just don’t venture to places like lake hico or get gas at jasco
Please tell us, July 7, 2022 at 8:42 AM, that you are being facetious!
"...I live in Eastover blah blah blah our condo in Rosemary beach blah blah blah Oxford condo..." 🙄
Everybody, y'all just need to chill. This is just the way The New Boss does business.
A bit 842 didn’t vote
11:59, exactly, wet them beaks.
July 7, 2022 at 11:31 AM; black democrat wins over white democrat. white democrat wins over republican, black or white. that's the problem. doesn't matter what their platform is. it's demographics. in jackson, the overwhelming majority of the black population votes democrat. a third to half of the white population votes democrat. republican can't overcome that.
if performance mattered over platitudes, chowkey would not have been re-elected.
ROFL @ 8:42 am
Open the golf course and close Jackson!
You could chunk a handful of rocks into a crowd and get a berrer mayor and city council.
Attn 1:15 Oh he voted all right, but only in his ( or her) demented, self righteous, bigoted mind.
There is literally no reason to stay in Jackson any longer. We have Liquor and CBD stores in Rankin now. You can get drunk and vape THC-0.
I've lived in Jackson my whole life, and honestly, I had no idea where Grove Park Golf Course was located. I had to look it up.
OH MAN! Can you imagine playing golf in that neighborhood??? Can you imagine even getting TO that neighborhood to play golf??? If I wouldn't go play at Sonny Guy, there's absolutely NOOOO way I'd go play at Grove Park!!! If you made it through a round alive, it's highly unlikely the contents of your car (or your car itself) would be waiting on you when you finished.
I'm'a gets mines mentality. All it is. 11:59 hit the nail on the head. Another way to funnel money to friends. Nothing more, nothing less. No one actually believes anyone wants to play golf there.
I can see Drake Jr. at the presser:
"Uhhhh the collective and I would like to uhhhh thank the city counsil for uhhhh setting aside these funds that will be used for uhhhh a wholistic approach unhhh in the community. We look forward to uhhhh getting a study done on how best to uhhhh get the ball moving on this project and uhhhh get one of our local DBE contractors to uhhhh help give back to the community uhhhh and uhhhh as a collective help bring sports to the inner city of Jackson. I would uhhhh like to thank you all for uhhh coming out today. Now excuse me as uhhhh I have a flight to catch to tell Bloomberg how uhhhhh great I'm doing in the uhhh Bold New City"
Oh, I get it. Richard’s Disposal will probably get the contract to fix/upkeep the golf course. Yep, it’s all about greasing somebody’s palm.
I left Jackson 25 years ago. Lumumba makes me want to leave the Metro area.
This would be hilarious if it weren't all true. Stealing the "power", disabling the cameras, etc.; and these crimes won't happen again?
And to think at one time how great this city was. We are hitting our 200 year anniversary and guess what? Nobody from the city even acknowledges it. This is very sad that a group of people had a vision, some others carried it through and made a wonderful place to tell people you were from and we went to a group that would rather see it destroyed. And I say destroyed just like you spray weed killer and watch the plant die. Somebody please tell me what are they getting out of this? Retribution? For what? This city was good and useful and served a purpose to everyone. And now, it’s useless to no one. Just dead and withering on the vine like a blighted leaf.
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