Search is on for a lobbyist to represent Jackson in state leg. Council creates task force
The city needs a lobbyist.
That was the conclusion coming out of a meeting held by members of the Jackson City Council to discuss legislative items they will try to get passed during next year's sessions of the Mississippi state legislature.
Representative Chris Bell, who represents Hinds County in the 65th House District, spoke with council members during the meeting. The main advice he gave the council was to find a lobbyist.
"First and foremost you need to hire a lobbyist. The Hinds County delegation, we have a number of bills and legislation that we deal with during the offseason and during the session. There's no earthly way that we can keep up with everything that goes on and comes out of the City of Jackson," Bell said. "There are some things that have slipped through the cracks in the past when you didn't have a lobbyist."
A lobbyist is instrumental in making sure that bills are still on the floor that legislators may have missed or forgot about while in session, Bell said.
Hiring a lobbyist is the responsibility of Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba. The Jackson City Council must then approve the hire.
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The city is currently in the process of hiring a lobbyist, according to City Spokesperson Melissa Payne.
City Council's legislative task force
While the search is on for a lobbyist, Ward 5 Councilman Vernon Hartley said the council is working to put together a legislative task force in-charge of putting together goals for the city.
"We have began a task force that's going to define in more details our legislative asks," Hartley said. "We are working with a deadline to put that task force in operation so we can develop the legislative asks."
That task force is headed up by Andy Frame. He is the executive director and general counsel for Revitalize Mississippi, a nonprofit that "assists low-income neighborhoods by clearing abandoned, overgrown lots, demolishing dilapidated houses, and working with neighborhood stakeholders to improve their community and expand home ownership," according to their website.
Cleaning up neighborhoods with abandoned properties, houses and filled with blight is much needed, Hartley said, especially in certain areas in his Ward 5 in West Jackson. He said his main legislative ask will be to talk with state legislators about taking over these properties and reselling them with the city earning back a percentage of the sale.
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"State owned properties have a huge impact on the development of our communities, on public health and on crime. That's one of the priorities of my area in West Jackson," Hartley said. "The legislative task force will be involved in these properties that have become public health hazards and hopefully getting the county, the city, nonprofits and other stakeholders involved so we can present a more detailed legislative ask."
He said the state should be interested in doing something with these properties because "they harbor rats, they are a haven for crime, they present poor aesthetics to the community and lower property values." Even more, the "state should be interested from an economic standpoint because if the tax base goes down so does state revenue and city revenue," Hartley said.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: A lobbyist is needed to represent Jackson issues in state legislature
