The fight to control the future of Jackson's water system is going to a conference committee at the Mississippi Legislature after the House declined to concur with the Senate on HB# 1677 yesterday.
State Representative Shanda Yates (I - Rootdown Dispensary) authored HB# 1677. The bill will create the Jackson Metro Water Authority and task the Authority with operating water and sewer services operated by the city of Jackson.
The original bill stated a nine-member board will govern the Authority. HB# 1677 spells out who will sit on the board:
The thought of Jackson controlling the Board did not sit too well with the Senate. The Energy Committee amended the bill so Ridgeland and Byram will no longer have to get its nominees approved by the city of Jackson. The bill also replaces the President of the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce with another Governor's appointee. However, the Governor must confer with the Mayor of Jackson before making the appointment. The Governor and Jackson Mayor would have equal blocs on the Board.
The amendment effectively removes control of the Authority from the city of Jackson. The Senate passed the amended bill and sent it back to the House for concurrence.
The House declined to concur. There is a disagreement over the composition of the Board. Ms. Yates told WLBT there was a disagreement over the ninth seat on the Board. The original version of the bill states it will be filled by the President of the Greater Jackson Chamber of Commerce while the amended bill gives the governor another appointment.
The appointments to conference have not been announced.
Kingfish note: Mayor Horhn supports the original bill. However, Hizzoner will not be in office forever. It was Jackson voters and their political leadership who destroyed Jackson's water system. It was the Jackson voters who voted for Harvey and his Siemen's contract. It was the Jackson voters who voted for Yarber and his moratoriums on cut-offs. It was the Jackson voters who voted for Lumumba who cut off the cut-offs and ran the system into the ground through neglect and incompetence.
Frankly, the Jackson voters have repeatedly shown they are not capable of electing political leadership that can handle a water/sewer system. The political leadership repeatedly shoves sweetheart deals down our throats, opposes water-cutoffs, and needed rate increases.
Mayor Horhn may be Jackson's best Mayor ever but no one at the Capitol trusts who the voters will elect after he leaves office. Jackson forfeited the right to control its water system quite some time ago and that, my friends, is the bottom line.
9 comments:
I nominate sista Rukia for the entertainment value. Right?
100% do not pass Go, do not collect $200. Shame me once, shame me twice....
I was for the federal takeover of Jackson water......but JXN Water has shown themselves to me to be nothing more than wasteful, bureaucratic fraudster LIARS. I have had 2 simple requests for over 18 months now, and have yet to have any resolution. I hope they do not let this fall aport over one seat.....grow up, be men, work it out, and move forward. ***the fact that we are paying a company from shreveport to keep people over her all out permanently for water hooks ups is absurd.
Wlbt story said yates expects to be on the committee. It needs to be all new
members.
1:24 I guess you didn't bother to visit
their Jackson Medical Mall center. Just
walk in. There's no reason to call them
names.
Fair enough but Jackson voters deserve a little credit (and mercy) for electing a promising Mayor. That doesn't mean the Chamber President is a good appointee, or that majority state control is unwarranted, but it's looking like the voters are interested in restoring the city's credibility. Also, Lumumba, Sr., signed the Siemens deal after getting elected because he promised the power brokers that he would sign it. It may have been a done deal but he could have undone it before it was inked.
The voters of Jackson sat in at lunch counters and marched in the streets for the right to vote themselves into not having running water. Who are we to stand in the way of their self-determination?
Can the honorable Shanda Yates please be the representative of Kudzu Kannabis instead of Rootdown? Thank you.
I thought Harvey Johnson signed off on
the Siemans deal.
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