Jackson Free Press

Ashby Foote defeated Dorsey Carson by a 106-vote margin to win the race for Jackson Ward 1 councilman.

The final unofficial tally was 2,023 for Foote to 1,917 for Carson, or 51 percent to 49 percent.

In other city of Jackson related business, the council voted to move forward with holding a special election for the Ward 3 seat vacated by LaRita Cooper-Stokes, who will become a judge after the first of the year. That election will take place Jan. 27 with a runoff two weeks later if necessary.

Cooper-Stokes' husband, Kenny, who now serves on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors has announced his intention to run for the seat he once held.

Other council action included a consideration to move $76 million in cash from Trustmark Bank, the city's financial institution for three decades to BancorpSouth. After council members expressed hesitation about voting on the measure without time to review, the agenda item was tabled until next week's special meeting.

Finally, the council unanimously passed a resolution to create a human-rights charter and commission.

"The passage of this resolution will help the City of Jackson better confront many of the social ills that confront our society, such as the abuse of state power, police brutality, and inhumane policies that lead to the discrimination, inequality, and gross inequities experienced by Blacks, Latinos, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, workers, Muslims and other religious minorities, the homeless and members of the LGBTQI community amongst others," read a news release from the groups that asked for the resolution.

Those local groups include Cooperation Jackson, the Jackson People's Assembly, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, the Mississippi Workers Center for Human Rights, the Mississippi Immigrants Rights Alliance, and the Jackson Branch of the NAACP.