Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba blamed the state for its failure to land Costco and Topgolf at a press conference last Thursday.
Start at 14:00
Mayor Lumumba held the press conference to announce the end of the JATRAN strike. After concluding his prepared remarks, he answered questions from the media.
Lumumba-friendly reporter Charlie Drape asked Hizzoner if he "responded to the A.G.'s letter at all." With the question teed up, the Mayor took a healthy swing at the plate. "The A.G. does not have the authority to order the transfer of Smith-Wills Stadium and we will certainly defend our interests," said Mayor Lumumba.
Jackson's Mayor understandably refused to say how Jackson would respond but stated "We believe we have a case." The Mayor then provided a history lesson before he was Mayor. It was a familiar history lesson where he blamed state leadership yet again for Jackson's problems. Mayor Lumumba lectured:
the day my father died, he had a meeting scheduled with Costco. Actually it was Jackson who engaged Costco leadership first and that was the place they wanted to go and understandably we met opposition from state leadership. I will share I've never said this publicly. We were talking to some of the developers who are developing Top Golf in Madison County. Before, they had an interest in developing the property right there near Smith-Wills Stadium and the reason they didn't is because state leadership opposed it. So our residents of Jackson are often led to believe that nobody wants to invest in Jackson when the reality is that's not true.
What is a little disheartening when I see that every time state leadership comes to me, our administration has been very supportive of their ideas, ideas to build a walking trail in the area. There's a goal of creating a bridge that crosses Lakeland Drive from Lafleur's Bluff to connect the museums and we've agreed to all of that. And so when I see economic development taking place in North Mississippi and I see press conferences in South Mississippi and the state's talking about how we're moving forward, the only thing I would say is ask the question "why is Jackson not deserving? What sets us apart? ....
Maybe instead of sneaking a takeover of Smith-Wills where you don't call it out by name, you call it out by its legal description, maybe it would be a path of least resistance if you just came to the table and said "well, we have some desires too and we think we can do some things that can benefit Smith-Wills Stadium and benefit the residents of Jackson.....
Some observations:
* First things first. The area in question is designated for parks and museums. The state has made it repeatedly clear it wants to keep the area reserved for parks and museums. The section of Lakeland Drive between Ridgewood Road and I-55 is scenic in nature. However, it is just like Jackson to want to stick retail in the middle of it all. What do you think the Lefleur's Bluff area would look like if Jackson was in charge of its development?
Of course, Jacksons 'leaders rarely show any aptitude for site-planning or development. This is the same Mayor who thinks it's a good idea to put a thug bar across the street from the King Edward Hotel. Has a nuisance action been filed yet? Just asking, Mr. Mayor.
* Costco was very interested in the site because of its location. However, let's be honest. A Costco store is not going to blend in real well with baseball fields, Mayes Lake, and museums. It would completely destroy the character of Lefleur's Bluff and that is why "state leaders" opposed the Costco.
* Top Golf. The Mayor sure is fixated on Top Golf. Business people have told yours truly that whenever they complained to the Mayor about infrastructure problems, Hizzoner would ask what they were doing to get a Top Golf to Jackson. Such is his idea of economic development.
There is no conspiracy to keep Jackson from landing economic development projects. The simple truth is the Smith-Wills area is meant for parks and museums. Jackson leadership is perfectly capable of finding other sites within the city. Just curious, Mr. Mayor. What are you doing to stop the deterioration of East County Line Road?
* One of the Mayor's favorite talking points is the legislature tried to fool everyone by referring to Smith-Wills Stadium by its legal property description instead of its common name in the bond bill that authorized the state to terminate the lease.
There is a simple reason the property was described as such. Using legal descriptions is standard practice in legislation. For example, you won't see Jackson referred to as Jackson but rather as "a city with a population more than 150,000" or where "I-55 interstate meets I-20 interstate." The bill was describing a specific parcel of land. Thus a legal description is preferable in the legislation. Of course, it's easier for the Mayor to name-call than learn how things actually work.
* The reason why the Legislature passed the lease termination section of the bond bill is because a legislator took his son to play in a baseball tournament in July 2023. As the kids played the championship game of the tournament on Sunday night, the party was getting cranked up at Churchill's Smoke Shoppe over by third base. The music was blasting, the partying was in full swing, and the parents could smell the smoking of weed in the parking lot. Great environment for kids playing baseball, right.
The legislator and others inquired about the lease and found it said the property had to be used for park purposes. Neither a cigar bar nor a parking sublease are park purposes so they passed a bond bill with the lease-termination language.
