JXN Water Manager Theodore Henifin issued the following statement.
This press release aims to address some possible misconceptions involving Senate Bill 2628, the Mississippi Capital Region Utility Act, which passed the Mississippi Senate on March 12, 2024. This Senate version is not law yet. To be law, the bill must pass the Mississippi House of Representatives and be signed by the Governor. There is no guarantee that a final bill will pass the House, nor is there a guarantee that the final bill will mirror the bill as passed by the Senate.
This Mississippi Capital Region Utility Act would create a new utility authority. The new authority would be governed by an unpaid, nine-member board made up of rate-paying water utility customers. The authority will assume operational responsibility once Judge Wingate issues final judgements in the water and sewer cases currently under his oversight. That is not anticipated until late 2027.
In the interim, the new authority will organize and work closely with the Court to develop a transition plan that will ensure a smooth transition only when the final judgements are issued. The Interim Third-Party Manager will continue to operate and manage water and sewer services for the system through JXN Water until that time.
10 comments:
I don't find anything about that particularly reassuring. Whatever the Mississippi state government does these days tends to be nirvana for the "good ole boys from Hattiesburg".
Over the years, the City of Jackson has proved itself incapable of running a successful water/sewer department. This bill may not be the best answer, but it is certainly better than handing it back to an incopmetent city government.
Who knows, maybe by then Jackson will have a mayor who is more concerned with running the city than Detroit race ideology. Stranger things have happened.
Many many small, medium & large communities have their water & sewer managed by a regional authority. Detroit, NYC, northern NJ & many others. It is an essential practice for delivering these services by professional staff, financial management & system maintenance free from political & nonprofessional staffing.
Who are 'the good ole boys from Hattiesburg'?
We're talking here about a water system a hundred miles north of Hattiesburg. It's OK if you don't want to reply. Really.
Why would they ever put the water system back into the hands of Jackson officials? They were the ones who failed to keep the water on in the first place. It doesn't make any sense in spending all of the money getting water to the people in Jackson then turning the water system back to them. Even the government is not that dumb.
Before the receiver was appointed, the state had to step in after the city was basically shut down for a month with no water in September, 2022.
That was after the city previously went without water for an month on the heels of an ice storm in February, 2021.
Both of those events were eventually determined to have been the result of lack of staff and lack of maintenance, after the smoke cleared from the lies told by the Lumumba administration about the root causes.
At some point, there is a duty to do what is best for the people who live and work in Jackson, regardless of racial ideology and how it reflects on Lumumba, and affects his cronies' bottom line.
Remember when the Mayor said the Health Department was wrong on a boil water notice and pretty much said ignore it? Happened before the plant failures.
My personal favorite was when he claimed they couldn't get the electrical panel for the pumps at OB Curtis due to supply chain problems and then the records showed he was lying through his teeth as the city had not even tried to order the panel. Got busted by yours truly and later WLBT for it when we got the records.
For those who cannot read
Pay your water bills, scofflaws! Rukia, pay your taxes!
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