Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the Club's February 9 meeting. The subject of his speech was an update on the status of the City of Jackson. He started by stating that when he took office nearly 4 years ago, the City was in crisis. It had a $6 million annual fund deficit, employees were on furlough, its school district was about to be taken over by the state, and its water system was unable to bill its customers in spite of a $90 million project to upgrade the metering and billing systems.
Today, the City has a $12 million surplus, it is paying 100% of the health insurance for its employees, its bond rating has improved, no employees are on furlough, and the school district rating has improved. In addition, the City received the largest settlement in its history for the failed water measuring and billing system from the prime contractor and the bus system has been upgraded. The City has also hired a program manager to overhaul the water billing system. For the first time in 18 years, property valuations in the city have increased.
The City is not without problems though. Crime is a major issue. It is being addressed by both traditional and new tech approaches to improve policing. A camera network is dispersed throughout the city and the police Department is being equipped with license plate readers to help identify and locate stolen vehicles. The Mayor is meeting with Millenials in a Mayor and Millennials Roundtable. People are moving into downtown in newly constructed or renewed housing units
We thank Mayor Lumumba for his speech and for his service to the City of Jackson. The complete meeting, including Mayor Lumumba's presentation, may be viewed at the following link: https://vimeo.com/510822462.
Also, here is a photo of the Mayor during his speech:
