The Jackson City Council has filed its response to the appeal made by Mayor Lumumba in the garbage contract veto debacle. Lumumba has until November 1 to respond.
The Jackson City Council and Mayor Chokwe Lumumba are still battling it out over whether or not the Mayor has veto authority on a “negative action” by City Council. An appeal was then filed in the matter by Lumumba, after a judge said he did not have that authority.
RELATED: Lumumba files appeal brief in suit against Jackson City Council over veto power
In July, Judge Larry Roberts agreed with the Attorney General’s interpretation of the matter that “when a matter is not passed by the city council, it is a negative action to which the mayor does not have the power to veto. It’s an inaction; there’s nothing there to veto. The Council did not pass affirmatively a matter; it rejected it.”
The brief filed by the City Council asks that the Mississippi Supreme Court uphold the decision made by the Chancery Court judge.
RELATED: Judge releases written judgment on City lawsuit calling Mayor’s argument “nonsensical”
The brief reads:
“This appeal stems from a declaratory judgment action which the Jackson City Council filed in chancery court seeking a ruling that the Jackson Mayor may not veto a “negative vote” or 2 a no vote of the City Council; the Chancellor ruled following a motion hearing and granted summary judgment in favor of the City Council. Jackson Mayor Chokwe Lumumba brought this appeal attempting to overturn the decision of the Chancellor’s holding that in order for a matter to be subject to mayoral veto in a mayor-council form of municipal government, an ordinance1 must be adopted by the council and then presented to the Mayor pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. § 21-8-17(2) (Rev. 2015), and ultimately deciding that inaction or a negative action is not subject to a mayoral veto in a mayor-council municipality. (See Record 151-1522 ; R.E Tab 2.) This Court should affirm the decision of the Chancery Court.”
Richard’s Disposal has been collecting trash in the City of Jackson since April. They recently threatened to end service after not being paid by the city for over six months of work. The city and the garbage company were able to come to a temporary agreement to continue trash collection when the city paid Richard’s $4.8 million of the $12 million the city owes.
RELATED: City of Jackson reaches temporary agreement with Richard’s Disposal
Richard’s services roughly 150,000 residents in Jackson with twice a week garbage collection.
You can read the City’s full brief below:
City of Jackson brief response by yallpolitics on Scribd
Sarah Ulmer
