In a heartfelt, emotional speech, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba gave the annual "State of the City" address Thursday evening at The Ice House venue in Downtown Jackson.
Several times during the mayor's speech, his mic cut out, forcing him to stop while another mic was handed to him as a replacement. On the last time, the mayor looked at the crowd and said:
"That's alright. We keep going."
It was emblematic of Lumumba's entire address, which focused on overcoming and improving on the challenges his administration and the city faced when he first took office in 2017, while also understanding there is more work to do.
Introduced by his eldest daughter, Alake’, who moved him to tears, Lumumba's "State of the City" address covered issues such as the relationship between city and state, public safety, crime, infrastructure and more. It also comes two days after he again announced his intention to run for reelection in 2025, and it felt a bit like a campaign speech as he spoke on what he has accomplished throughout his two terms as mayor, as well as the successes of the past year.
He started off by reminding those in attendance of a few of the challenges he saw the city facing when beginning his first term as mayor, including a Jackson Public School District on the verge of a state takeover, city employees placed on furlough without pay raises in "more than a decade," a "failing" transit system, blighted buildings across Jackson and, of course, the city's long-troubled water system.
"While the picture presented does not represent our brightest moment, in the true spirit of Jacksonians you dared not to be defined by your circumstance," Lumumba said. "And while our job is far from complete, we do have progress to report and a sound reason to believe in the resurgence of our home."
Jackson's water system and the relationship with the state
Though it came toward the ends of the speech, one of the more striking moments of the night was Lumumba's comments about Jackson's water system, which is currently under a federal mandate. He didn't mention specifics during the speech, but the mayor has not shied away — including just this past week — from making criticisms of Interim Third-Party Water Manager Ted Henifin, who was federally appointed to run and repair the water system with his company JXN Water.
He sounded off, as he also has previously, on the "many" who "will attempt to take credit for securing $800 million towards the necessary improvements of our water system."
"It was this administration that underwent the unwavering fight to ensure that Jacksonsians were awarded that historic funding," he said, alluding to the federal funds Jackson was awarded in late 2022 for repairs to the water system after the Jackson Water Crisis.
Lumumba then seemed to allude to the Mississippi Legislature's recent attempts at taking over the water system once the federal mandate is over. On Monday, the mayor announced what his plans would look like if the water system is returned to the city, though if it will be returned is unknown.
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"Moving forward, we must remain resolute in our demand for a water system that is sustainable, dependable and equitable and that is controlled by the people," Lumumba said.
Though Lumumba said he "welcomes a renewed relationship" with the state, he vowed to continue to fight back against the multiple takeover attempts the state has pursued over the last couple of years. It was an echo of comments he made earlier in the week as well.
"We want to embrace a spirit of operational unity where we focus more on our common ends and objectives than any differences we may have. However, we simply cannot surrender our assets and resources of our city that permit us to survive," he said to cheers and applause. "Like our airport, our water system, Smith-Wills Stadium, control of own criminal court system and access to economic development. We want partners that live within the values of our city, and we must never confuse the word diplomat with doormat in the process."
Smith-Wills takeover:Lumumba speaks on takeover fight between Jackson, state leaders over Smith-Wills Stadium
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City employees and public safety
The mayor proudly exclaimed that city employees were no longer on furlough and pay raises have occurred "across the board."
The Jackson City Council recently approved raises for code enforcement officers, the Jackson Police Department and the Jackson Fire Department. Lumumba said the raises approved for JPD and JFD are "the highest pay raises of those departments in our city's history."
Lumumba highlighted the increase of "almost 50" JPD police officers in the last year, the creation of the Real Time Command Center in 2020, soon-to-be installed license plate readers around Jackson and the council's approval of 15 new police vehicles. An additional 32 police dispatchers have also been hired since last year's shortage.
The Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery was also established last year, Lumumba said, with a goal to "launch a program to address both the delinquency of youth and those that may be struggling stemming from a lack within their homes." The plan is to equip the office with a staff of mental health professionals as another means to battle against violence in Jackson.
"We must incorporate a more complete response to matters of public safety utilizing techniques that allow us to determine whether it is crime or whether it is crisis and deploy the proper response," he said. "Ultimately a child that does not feel embraced by the village will burn it down to feel his want."
Lastly, and something Lumumba said was "the most encouraging and significant news that I am privileged to proclaim with respect to public safety": Jackson's crime rate "is down across all categories."
According to the Clarion Ledger's current records, the city has reported 94 murders so far this year in Jackson. Murder rates have also dropped in both 2023 and 2022 compared to 2021 when Jackson had one of the highest murder rates per capita in the country.
"It may be difficult to believe when we are inundated with stories of violence on the local broadcast, but thanks to the collective efforts of the city and our community partners we are proud to report that we have experienced a 21% decrease in property crimes and a 36% decrease in crimes against persons," Lumumba said. "And to be clear, the crime numbers have been trending downward over the last three consecutive years."