* The Mayor asked "Why not Jackson?" Well, Mr. Mayor, why don't you brush up on economic development. Have you noticed where those projects are going? Already-prepared sites. What site do you have to offer in Jackson? Where could an Amazon data center go in Jackson?
There is also the problem of schools. JPS is a C. Corporations like to go where there are "A" school districts. It is doubtful Hinds County could have landed Continental Tire without Clinton's "A" school system. It may not be fair, but that is also just the way it is these days. Throw in infrastructure problems, roads, crime and guess what? Jackson isn't as attractive as other areas of the state.
Simply put, it was a typical Lumumba press conference where he blames the state for everything while refusing to take responsibility for anything and that, my friends, is the bottom line.
62 comments:
Yeah its got nothing to do with the 1% extra sales tax, the crime, the lack of infrastucture (pothole covered roads, water that hasn't worked until Ted Heffin took it over), etc.
"Corporations will go where there are "A" school districts."
Oh that's why there is a lack of industry in the state?
When are you gonna get off your knees and make something of yourself and your bullshit "news" site, Hendrix? I know the money is ok (at best) but really, you gotta do something with this or you'll be sitting around drinking at 463 all day like Russ Latinx.
You know the state is on Bullshit, man. Not saying the city has plenty of fault but you are looking really sad defending them constantly. No one is saying, "Man, I'm moving out of Jackson." They are moving out of MISSISSIPPI.
If you are ever in DC, I'll buy you a decent meal and introduce you to some actual journalist. Maybe they can give you some tips? We'll have a great meal, too. Le Dip is overrated but you'll have some great pics. Be better.
Your Close and Personal Friend
Melvin Robinson III
He needs to stop talking about things he knows nothing about, and trying to take credit from previous mayoral administrations.
If he doesn’t hand over Smith Wills, Lynn will have full subpoena power and trace the money…I doubt some man is really making over $300,000 for parking at SW
Jackson really needs Tiffany Henyard.
um, no. Instead of fixing Thalia Mara, she'd sell everything in it, including the fixtures.
Is there even enough land where Smith-Wills Stadium sits for a Costco?
Interesting. I guess the mayor does not understand that the State landed both companies, just in more favorable conditions for all concerned.
The mayor is not talking to you anyway. He is talking to his comrades in New York, Detroit, San Fran, D.C. and wherever his future benefactors hold camp. They believe him. Always remember that.
I think he’s an Obama wannabe.
I vaguely recall Delbert opposing the Costco because he wanted to keep the property open for future state facilities/attractions. Did I dream this?
Shock-way will pull out the race card in the next go-round.
Perpetual victimhood.
I didn't think that land could be used for retail, as a condition of deed.
Tiffany Henyard vs Chokwe Lumumba. Two slightly different ways to get to their city the same place!
You got that right!
"A zoning issue becomes a hurdle Jackson leaders must face in attracting a Costco to the Capitol City.
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann met recently with Mayor Tony Yarber and on Aug. 8 sent him a letter saying that the 313 acres of property off Lakeland Drive where Smith-Wills Stadium, the Ag Museum and the Mississippi Sports Hall of fame are located, is deeded for "park purposes."
If the land is not used by the city as park property, it will revert back to the state, according to the deed.
"Please know the secretary of state, as state land commissioner, will exercise the state's right of reversion to any property that is rezoned and utilized for any purposes other than a park," Hosemann wrote in the letter to Yarber. "This property currently serves as a park. It is a park for the public, has been developed as a park for the public and should be maintained as a park for the public."
https://www.wapt.com/article/city-faces-hurdle-in-attracting-costco/2089863
Can anyone actually produce a dated copy of the lease demanding the land be used only for park purposes?
Same old comments. If something failed it must be someone else’s fault. Why not be realistic about the City and work to improve it instead? You need to compete!
That deed goes back to 1944 and the city was certainly never required to use the land for parks and recreation for the first 25 years. This sounds like just another example of Republicans blowing smoke to justify discrimination against the City of Jackson.
When you speed at 85 mph for years, don't gripe when the cops start enforcing the speed limit.
We at war
It's so bizarre, that in a city dotted with abandoned, semi-abandoned, and underutilized retail developments - developments served by Interstate frontage roads - COSTCO-SIZED developments - that this particular parcel would be crucial to the location of "a Costco".
Here's why, though, this location was viewed as crucial. Firstly, it is insulated from the treeless ugliness plaguing most of Jackson's retail/business zones - insulated by the parks, that is.
