Jackson Free Press

The Jackson City Council really got the ball rolling on its new term Monday afternoon by kicking the can on two important issues - the confirmation of Lumumba's selection of fire and police chief - not one week, but two weeks down the road.

Council President Charles Tillman, Ward 4, set a public hearing for Thursday, July 18, at 6:30 p.m. for citizens to come out and let their voices be heard on the appointment of Lindsey Horton and Willie Owens as police and fire chief, respectively. Mayor Chokwe Lumumba held a press conference to introduce the duo minutes before the council meeting began.

When asked by Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon, Ward 7, why the delay of a vote was necessary, Tillman said he was going to "be accommodating" to the council members who were not present who said they wanted to be a part of the process.

The two absent members were Quentin Whitwell, Ward 1, who was attending a Mississippi Bar Association Convention and LaRita Cooper-Stokes, Ward 3, who does not attend special meetings of the council on principle.

Tillman ended the meeting by saying he should have his committee appointments done by next week, at the latest, and said he's excited about how efficient this council is going to be.

The good news: Tillman approved Cooper-Stokes' seating arrangement proposal, and the council now sits in the correct order - from 1 to 7 – except seats 4 and 5 are flipped so the president can sit in the middle. (So the order is now 1-2-3-5-4-6-7.) Perhaps next, the council can get its priorities in order.

Just as Sam Cooke predicted, a change is gonna come—to the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

Last week, the board's two newest members—Darrel McQuirter of District 2 and Tony Greer of District 4—were officially sworn in and will sit for their first meeting on Monday, Nov. 18.

The additions represent a huge shift in power on the board of supervisors, where President Robert Graham and Vice President Kenneth Stokes have run the show for a long time. Along with ex-interim Supervisor Al Hunter, the three men could—and did—do whatever they wanted.

With the new dynamics, the question now becomes whether Graham and/or Stokes be deposed as board president and vice-president?

Either scenario is plausible.

Stokes was vocally anti-McQuirter during the Democratic primary for the District 2 seat, supporting challengers Willie Earl Robinson and, later, Hunter. Graham, although he did not publicly take sides in the special election, has locked horns with Hobson-Calhoun on a number of issues in the past, and she could seek payback by removing him from power.

Greer, a white Republican, is unlikely to get either of the board's top two slots, but will nonetheless be influential (perhaps even more so than his predecessor, Phil Fisher) because of his relationship with Democrat McQuirter.

The other interesting thing to watch will be how McQuirter's relationship develops with Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, who also endorsed Robinson in the primary. If there is any tension the men, they will have to bury the hatchet and find a way to work together as a large chunk of District 2 overlaps with the city.

"Hold up, Wait a minute, Put a Little Love In It"

That's the message the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District sent the Jackson Redevelopment Authority yesterday over JRA's decision to terminate its lease with the Farish Street Group.

In a three-page letter to JRA Executive Director Willie Mott, CMPDD CEO F. Clarke Holmes said JRA's purported termination notice was sent in clear contravention of the FSG/JRA lease, because the CMPDD, who is acting on behalf of MDA (and protecting it's $4.7 million investment in Farish Street) wasn't given prior notice.

"CMPDD request that JRA immediately withdraw the Termination Notice as to the Subject Properties until CMPDD is provided reasonable notice and opportunity to cure any defaults under the JRA-FSG Lease, or JRA is allowed to exercise its rights under the Leasehold Deeds of Trust and the Consent Agreement to protect its security for the CMPDD Loans," the letter read.

It might not be a pardon, but the letter could serve as a temporary reprieve for Farish Street Group and its embattled manager David Watkins. The better news here for Watkins is he seems to have CMPDD on his side in the negotiations going forward, because JRA isn't likely to pick a fight with the wing of MDA it has to deal with on a regular basis.

The letter concludes with this message: "In the meantime, we believe the best course of action for all of the parties is to move forward with transparent discussions aimed at getting the Farish Street project completed in a manner that achieves everyone's goals."

After months of development and trials, we went live with this new website late Thursday. Cheers to developer Matt Heindl (also the JFP distribution manager) for all his hard work. In addition, Kristin Brenemen and her design team worked really hard to get the look right, and Latasha Willis and Dustin Cardon knocked themselves out to get the JFP events and restaurant listings on the site.

If you see any problems on the site, please let us know ([email protected]). We are still working out bugs and turning on new features. By the end of this week, all old JFP stories and comments from the last 10 years should be moved to this site, so if you can't find something in our archive, be patient; it's coming! Meantime, play with our new Search box (top of page to the right); it's so much better than before!

Also, note that a new JFP mobile app replaces the old JFP app, which is no longer updating!

An important thing to know: You will have to re-register to post on this new site. If you have trouble getting your old user name, let's know, and we'll work it out for you. Note that you can also post photos and video now to your comments.

The general public can now blog as well, even though new posts will go through moderation (and must comply with the User Agreement) before they're opened. Click here to get started! And be sure to set your profile page up with your photo and other info!

Have fun on this site, and try out the new tools. Cheers, all.