“We are put in the position to have to raise tuition because of escalating prices because of where we are with our appropriations.”
Friday, May 18 The Trump administration resurrects a Reagan-era rule banning federally funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions, or sharing space with abortion providers. Saturday, May 19 Prince Harry of Britain marries Meghan Markle in a diverse ceremony at Windsor Castle. Sunday, May 20 Venezuela’s National Election Council declares socialist leader Nicolas Maduro the winner of the country’s presidential election by a margin of 93 percent, prompting a coalition of 14 nations to pledge to scale back diplomatic relations with Venezuela.
May 23 - 29, 2018 • jfp.ms
Monday, May 21 On behalf of the City of Jackson, Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba accepts responsibility for not preventing the accident that killed Frances Fortner. ... U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker and Cindy Hyde-Smith of Mississippi introduce a bill to make the Medgar Evers home a national monument.
6
Tuesday, May 22 The U.S. House prepares to approve legislation to roll back the DoddFrank law, a rules framework for banks installed to prevent a recurrence of the 2008 financial crisis that brought millions of lost jobs and foreclosed homes. Get breaking news at jfpdaily.com.
@jxnfreePreSS
What Lumumba’s ‘A-Team’ Earns by Ko Bragg
A
s we get nearer to annual budget hearings in the City of Jackson, you can almost feel the tension mounting around money issues. In April, the bickering came over the council’s decision to raise the part-time city clerk’s salary so that Ward 1 Councilman Ashby Foote could hire a new clerk. Other municipal workers protested. During a discussion about the payroll at that same meeting, Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, who did not support the pay raise for part-time city clerks, defensively aired out his frustrations with rumors he had heard about how much money people in his administration were making, including one claiming a 30-percent increase in the mayor’s staffing budget. Lumumba said everybody who came to work for him took less money than they were previously making, and that one person on his executive staff took $50,000 less, but he would not name that person. An analysis of city salaries shows that Mayor Lumumba’s “A-Team” makes between 3.4 and 8 percent more than Yarber’s did. That group includes the chief administrative officer, the chief of staff, the communications manager, the public-works director, the director of planning and development, and the director of administration.
File PhotoS
Thursday, May 17 A Jackson Academy senior named Frances Fortner dies after her vehicle hits an uncovered manhole and flips upside down on Ridgewood Road near Venetian Way. ... The Mississippi Gaming Commission proposes rules to govern sports books at the state’s 28 licensed casinos after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a federal law that bars gambling on sports in most states.
@jackSonfreePreSS
— IHL Board President Shane Hooper on the board’s decision to raise tuition.
WEEK IN REVIEW Wednesday, May 16 The Jackson Police Department holds its annual Police Memorial Service outside its downtown headquarters to honor and commemorate the 17 JPD officers who have died in the line of duty since 1893.
@jxnfreePreSS
Examining the salaries of department heads in the City of Jackson under Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba and former Mayor Tony Yarber shows that Lumumba’s executive staff gets paid as much as 29.3 percent more than the previous mayor’s did—but the women don’t fare as well as the men.
The variation depends on whether you count the time when Kishia Powell was public-works director from 2014-2016 paid at $150,000 a year compared to when Jerriot Smash took over the role when Powell went to Atlanta. He made $126,000. Six people in the Lumumba administration are making six figures compared to four under Yarber. Of those, the mayor’s salary ($119,999.36) and the chief of police’s salary ($112,998.08) are the only positions with wages that are exactly the same across both administrations.
The Cost of the ‘A-Team’ Last summer, Lumumba began announcing members of what he labels as his “A-Team.” This group, hailing largely from academia, comes at a price, however. Using data from the National League of Cities’ average salaries of municipal officials, an “A-team” not including the mayor or the communications manager, costs around $450,000 collectively. The Lumumba “A-team” minus the communications manager and the mayor himself makes $511,000. Nearly 2,000 cities and towns belong to the NLC, including 294 in the state. Public Works Director Bob Miller is the highest-paid person in the City of Jackson with a salary of $125,991.84. However, Powell, Yarber’s initial pick for the position, was paid almost 20 percent more than Miller. When Powell went to Atlanta to work for Mayor Kasim Reed, Smash filled in and remained until Miller took over the role in October 2017. Smash made $38 more than Miller makes now. Robert Blaine, the city’s chief administrative officer, is the second-highest paid member of the mayor’s “A-team” (not including the mayor) making $111,537.92. His role involves making sure the City is operating efficiently. The various divisions in city government report to Blaine, with the exception of the chief of police, who reports directly to the mayor. Blaine was an unconventional choice
