(Photo from Visit Jackson)
- Mayor Lumumba will leave office later this month, making way for newly elected Mayor, State Senator John Horhn to take the reins at City Hall.
The Jackson City Council has revised an ordinance allowing some hiring as the current term winds down.
During its Tuesday meeting, the council reversed an action taken last month that froze hiring until June 30 on all vacant positions after the outgoing mayor announced two hires in key positions following his primary election loss.
Council members voted 6-0 to allow certain positions in the Parks and Recreation, Human and Cultural Services, Finance, Solid Waste, and the Jackson Police Department to be filled.
Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes was absent from Tuesday’s meeting.
Ward 6 Council member Aaron Banks said hindsight shows the move was hasty.
“When we did this, we just were moving and didn’t give thought to some of the things that are necessary, for example, zookeepers, lifeguards, [and] some of our summer workers that cut the golf courses,” he said, noting summer employees, including lifeguards, were slated to start June 4.
Under the revision, the Jackson Zoo can hire three new keepers and an education specialist, the Human and Cultural Services can hire teenagers for the Summer Works Program, the Parks and Recreation Department can employ two lifeguards and maintenance workers, the Solid Waste can hire a CDL driver, and two more employees can join the Department of Finance and Administration.
However, additional vacancies in Finance and Treasury were not approved for hiring.
“Those positions can wait,” said Council President Virgi Lindsay of Ward 7, the author of the original ordinance.
Outgoing Mayor Chokwe Lumumba was absent when the initial ordinance passed, but did address it at the Tuesday meeting. At first, the mayor said, “I don’t have any thoughts.” But later said, “Both of those positions were vacant, and they both serve the community, and our responsibility is to serve the community until the end.”
“One vacancy deals directly with constituent complaints every day, so if people are in need of water at senior centers, if people need somebody to come check out their pothole — I would imagine that the residents don’t want me to leave them with 60 days of not responding to those issues,” the mayor said.
Lumumba addressed the talk that the hires were political, a hot topic around city government offices.
“It’s not a political thing. It’s a responsive thing. So, both of those positions are about responding to residents’ needs,” he told the council.
Lumumba will leave office later this month, making way for newly elected Mayor, State Senator John Horhn to take the reins at City Hall.
Daniel Tyson
