Jackson Free Press

After Chokwe Lumumba's triumph in the May Democratic primary spurred a spate of race-tinged vitriol directed at Lumumba and Jackson's predominantly African American citizenry, the then-mayor-elect vowed to restore unity.

Lumumba's plan for doing so involves launching a citywide cleanup program and begins with infrastructure reconstruction. During the campaign, many voters ranked the condition of Jackson's streets and blight as among their top concerns, and Lumumba said these issues transcend race and ward.

Tomorrow—Saturday, Oct. 26—Mayor Lumumba is fulfilling that oft-repeated promise of a citywide cleanup.

City officials want the initiative—called "A Cleaner Jackson, A Greener Jackson, A Healthier Jackson"—to serve as a public-education campaign on curbing littering and polluting the city's stressed storm-water system. In short, making Jackson pretty helps the city's long-term economic vitality.

"We're gonna make a difference today. Be prepared. Let's go," Lumumba said at a city council meeting this week.

The national nonprofit group Keep America Beautiful believes that neighborhood beautification initiatives "create stronger, more cohesive communities with real dollars-and-cents benefits."

As evidence, the organization notes that planting a tree within 50 feet of a residence can increase its value by 9 percent, that houses located within a quarter-mile of a park have 10 percent higher value on average and that reclaiming vacant lots can raise property values of adjacent properties as much as 30 percent.

What's more is that "beautification projects bring neighbors together, building pride, cohesion and connection" and "public housing areas with trees and vegetation have shown a 50 percent reduction in both violent crimes and property crimes," information from Keep America Beautiful states.

The citywide cleanup could breathe life into efforts that are under way to address Jackson's struggling problem with vacant lots and homes. For many of the properties, the process to clean them up is caught up in a nearly endless cycle of letters by mail, empty threats from the city, and legal tangles that take months and even years to resolve.

When a complaint is made on a property, the city sends someone to assess whether the property is in violation of city codes. If it is, the city issues a warning to the property owner, who has 90 days to respond, but that can be done with a simple letter and one-time compliance. If, for example, the violation is due to an unkempt lawn, the owner can have the grass cut once. If he or she then fails to keep up the lawn again, another complaint must be filed, and the 90-day process starts over. In that way, the laws benefit the landowners and make it difficult for the city to wrest abandoned properties from owners who aren't caring for them.

Said Lumumba of tomorrow's cleanup: "Our goal is to create a volunteer-based effort aimed towards educating, motivating and mobilizing citizens toward one goal—to unite as one force and clean communities across Jackson."

Citizens interested in participating as a volunteer for this cleanup project should call Jackson constituent services at 601-960-1084 or the city's Solid Waste Division at 601-960-0000.

Tyler Cleveland contributed to this story.