Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba managed to hire two cronies before the City Council put a stop to his shenanigans yesterday.
Mayor Lumumba quietly hired Tariq "Skyhook" Abdul-Tawwab as Deputy Public Works Director in March. His probationary period will probably (and coincidentally) end before July 1. He is an outspoken supporter of the Mayor. His wife works for Rukia Lumumba However, that hire was just a preamble to the main event .
Hizzoner hired David L. Archie, yes - that David L. Archie, to work in constituent services. It is not known when he was hired. Although Archie ran against the Mayor in the Democratic primary, he seemed to fill the role of serving as the hatchet man attacking winner State Senator John Horhn. His attacks on Horhn continued through the runoff.
After WLBT reported the news of Archie's hire Monday, the City Council stepped in and said enough is enough at it's Tuesday night meeting.
Councilwoman Virgi Lindsay sponsored an ordinance that stated:
IT, IS, THEREFORE, ORDERED AND ORDAINED that the salaries, benefits, and other compensation for all job position vacancies and future vacancies that will occur under the current administration and that are within the executive branch of the City of Jackson government are hereby temporarily reduced to zero from the passage of this Ordinance through June 30, 2025 and expiring upon the swearing-in of the newly elected mayor, at which time the salaries are restored in conformity with the applicable budget. IT, IS, FURTHER, ORDERED AND ORDAINED that in the interest of continued public health, welfare, security and safety, all positions dedicated to certified law enforcement patrol and combat fire are exempted from this Ordinance.
The Council voted unanimously to place the proposed ordinance on the agenda since the deadline for posting items on the agenda was Friday.
Chief of Staff Safiyah Omari (PhD) questioned the ordinance as she asked whether it applied to the legal department, which is apparently short of lawyers. Lindsay said it applied to all departments although the ordinance exempts JPD from the hiring freeze.
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Lumumba co-conspirator Aaron Banks said he had concerns about whether the hiring freeze would generate more overtime.
In the end, the Council voted unanimously (with all members present) to pass the ordinance .
Mayor Lumumba did not attend the Council meeting just as he did not attend the 1% Sales Tax Commission meeting last week.
37 comments:
Adding a racist such as John Archie isn’t shocking considering phd Omari has same point of views.
Can somebody please take down the huge (failed) campaign sign at Tombigbee and Jefferson???
David?
WTH does Rukia do where she has employees? ( we know she doesn't pay her taxes!)
I have to say, this may be the first time in many years that the council has exhibited leadership and wisdom
Too little, too late.
So will Archie and Skyhook get fired after Horhn is sworn in?
But yet, the city employees can't get a raise.
They're creating these made up jobs for their buddies, but the city employees can't get a cost of living raise.
And take down his voice at the airport…its failed brainwashing
Ready to hear Horn mumbling instead
Stop the blight of loser campaign signs everywhere
Please welcome our new "Fire & Police Liasson Admin Facilitator - David Archie!"
@12:43 Rukia runs a non-profit that is funded by grants from various NGO, foundations, and federal grants. Trump and Elon shut off the majority of her income. She is abouy to go broke if she cant find new funding. she is in a similar position to BLM which is bankrupt due to their leadership’s lavish and illegal spending.
Virgi borrowed a roll of pennies from the bank, saying " I need to display some common cents on my way out of the Council".
I wish we still tarred and feathered people.
Virgi grows a spine @ the 59th minute of the 11th hour. She's a joke.
Ex-Mayor Chokwe Lumumba is a really slick cookie. Why didn't the City Council foresee this & voted on this earlier????
Attn 12:27 Why take the sign down? Nobody would know it was there had they not read you comment. Have you seen the traffic into and out of downtown Jackson?
Keep sticking it to Chalkline. He deserves it.
It's kind of hard to get the good paying jobs when the only thing on your resume is "community activist" and "radical for hire" . Even if you only have the job for a few weeks it still implies that you might be qualified, even if you aren't. Petty politics.
barn door closed after cow escapes-
Shock-Way out touring non-extradition countries.
He just demonstrated what a sleazy punk he is. It backfired on him (bravo, CC members!) and he will always be remembered for his disdain of the people of Jackson.
If 1:05 is correct, then that is a great reason to support Trump. I don't want Rukia getting any of my tax money to fund her insanity.
May 21, 2025 at 2:32 PM
You hit the nail on the head. That's the reason he's NOT attending City Council meetings. Enough said.
John hohrn and Tariq but despise jxn water. They will be besties.
Archie was hired after the election runoff, so he won't have his 90 days in to avoid the probationary period. And, Mississippi is still an at-will state, so even Tarq might have some problems staying in his no-show job come a new administration.
I'm sure they knew David would be a short-termer but I'm sure the two/three months salary he will draw will equal what the Campaign promised him when he signed up as a candidate and then endorsed Chocke after joining the other losers on the sideline. Probably $10k - generally a good round expenditure for such, especially when the campaign can pay it withh OPM (Other People's Money).
Along with the freeze, why didn’t Council also terminate the new ones. They have that authority. Leaving them as employees allows choke-me to purposely wastefully throw away tax dollars. And rub it in your face.
Chowke needs to google "How to become a citizen of Lebanon." And change his name to "Chowke Ghosn." That may be his best bet on avoiding extradition.
Did Rukia pay her property taxes?
With his public corruption trial looming, Lumumba had to figure out a legal way to bribe people, because that's the only way he knows how to do anything.
The guy is rotten to the core.
In the interest of accountability and transparency, one can hope the State Auditor will put a tail on the two new hires and show the public that these are both no-show hires and total waste, fraud and abuse.
Because no one on the council has a spine. This was just virtue signaling.
Not allowed to since it's municipal.
City council is as corrupt as the mayor
hahahaha. Thanks, made me laugh.
Glad they did this. Will stop any more payback hires.
The probationary period for COJ employees hired in civil service protected positions is 1 year. Directors and Deputy Directors are at-will. The incoming Mayor can terminate both of them.
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