Second, it's on a busy intersection, leading to the Flight Destination Exurbs of Rankin County. (This might be great for Costco, to capture some of the Dollars of the few who still work in Jackson, but would create congestion at a critical intersection leading to the hospitals).
All over Hinds County, there is an ongoing pattern of taking farm and forest land out of production, to be paved-over - forever ugly - the soil forever poisoned - for new projects. Much of the existing developed land in Hinds County, is abandoned or grossly underutilized. The trees are already gone. The land has already been saturated with poisons (a precursor to parking lots and building slabs). Infrastructure already serves those locations. It is criminally irresponsible, to allow further development - the further taking out of production, of fields and forests - when so much existing developed property lies abandoned or semi-abandoned.
If Jackson truly needed "a Costco", and if Costco truly needed or wanted Jackson, then one of those underutilized properties could and WOULD have been purchased and repurposed.
Is Hiss Honah, Chuckles LeMumbles, esq. still an attorney? Member of the bar? What law school did he graduate from? Appears he still can’t read a legal document written in English and decipher what it means….
How long before the City of Jackson's encroaching on the lease with all the prohibitied activity gives them squatters rights to do as they want with the land?
6:36, Instead of "squatters rights," try googling "adverse possession."
I will never believe Costco or Top Golf wanted to locate in Jackson!
Don't give them any ideas!
While Delbert did oppose the Cosco use, it was more because his neighbors (and I'm sure many former busienss partners and major financial supporters) in and around the Eastover area did not want a Cosco at that location claiming it would cause major traffic congestion.
Whatever his reasons, legitimate or not, his legal basis was correct; same as it is today. The state received this property as a 'gift' with the proviso that it be used for a park/recreational purposes, and when they deeded a portion of it to the City, that requirement was included in that transfer.
Mayor ain't got a chance with his argument, but hell - that's never stopped him before.
What did this guy say last week about the homeless crapping all over the front balcony of TM Hall ?
Something about:
"Our unhoused population and their need for bathrooms" ?
Kingfish asked, "What do you think the Lefleur's Bluff area would look like if Jackson was in charge of its development?"
Answer: A check-cashing store, a bar, and a discount shoe store.
No 728, Costco did. Their first choice was on Airport Road, at the intersection of Lakeland and Airport --- but at that time liquor could not be sold in Rankin County, and the liquor store is a major part of Costco's business plan. So their backup location was at Smith Wills - they even proposed a site plan that left the stadium intact and used shared parking. On Lakeland, they caught the heavy traffic their business requires, and it being Hinds County, they could have their liquor store.
Can't say about Top Golf - those stories have been told and may have validity, but I've never seen any supporting documentation.
Why did Sam’s Club leave Jackson, TWICE? Some of us are old enough to remember the old location prior to the Northeast location.
7:28 PM. Amen. Neither company’s execs are that dumb.
The State didn't turn it into a whorehouse.
I will never believe Costco or Top Golf wanted to locate in Jackson!
Agreed. Mayor Con Artist lies threw his teeth and there is no reason to remotely believe that he's being truthful now.
Does everyone remember Smith Wills and ball fields across Lakeland are sitting on an old landfill? Remember they uncovered garbage when they put down artificial turf. Soil borings would have scared off any type of retail business.
It is the States fault. I promise you Jackson City leaders were on the verge of getting the Nissan plant to locate at Smith-Wills until they got racially screwed yet again. I think Amazon too. Their leadership could pull them in if not for State
Does Kingfish even have a clue as to what this land was actually used for initially after the state deeded the property to the city in 1944? No, because like most know-it-alls on this site he's lazy and too busy bashing Jackson generally to do any real investigation.
With all the talk about museums is their any chance a UFO museum could be built?
If there's an ounce of truth in a word he said about his father, he just proved the case against himself. Chokwe the Elder would have had Jackson thriving by now, while under Chokwe Antar the City has spiraled into decay and ruination. Idk, but It's always appeared to me that the only thing Junior inherited from his father was his name. No people, no city, no nothing could survive 12 years with a lazy, incompetent, corrupt, pathological liar at the helm.
@ 8:19pm I vaguely remember Sam’s Club as a small kid in a different location. Can you remind me where it was? South Jackson somewhere? Memory is fuzzy I was so young. Thinking off of Ellis Ave?
I recall the Sam’s located off Ellis near the K-Mart. The first Papa John’s was near there off Raymond Road.
What about a volcano museum?
