Traffic lights, potholes and white people: What Jacksonians wanted to know about the city under outgoing Mayor Lumumba ...Middle East

Q: Why are there so many traffic lights out in the city?

A: Aging infrastructure, vehicle collisions and arsonists.

Q: Where do I go if I want to get a pothole fixed?

A: Call 311.

Q: Why do you hate white people?

A: I do not hate white people.

These are some of the questions folks had recently for outgoing Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba – and his answers.

In 2024, Lumumba began an initiative called “Ask Antar,” in which residents could submit inquiries and concerns through the city’s website.

The city received more than 180 questions. Mississippi Today requested and reviewed them all and found that in the last year, Jacksonians have had the most curiosity and frustration about accessing services and responsiveness from City Hall, housing and homelessness, and street conditions.

Lumumba, whose two-term administration ends Tuesday, responded to about a fourth of the questions, plus more submitted through social media, across 15 video segments on the city’s YouTube page. In many videos, the mayor explained processes – such as how environmental courts determine what to do about derelict structures or why Jackson Police Department is unable to address squatting unless it receives a report from the owner of a specific property.

Another theme among his answers was that the administration is not in control of all functions people had complaints about – like in the case of water rates now governed by private manager JXN Water, or street lights on interstates that are a state responsibility. He also said the administration did not have resources to address all problems – potholes, for example.

Mississippi Today went a step further, contacting people who submitted questions. Of the two dozen who responded to the news organization, most had no idea the mayor had answered their questions.

“Why is it you replied to my email, yet I never heard from the city of Jackson?” said one person, who had asked in December about the broken stop light at the intersection of Woodrow Wilson and State Street.

For those whose questions Lumumba answered, we directed each person to the corresponding video and asked them to rate their satisfaction with the answer on a scale of 1 to 5.

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

What actions are we as citizens supposed to take about squatters trashing the neighborhood? I have called the owners of the lots, code enforcement, police (stolen trailers and cars), fire department (burning copper), water/sewer (water being stolen), and environmental agency (dumping of antifreeze). I just need to know what is my mother to do when we are trying to contact people.— Carlyn

Carlyn said: “The problem is still ongoing, no call back from city.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

What is the mayor doing to combat teen violence & what are some activities he can bring to the city so that teens can have something to do on the weekend?— Javion

Javion said: “I feel like the new administration, they’re going to be proactive on that, especially considering Jackson’s full of young people … I’m feeling very optimistic about young people living in the city of Jackson.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

What did you do in China, who went with you, and who paid for it? Has Jackson become the “radical city” you hoped for?— John

John said: “I never expected him to answer. His M.O. didn’t include transparency or accountability.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

Why is there a $40 fee for water availability?— LaDedra

LaDedra said: “When I called JXN Water and was notified about the $40 fee, I asked her why. She couldn’t tell me why besides it was a fee added. I have a friend in another part of Jackson and he did not have the fee added. This fee is very unnecessary in my opinion and is a part of greed for whoever decided on it for the citizens to pay.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

What is being done about Animal Control? Specifically, what are the plans for opening an animal shelter? Strays as well as owner negligence are huge problems in the city.— Judy

Judy said: “There once was a City Shelter where animals were housed and, if not claimed, were put up for adoption. It was often referred to as “the pound” back many years ago. So, he is wrong about that. So his usual avoidance of taking responsibility is in play once again.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

What are you going to do, along with Capitol Police & JPD, about the racing, loud cars, & crime that seems to come with them?— Robin

Robin said: “They all used to group in the parking lot in front of Cowboy Maloney’s at Briarwood and 55. JPD kicked them out of there. Now they seem to use the QT at Beasley and 55. It’s nice to know that JPD is coordinating with Capitol PD and the Hinds County Sheriff’s Office in efforts to reduce the racing.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

I saw something about Livingston rd housing where the old plant was. There was chatter about crime, but isn’t it better and a blessing that investments are coming? Instead of leaving dead area there? Thoughts?— Dre

Dre said: “We can have problems and differences, but we can address like grown men not like little boys on TV and mayor Lumumba took the high road many times when he could have been dirty.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

Why are there no bike lanes in the city?— Jay

Jay said: “While I appreciate the two examples (Mill St. and Meadowbrook), future plans were very vague and general. I’d hoped for a more substantive plan.”

Review the question and answer and submit your own rating.

Who is in charge of the city’s website and when will the “upgrades” be complete with missing information available? What was the reason for the upgrade?— Elizabeth

Elizabeth said: “Overall, it just seemed like a waste of time and money considering all of the other issues plaguing the City. We are in June and I still don’t consider the new website to be nearly as ‘user friendly’ as it was before the change.”

Mississippi Today requested an interview with Lumumba to discuss our findings, but city spokesperson Melissa Payne said he was unavailable. Lumumba lost reelection during the April Democratic primary and was working on transitioning out of office to make way for Mayor-elect John Horhn. Lumumba’s last question-and-answer segment was posted April 20, two days before he lost in the primary runoff.

Three residents made submissions to Ask Antar seeking space to hold dance classes in the city, and recent high school graduate Javion Shed asked about what the mayor is doing to combat youth violence and introduce positive activities for teens. 

“As a teen in Jackson, you’re always plagued with, what can I do on the weekends, where can I go to just relax, have a great time, and not worry about the fear of violence or the fear of someone I know getting killed?” Shed told Mississippi Today.

In response to Shed last October, Lumumba said the city was developing a curfew center, where teens who may otherwise end up at the youth detention facility could be taken instead to receive services. Shed ranked the response a “solid 4” out of 5. Amid turmoil in the city’s Office of Violence Prevention and Trauma Recovery, though, the center Lumumba described has yet to open.

Several residents raised concerns with a lack of communication and listening among the administration. Referencing a three-year fight between the mayor and city council over renewing the city’s garbage contract, which led to trash pickup interruptions in 2023, one resident wrote that the mayor’s “antics and over-complication of intent” created a “4-lane thoroughfare for justified criticism of the ability of African Americans to use critical thinking analysis, and compromise to would-be detractors.” 

Another wrote, “When you become Mayor, we become Mayor was part of your campaign slogan at one point … Why can’t you listen to the recommendations from us via our Council Person?”

Others said they were unable to reach city officials to answer questions or receive basic city services. There were inquiries about getting an electrical pole removed, about repairs to a water meter and about where to drop off old paint cans “now that the household hazardous waste dropoff is closed due to fire.”

“Why don’t the traffic office answer the phone ??” one resident wrote.

One woman who submitted a question about the federal corruption allegations against Lumumba, for which he’s pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to face trial next summer, admitted her intent was to troll the mayor.

But many more of the submissions conveyed the serious and dire conditions some Jacksonians are living in.

Last July, Carlyn Cornelius submitted concerns about the unhoused population near his mother’s house in west Jackson stealing trailers and cars, burning copper and dumping antifreeze. He told Mississippi Today that a year later, the problems remain.

In his submission, Corneluis said he’d called in reports of these activities to law enforcement, the fire department, Public Works, environmental authorities and the owner of the property, but received no help.

A few days later, another person submitted to Ask Antar, “I need a place to live. I am homeless.”

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