Jackson Free Press

Planning and development consultant Leland Speed said he wants to expand the skeleton crew of the city's code enforcement division by about seven officers. "My idea is for neighborhood associations to nominate one person from each ward, who will then work for the city in enforcing code enforcement," Speed said. "The neighborhood associations know better than anyone what's right or wrong with their neighborhoods, and this will empower them."

Code enforcement currently has only nine officers, though manager Joe Lewis said he needs at least 30 for a city the size of Jackson.

Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon agreed that neighborhood associations like the Battlefield Park Neighborhood Association or the South Jackson Neighborhood Association were effective neighborhood watchdogs. "All the neighborhood preservation in my own neighborhood happened on a grass-roots level," Barrett-Simon said. "I think this is wise."