Jackson Free Press

At Mayor Tony Yarber's second State of the City address, the Jackson-area teens who recently took top prizes at a New Orleans technology competition had front-row seating and even got a private pep talk from the mayor before his speech at the Arts Center of Mississippi on Monday.

Even as the mayor spoke, outlining the capital city's challenges and opportunities, Yarber seemed to be speaking directly to the teens wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the TECHJXN logo.

"We need you to make it because they say we won't," said Yarber, going off script toward the end of the speech and giving a nod to his "I Need You To Make It" Youth Initiative.

Why they—Jackson haters—say the capital city won't make it is largely based on the daunting challenges the city faces. Most prominent among them, Jackson will have to figure out how to shore up a $15 million deficit going into budget negotiations. Last year, the city had a $14 million deficit that it had to fill with reserve funds.

"This practice has become a normality and has perpetuated a system that is adverse to the financial health of our city," Yarber said. "For those of us that don't completely understand what this means, it's almost like balancing your checkbook with your savings account. It implies that there is a reliance on the ability to cover overages with savings. Family, our city cannot and will not function in a system that does not ensure its viability and prosperity. This year, we will make decisions that are necessary for our city's improvement."

More to the point, Jackson is moving to priority-based budgeting this year, in which city council members plan to put the screw to department heads to justify every penny of expenses in the past year before approving this year's budget request. Yarber said he and the seven-member city council will have to behave like statesmen (and women) without regard for the 2017 citywide elections.

"We have to do what's right regardless of 2017; it can't even be a blip on the radar," Ward 6 Councilman Tyrone Hendrix told the Jackson Free Press after the mayor's address.

Hendrix said the city council, which has to approve the mayor's budget proposal, will have to take a close look at the nuts and bolts of city operations. That includes everything from personnel decisions to how much the city spends on fuel for fleet vehicles to how the city collects money for water, sewage and parking meters.

The goal is to increase revenues so the city can keep improving its infrastructure. Nevertheless, Yarber touted his administration's public-works efforts over the past year: 35,000 filled pot holes, 39 paved streets and the approval of more than $13.8 million for major projects from the 1-percent local-option sales tax. In addition, Yarber said, violent crime has decreased 13.8 percent since last June, and the city has seen a 131 percent increase in the closure rate for requests for board-ups, demolitions, and grass and overgrown-weed cases. In addition, 2.6 million visitors came to Jackson last year, and the mayor and his staff attended 47 ribbon-cuttings.

"Though we face trying tasks ahead, this city has never buckled under the pressure of any issue. The city will continue to handle the problems of its citizens with persistence, wisdom and the collective genius of our communities, businesses, churches and organizations throughout the city," Yarber said

Read the mayor's full speech here: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/jul/30/mayor-tony-yarbers-state-city-speech/