I remember watching pathological liar Democrat Hillary Clinton blame the Flint Michigan water crisis on Michigan’s Republican governor. BWAHAHAHAHAHA
Democrats have an awesome combination of being able to destroy cities with crime and chaos, lie like broken clocks with straight faces (especially the NY Times and Jeff Bezos Post) to a base consisting of college professor indoctrinated fools that can pass a test with flying colors without possessing the most basic instincts, and of course, uneducated poor people (uneducated poor a result of Democrats taking over and destroying cities with crime and chaos).
10:32
Since you apparently already know, why don’t you save kingfish some time and help all us ignorant rednecks. Just tell us.
Played little league baseball there some 70 years ago, across from where Smith Wills is located. Previously the area was used for a landfill for Jackson's household waste. I'll never forget the associated aromas.
If memory serves me correctly, the land was once used as a landfill. Before that I believe the land was used in conjunction with UMMC as a place to dispose of hospital waste. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
By the way the previous post was not published by the smartass the posted at 10:32.
September 25, 2024 at 4:11 AM
Who are you kidding? Chokwe Sr. would have been exactly the same as Jr. That should have been obvious when KF posted about Sr. trying to claim racism with the poor state of baseball fields.
https://kingfish1935.blogspot.com/2024/06/2-million-for-grove-park.html
Sam's Club was on Raymond Road just behind Wal-Mart & Sack n Save at Ellis Isle. Only Papa John's I remember being in South Jackson was next to gas station at the corner of McDowell and Belvedere across from Key Elementary. There was a Pizza Hut, Po' Folks and IHOP at Ellis Isle also.
September 25, 2024 at 5:02 AM
I remember it being on a hill south of I-20. It's a New Horizon church now. After it moved it was a Sack-N-Save discount grocery store. East of Bobby Rush Blvd and Raymond Rd.
Nope. Sack and Save was always a grocery store. Was Warehouse Foods if I remember correctly, then became Sack and Save #2.
disgraceful that we cannot work together. The deal was done and the state will win if it wants..but it's much better if we could all work this out and move on without all the public acrimony.
Also, disagree with KF contention that this is not a good area for a costco or topgolf. A costco or topgolf would sure as heck be better than what they have now..... and would not be a negative for the natural area.
No Chowke, Costco representatives know a grifter when they see one. That means you, butt head.
KF is correct. Was originally called Warehouse Foods, then became Sack n Save #2. The building behind it was once a two screen movie theater. Later became administrative office for Jitney/McCarty-Holman.
8:55 You are wrong. I go to Costco weekly, but I wouldn't if it was located in Jackson. Spare me the "white paranoia lecture." I have been robbed at gunpoint and kidnapped in Jackson. When some thug sticks a glock against your head it changes your perspective on crime.
Oh yeah, JPD deleted all references to the crime from their records despite the fact I have paperwork from JPD reading "armed robbery and kidnapping."
I'm not shopping in Jackson.
8:55 is a textbook liberal. "it's much better if we could all work this out and move on without all the public acrimony." Lumumba is attacking the State, the State is not reciprocating.
This is akin to the Washington Post blaming the attack on Paul Pelosi on the GOP due to ads run against Nancy Pelosi TWELVE years earlier. Meanwhile, the Dems are relentless in calling Trump "Hitler, Mussolini, threat to democracy, etc." immediately before and after assassination attempts on Trump's life. Yet the attempts to kill him are Trump's fault.
I used to be a liberal. But liberalism is now intellectually dishonest.
The Sam’s club was originally behind the Ellis sack and save. Sam Walton himself attended the grand opening and got up on a table to sing dance and talk to the employee and guest. I was there.
The difference between a liberal/bleeding heart and a conservative is that the liberal/bleeding heart has never had a gun pointed at him.
You fail to understand what the marxist mayor's goals are. You fail to understand the marxist mind set. Likewise, you don't understand, because the marxist mind is antithesis to those that support capitalism, and democracy. The marxist are in a never ending campaign to conquer all other political philosophies.
We are doomed to lose this conflict of political rule, because of the misunderstanding of marxist. The ignorant belief of peaceful coexistence with this never-ending conflict is an illusion, and a lie perpetrated by the marxist. Their overriding principle of by any means necessary will be our down fall.
We are doomed to
"It is the States fault. I promise you."
Yeah, but I still don't believe you.
Jackson's mayor is a Black Nationalist, just like his father was. All this talk about national politics and Marxism miss the point. Chockwe Antar Lumumba is about race, plain and simple.
Post a Comment