Jackson Free Press

Jackson has a strong-mayor, weak-council structure. Some City Council members seem to want to weaken their own power even more by not attending meetings and work sessions—or leaving early when they do attend.

This continuing trend is baffling. These are elected officials who earn $25,000-per-year salaries for a part-time job ––salaries that come from taxpayers in a county with a median household income of $37,358 per year.

The council holds three different, regularly scheduled meetings: bi-weekly regular meetings on Tuesdays, work sessions the day before regular meetings to discuss the agenda and special meetings on Mondays not followed by regular meetings. Special meetings often consist only of the claims docket and payroll votes.

Of course, not all council members miss work. Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell, Ward 4 Councilman and Council President Frank Bluntson and Ward 6 Councilman Tony Yarber have had few or no absences from regular meetings, special meetings or work sessions in recent months. Ward 5 Councilman Charles Tillman, who does not draw a salary from the council because he is a retired public-school counselor and principal, has also had a good attendance record with the exception of a couple of weeks missed due to medical issues.

The attendance of the other three council members—Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, Ward 3 Councilwoman LaRita Cooper-Stokes and Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon—has been far from exemplary.

Lumumba's attendance at work sessions has been sparse, including last Monday's session, which he left early after attending the Budget Committee meeting right before. Cooper-Stokes' attendance at regular meetings has been spotless, but she has not attended a work session since she joined the council March 2, and her attendance at special meetings has been few and far between.

Lumumba and Cooper-Stokes' lack of attendance at work sessions has adversely affected regular meetings, as fellow council members, city administrators and legal counsel have had to rehash the previous day's discussions for the two.

Barrett-Simon's absences are mostly from special meetings. The meetings were held at 10 a.m., but Barrett-Simon proposed an order to move the meetings to 4 p.m. due to a scheduling conflict. The council passed the change April 17.

Barrett-Simon is a member of the 24-member volunteer board of directors for the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame that also meets at 10 a.m. on those days.

As the employers of these elected officials, the citizens of Jackson need to demand better and hold their council members accountable. Do not allow them to continue to miss work on your taxpayer dollars.

Previous Comments

ID

167767

Comment

Great article and let's not forget accesseibility. If you can't get in touch with them or if they don't return correspondence on serious matters, they are considered hot garbage in my book.

Author

Duan C.

Date

2012-05-18T11:49:12-06:00

ID

167771

Comment

Duan, you and I both have racked our brains trying to figure this out. Why people vote the way they do given the presence of so much info that would suggest you change your vote. Yep. Hot garbage would describe some of our council members best. Question is, nxt may how do we change it? What do we do when ward 3 residents seem to not care that their councilperson doesnt show up to work sessions regularly? How are council members penalized? How can the mayor step in? Id be interested in researching what benefits and perks come with these seats that laypeople dont know about. Are there health benefits. Free gas? A key to the special restroom? Lol. Why are folks who clearly are inept so feverishly trying to get and keep these seats.

Author

Kamikaze

Date

2012-05-18T14:14:37-06:00

ID

167773

Comment

If these people have so many scheduling conflicts or other pressing issues to tend to, why are they on the city council?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2012-05-18T14:56:52-06:00

ID

167790

Comment

Hey Kaz, like you and the Mrs said a while back, start grading these jokers based on the same competencies all civil servants across the state get graded on: Integrity - Does the elected official demonstrate a sense of responsibility and commitment to the public trust through statements and actions Work Ethic - Is the elected official productive, diligent, conscientious, timely and loyal. Service Orientation - During the elected officials term in office, did they demonstrate a commitment to quality public service through statements and actions Accountability - Has the elected official accept any kind responsibility for actions and results to their constituency during their term. If you want to, you can set up polls and ask people to answer the questions on a scale of 1 to 5 in regards to teh competencies and their respective elected officials, 1 being inefficient and 5 indicating excels at duties. But those are core competencies that are expected of all civil servants - the challenge would the validity of the grading and whether or not people feel there's a bias one way or the other. But I think that's a small step, to addressing a legit concern.

Author

Duan C.

Date

2012-05-22T08:41:33-06:00

ID

167798

Comment

And Chokwe wants to run for Mayor? Hopefully the citizens of Jackson don't fall for this clown's rhetoric.

Author

RobbieR

Date

2012-05-22T14:07:31-06:00