Jackson Free Press

In his State of the City address yesterday, Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. pointed out that selecting the MetroCenter Mall as the event's location bears significance for Jackson. Despite the city's budget challenges, revitalization of MetroCenter and the Highway 80 corridor are top priorities for the administration, Johnson said.

"[A]reas like major retail corridors and downtowns go through cycles of investment and disinvestment," Johnson said of the mall, which has lost revenue as stores have moved to the suburbs over the last several years. He also predicted that as new businesses, renovations and mixed-used developments come online along the Highway 80 corridor, the area will attract more people.

This Highway 80 revitalization will begin with construction of a $6 million JATRAN facility located on the corner of Valley Street and Highway 80, Johnson said.

Johnson also championed development in other areas of Jackson including the Farish Street Entertainment District, where several businesses are scheduled to open this fall; the Standard Life Building, scheduled to open later this year; the renovations of the McCoy Federal building scheduled for completion in early 2011; and the construction of a convention center hotel, which could begin later this fall.

He also applauded the Jackson Housing Authority for the North Midtown development, a $3.6 million energy-efficient affordable housing development in the Midtown community, which broke ground on May 20.

Johnson said that the new developments would increase sales-tax revenue, and help aid the city's "serious budgetary situation." The Jackson Free Press reported last month that the city is facing a $1.75 million shortfall and the administration plans on cutting the city's departmental budgets by a total of $840,549 and adding $600,000 from the city's fund balance reserves to cover those shortfalls.

Johnson also championed the $5.5 million in savings expected in the next year by restructuring existing general obligation bond debt. The city expects to see several more million in savings over the course of the next five years

In response to the Mayor's address, Ward 2 Councilman Chowke Lumumba said addressing the city's budget situation needs to be a high priority.

"It's not the fault of the mayor that we have a downslide in the tax situation. That's the vicious cycle that we in this city, state and country are caught up in, " he said.

He added that the administration should address the city's high unemployment rates by creating more public work projects and keeping dollars inside Jackson.

"The solution has to more geared to putting a stimulus into the hands of the grassroots people," Lumumba said. "To some extent, infrastructure problems could be a blessing in disguise if we do it right. In the public work's department, we are going to need to expand the workforce and put more people (to work) on the street."

Johnson noted in his address that the city's water and sewer systems still need more than $200 million in repairs after several water mains broke in January. A water line broke last month leaving many residents without water pressure.

"We continue to lobby our state and federal legislative delegations, and this year we were able to obtain $6 million from the state for water needs, and (we) have asked Congress to appropriate $10 million for our water needs from a 2007 $25 million authorization," he said.

Johnson gave no definite plans for where the rest of the money for improvements would come from, but said that his administration would soon form a water and sewer committee, comprised of city residents, to get the community involved in the process.

Read an in-depth analysis of the mayor's speech in next week's JFP issue.