Jackson Free Press

Given the mountain of challenges staring at the Jackson City Council, it's hard to imagine two candidates whose resumes make them better equipped to get their hands dirty than Ashby Foote and Dorsey Carson.

Foote, who founded an investment firm called Vector Money Management, says he has made a successful career of picking financial winners for clients.

Specializing in construction litigation, Carson promises to bring a keen eye as the city prepares to spend close to $1 billion related to the U.S. EPA consent decree and the 1-percent infrastructure sales tax.

Carson edged out Foote for the top vote getter in the Dec. 2 special election for Jackson Ward 1 councilman. Now, the two men will square off in a Dec. 16 runoff.

During his campaign,, Carson named economic development—recruiting businesses, retaining and recruiting the middle class—public education and public safety as top priorities.

Carson also wants to bring a public middle school to the ward, in northeast Jackson, which he believes will slow population shifts of middle-class families out of Jackson to surrounding areas.

"The tax burden on everybody else has increased while the services have decreased. So the question becomes how do you keep middle-class families here, that have been moving to Madison and Rankin counties and continue to do so," said Carson, who has as 4-year-old daughter with wife, Susan.

Improving infrastructure is another key for both candidates, both of whom have experience they believe will be vital on the council. Foote said he wants to bring his background in the financial services field to bear on council deliberations about the budget.

Foote made it into the runoff despite news that surfaced just before the election about state and federal lax liens that had been assessed against him and his wife, from 1996 through 2012, for not paying personal tax liabilities of $1,318, $39,947, $957, $46,642 and $75,673, the last in 2012.

Foote told the Jackson Free Press that the unpaid taxes were a result of getting behind during times of economic downturn.

While other investment firms were going through big layoffs and going out of business, Foote explained that he made the decision not to lay anyone off at his small firm of three employees, including himself, and that's one of the reasons he could not meet his tax obligations on his reported personal income.

"As bad as it was for the general economy, it was really bad for the financial-services industry. That's why you had the big bailouts," Foote said of the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP, which started in the Bush administration and continued under President Obama. "It went to the big firms; it didn't go to the small firms."

Foote said he has an installment plan with the IRS to pay back what he still owes on the 2012 1040 lien, a current balance of around $60,000 from the original total of $75,763, over the next three years. Foote said he doesn't believe his tax troubles undercut the central message of his campaign, that he is an expert in investments and finance.

"I think it makes me more sensitive to having tight budgets so you can go through tough times," Foote said.

Hinds County records indicate that his property taxes on his $362,830 home are up-to-date, however. He drives a red Hummer.

The runoff candidates were also the top money recipients in the special election. Carson brought in the greatest amount of contributions at $53,000 from more than 100 contributors, while Foote's donations totaled nearly $36,000. No debates have been scheduled, but both candidates say they would be open to participating in one.

Breaking Down the Race

Dorsey Carson

Age: 43

Education: Mississippi State University, B.A.; University of Georgia School of Law

Career: Attorney, founder of Carson Law Group

Family: Susan (wife); Hays (daughter)

Signature Issue

Carson wants to attract a new middle school to northeast Jackson, which currently lacks a public secondary school. Carson believes that the degradation of public schools has helped along the erosion of the middle class in northeast Jackson.

However, Carson rejects the notion that council members can't be more active in education issues.

"In general, the council has not been as involved with JPS as they should be," Carson said. "The importance of public education in our city is huge on every level."

Infrastructure

Carson wants to keep a close eye on city infrastructure projects including work related to the U.S. EPA consent decree and general ongoing problems the city's loss of 40 percent of its treated water.

"We've got this 1-cent sales tax that provides the revenue for us to plan ahead of time, and not spend all our time putting bubble gum on leaking pipes when we can use our funds wisely to replace those pipes that need to be replaced. I think with appropriate oversight we can get more accomplished for less money," Carson said.

A construction attorney, he also wants to ensure that contracts for the work are doled out fairly and is concerned that "some good construction companies feel locked out of the process" because of the highly politicized nature of city contracts historically. Carson said he would have to recuse himself in very few related to his law practice, which focuses on litigation.

Hiring Consultants

Carson is critical of recent city council decisions to hire consultants.

"We have a history of studying everything," Carson, pointing specifically to the council's recent action to spend up to $100,000 on a feasibility study for an 4,000-seat downtown collegiate baseball stadium.

Tim Bennett, who helped move the Atlanta Braves Double A team to Pearl, will complete the study. Carson could not definitely say whether he would have supported the measure, which drew unanimous support. He also called into question the hiring of an outside consultant to review the city's water and sewer finances for $200,000.

Ashby Foote

Age: 62

Education: United States Military Academy at West Point, B.S.

Career: Investment Adviser, founder and owner of Vector Money Management

Family: Suzie (wife); Turner, Stuart and Tommy (sons), Sarah (daughter)

Signature Issue

Foote points to Oxford as an example of a city that recently installed parking meters and has seen year-over-year revenue growth ever since.

"One of the first things I would ask if we were in a budget meeting would be to try to turn to whoever department parking meters is and say, 'Can you explain how you come in 70 percent short of what you expected to get?' It's not like the city is going to be in default because you're short $123,000, but that's really messed up for planning purposes," Foote said.

Infrastructure

When it comes to infrastructure, Foote makes a distinction between the "must-haves and the nice-to-haves."

"All the construction going on right now and that's continuing to go on and the re-do of the construction with the changing of Capitol Street from one-way to two-way—I really have to question that decision. That's a lot of cost for not much value added at a time when we've got severe financial needs over our water and sewer system. To me, that's an example of poor prioritizing," he said.

Foote also points out that he has written news editorials against other large-scale economic -evelopment issues, including Mississippi Power Co.'s Kemper County plant, which has been plagued by delays and cost overruns. Foote's stance on Kemper stands in opposition to some of the most powerful figures among his fellow Republicans, such as former Gov. Haley Barbour, a huge booster for Kemper while in office and since.

Hiring Consultants

Foote also criticized the council's commissioning of Tim Bennett's company to perform a stadium feasibility study and said he likely would have voted against the measure had been on the council. "I get a little apprehensive about hiring consultants," Foote said. "I am skeptical of whether we would get a reasonable return on our investment with the baseball stadium. I wonder if that's the right priority for our money when we're having a hard time getting our water and sewer system up."

Editorial: Consider Vote Carefully in Ward 1 Runoff