Jackson Mayor Lumumba highlights good amid many problems during State of the City address

In a speech where Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba tried to highlight some of the good things happening in the capital city that he believes are being overlooked, the city's problems still loomed large.

As Lumumba gave his sixth State of the City Address, he began by addressing the death of veteran Jackson Police Department officer Michael Tarrio.

"Today we lost one of our own. A member of the Jackson family, both literally and figuratively, and specifically a member of the Jackson Police Department," Lumumba said. "Officer Michael Tarrio was literally a hero. A hero who I had the great pleasure of presenting the 'I Am Jackson' award after a shootout that he had, that many of you witnessed on the news because the video was captured by a local gas station police camera."

After a moment of silence, Lumumba explained why he had selected the location for the speech: The Courtyard on Farish Street.

The mayor said the "revitalization" and "rebirth" of the Historic Farish Street District, which was once home to a vibrant community of Black-owned businesses, has been one of his biggest priorities while in office. He said there are a number of businesses set to open in the area, including the Soul City Market, which will be located next door to where the speech was given. Lumumba said it would be similar to the existing Cultivation Food Hall at The District at Eastover.

"We know that Farish Street has great symbolism to the history and culture of our city," Lumumba said. "We believe that Farish Street has a soul."

Lumumba then transitioned to his prepared remarks, which were prerecorded. He began with an indirect reference to Gov. Tate Reeves, who said it was a "great day" to not be in Jackson during a September event in Hattiesburg amid Jackson's water crisis.

"I stand before you today to tell you that, despite what you might have heard, it is always a great day to be in Jackson," Lumumba said.

The mayor addressed his tumultuous relationship with the state — and the city council — multiple times throughout the speech.

"It takes all of us working together, my team, the city council, state leaders, and all of you to fight for a better, more sustainable, and more equitable future," Lumumba said when addressing many of the problems Jackson faces.

Lumumba later directly addressed the state's leadership, accusing them of conducting backdoor dealings to privatize or regionalize the failing water system, and claiming that they have refused to invest in the capital city for decades, citing the $47 million it requested from the state for its water system earlier this year as an example.

"We will continue to stand with a coalition of the willing, while keeping our eyes on those seeking to profit from this disaster," Lumumba said. "Despite being the largest city in the state, and the capital of the state of Mississippi, we have suffered from a lack of investment from the state legislature."

The mayor said funds from the city's successful lawsuit with Siemens will lead to the completion of a complete overhaul of the city's billing and metering system by Spring 2023.

After his speech, while he was addressing the media, Lumumba rebuffed recent comments from Reeves that claimed the city was trying to solely grant a contract to operate the water system. Lumumba said the Environmental Protection Agency and Mississippi State Department of Health will be involved in the bidding process, but the city should ultimately decide who wins the contract that it should have to pay for.

"You wouldn't expect that I tell you that ... I'm going to pick you out a house, right? I'm not going to ask you how many rooms you need. I'm not going to ask you how many bathrooms you need. I'm not going to ask you what you want your kitchen to look like. But I'm going to tell you that when I pick it out for you, you're responsible for the mortgage," Lumumba said. "There is no precedent in state history."

Friction with the state also came over the city's police department. Lumumba said the city has raised officer pay and hired more officers, but it cannot fill all of its openings without help funding raises. The state has thus far declined to provide that financial help, he said.

"We continue to make strides with our police department, whether by increasing our officers with multiple recruiting classes, increasing the pay of our officers to increase recruitment and retention, or by investing in a city-wide camera network and a real time command staff," Lumumba said. "We have raised the salaries of recruits out of the academy, and the sergeants and commanders. They deserve it. Unfortunately, our requests to the state legislature for millions of dollars in support of the department went unheeded."

Progress he sees in the police department was just one of the positives the mayor chose to highlight, in contrast with the many negative stories people hear about Jackson. Lumumba said firefighter pay and staffing has also increased under his watch.

He also pointed to economic development, which includes the ongoing work on Farish Street and also developments like the Capri Theater in Fondren. He gave specific mentions to businesses in the Belhaven Town Center development as well, including Fertile Ground brewery and Elvie's, which was recently on a New York Times list of the 50 best restaurants in America.

"The continued expansion of the Belhaven Town Center is the perfect example of how we can transform blight parcels in our neighborhoods to areas of economic viability on a block-by-block basis," Lumumba said.

While addressing the media, Lumumba said the city's financial situation is multifaceted. When looking at the general fund, the mayor said the city is "on solid ground" and has largely rebounded from the pandemic. However, the city continues "to be challenged on our enterprise side," he said. The enterprise fund takes in revenue from the water system, and the failures in the billing system have caused problems there. That said, even if the billing system is fixed by spring, as promised, Lumumba said the enterprise fund will likely continue to fall short.

"I do think that it's important for the residents to know this, because as the city has received critique, right, and I think even fairly so for our failed purchase of water meters, that even if we had 100% receivables on our water billing, it still would be well below what we need in order to fix our water infrastructure," Lumumba said. "It would be woefully insufficient for what we need."

After thanking a number of members of his staff, Lumumba turned his praise towards Jackson State Head Football Coach Deion Sanders, known by many as "Coach Prime."

"I would be remiss to not mention Coach Prime and the absolute blessing he has been on our city, our youth in particular," Lumumba said. "Coach is changing the world from where he stands, and our city is a much better place because of him."

The Jackson State Tigers will be hosting ESPN's College GameDay on Saturday, an event which Lumumba has warned could put the city's water system at risk of failing again.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba delivers State of the City address