Jackson Free Press

This week, Associated Press writer Emily Pettus aptly noted: "In a few weeks, the Mississippi Legislature will work itself into a lather about something. Nobody right now really knows what the topic will be. It could be abortion, gun rights or gay marriage. It could be the state flag or Syrian refugees. It could be something trumped up by one or more of the presidential candidates."

Every session, it seems, something President Barack Obama has said or didn't say whips Republicans under our dome into a froth. Without a doubt, the Donald Trump caucus is bound to get its hairpiece into a bunch about something or another.

Granted, much of politics—and even governance, to some degree—is theater, and rallying around controversial issues can be a way to invigorate debate and, ideally, possibly bring forth compromise on public policy.

That said, we hope to see more real leadership than jockeying in the coming year.

Our state's challenges are no secret, and we hope our lawmakers refrain from using the first session of a new term for settling scores and wading in time-wasting wedge issues. As disappointed as we often are in our elected leaders, we are also confident that the will and resources exist to do some good.

While Mississippi's citizens might be disproportionately poor and our unemployment rate high, we are not saddled by the massive debt loads seen in some states. Plus, we'll credit Republicans for building up the rainy-day fund. Now, it's time to recognize the torrent of problems we face.

We would give similar advice to local government officials. As far as the City of Jackson is concerned, we insist that the next 12 months not devolve into competing auditions for the mayor's chair in 2017 and instead focus like a laser on water and sewer infrastructure fixes.

On Wednesday, Dec. 30, Hinds County will swear in several new supervisors, a new sheriff, and a new circuit clerk as well as several incumbents who won re-election.

This is an opportunity to make progress on getting the county jail under control and doing whatever it takes to keep the detention center out of the headlines. The Board of Supervisors, Sheriff-elect Victor Mason and District Attorney Robert S. Smith, who will likely be faced with a federal consent decree to address human-rights concerns at the Raymond jail, have a real opportunity to implement progressive reforms to the criminal-justice system.

This work must be approached strategically, not scattershot and politically motivated. We've had it up to here with wedge issues and red-meat baiting in recent years.

We want to see real leadership.

We also expect to see results. We look forward to seeing what our leaders come up to respond to the challenges that face us.