Paved roads and transit
As far as Jackson's bumpy roads, Lumumba said no other administration in the history of the city has paved more roads, repaired more bridges and secured more funding for infrastructure than his "by a wide margin."
Over 121 roads have been repaved during his time as mayor and major thoroughfares have been resurfaced. Those include, East and West County Line Road, Meadowbrook Drive, Northside Drive, Bailey Street, Capitol Street, Ellis Avenue, Medgar Evers Boulevard, Gallatin Street, Lynch Street, Old Canton Road, Lamar Street, Riverside Drive and "three separate stretches of State Street." Claps filled the room as the mayor emphatically screamed each of the 14 streets names.
But the mayor didn't mention the "Resurfacing Street Project," approved by the council last October that is well behind the original schedule. He only assured that over 80 neighborhood roads would be repaved by the end of the 2024-2025 fiscal year, which ends next October.
After roads, Lumumba boasted of the newly relaunched JTRAN fleet and the $9 million the city received to create the "Connect JXN Transit Plan" in 2021. Notably absent from the speech was the recent JTRAN strike that left bus users without a ride for two weeks.
The improvement of Jackson schools
One topic that was a clear emphasis of the night was the improvement of JPS. In 2017, the district was on the verge of a state takeover and becoming an Achievement School District, a legislative mandate aimed at improving underperforming school districts by stripping their local control for a minimum of five years and absorbing them into a statewide district governed by Mississippi's Board of Education.
"The City of Jackson, the state of Mississippi, the Kellogg Foundation and you, the residents of Jackson crafted a solution to ensure the success of our children and of the district," Lumumba said.
Errick Greene took over as JPS superintendent in 2018, months after the possible takeover of Jackson schools by the state.
Then Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, the Kellogg Foundation and Lumumba came together to create the Better Together Commission, a 15-member coalition proposed as an alternative to the takeover.
"As an outcome of our hard work and perseverance, our district has made a full recovery and several of our schools are now ranked amongst the best in the state of Mississippi," Lumumba said.
In 2023 and 2024, the Jackson Public School District earned a C rating from the Mississippi Department of Education's accountability grades, well above their rating when Lumumba first took office. At the same time, JPS' Board of Trustees also voted to close 11 schools and merge two others last school year. This was due to declining enrollment, expensive investments in the school's facilities and issues with staffing teachers.
School closures:JPS Board votes to close 11 schools, merge 2 more in 2024
Homelessness and blight
Lumumba reaffirmed plans announced earlier this year to "develop non-congregant transitional housing for our unhoused population, to eliminate the unsightly appearance of encampments and more importantly, the restoration of dignity of our unhoused population." Cheers again rang out.
In February, Lumumba sat down with the Clarion Ledger to defend a project to build a 60-unit tiny home village, each unit equipped to serve one person and their pet, on 18-acres on Capers Avenue in West Jackson. The village is an effort to provide transitional housing to Jackson's homeless population. The Jackson Resource Center, a nonprofit servicing the homeless, is heading up the project after responding to a request for proposals by the city's Department of Planning and Development.
This was after residents in Ward 5, where the tiny home village is planned to be built, and members of the Jackson City Council spoke in fierce opposition to the project.
Right along with that, Lumumba moved to the accomplishments of the city's Department of Planning and Development in code enforcements. Specifically, he cited the success in prosecuting and tearing down apartments in code violation such as Casa Grande Apartments in South Jackson. The mayor also stated Hotel O will be demolished and the city will "hold those responsible for the neglect accounted." The council approved the demolition at the end of September.
Casa Grande:Demolition of abandoned South Jackson apartments continues city's quest to end blight
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He thanked the Office of the City Attorney, which has worked on the Hotel O case for years, for their partnership with the planning and development in demolishing blight. He also touted them for successfully defending the city against numerous lawsuits.
"Most of these matters (lawsuits) have resulted in dismissal, judgment in favor of the city or a nominal settlement to mitigate the city's exposure and was far from the anticipated recovery of the plaintiffs," he said.
He added, "we have been responsible for many of the largest financial recoveries in our city's history," though he did not name specific settlements.
Closing the speech
As his speech dwindled down, Lumumba admitted there will be challenges ahead, but gave a hopeful outlook towards the future.
"The question is not whether or not there will be challenges ahead, but how we choose to confront them," he said. "As we continue to move towards the goal of improving our city, we must not adopt anyone else's narrative of who and what we are."
"I want you to know, I have complete faith to fulfill the promise of our home and overcome any obstacles that stand in our path. Allow me to remind you of you are. You are Margaret Walker and Eudora Welty. Henry Kirksey and Alice Harden. You are Thalia Mara, (and) Myrlie and Medgar (Evers). So up you mighty race, accomplish what you will."