JACKSON, Miss.—Homelessness, blighted property and the future of the Jackson Zoo were some of the issues candidates for Jackson’s Ward 5 city council position discussed with voters during a May 6 forum ahead of the June 3 municipal general election.
Vernon Hartley, the incumbent, and his challenger, independent candidate Ray McCants answered questions as nearly two dozen residents looked on during the forum at Grace Inspirations Church on Grand Ave.
“There’s so much emphasis on the mayoral race. We wanted one to just include our council (candidates),” Valerie Clark, a lifelong Ward 5 resident, told the Mississippi Free Press on May 6. Clark is a member of the newly formed civic engagement organization Citizens for Action, which hosted the event.
Councilman: Jackson Needs Long-term Zoo Plan
Voters first elected Vernon Hartley—a former City of Jackson Public Works Division Manager—to the Jackson City Council in 2021. He defeated longtime Ward 5 City Council incumbent Charles Tillman to take over leadership of the ward that encompasses Jackson State University and the Jackson Zoo.
On Tuesday, Hartley cited his involvement in appropriating funding for new lighting on Highway 18, renovations at the Hughes Field athletic complex and renaming a section of Ellis Avenue for Grammy-award winning blues musician Bobby Rush as some of the successes of his first term.
While he acknowledged bright spots in the community like the Metro Booming Training Center near Capers Avenue and the recently approved Livingston Park amphitheater project, Hartley said that there is a lot more work to be done.
One primary issue that the next mayoral administration must prioritize is having “a long-term plan for the Zoo,” Hartley said.
Livingston Park has been the home of the Jackson Zoo since 1921. However, in recent years, issues with low staffing, declining revenue and questions over animal welfare have spurred some to suggest that the City should relocate the zoo.
The Jackson Zoological Park board voted in 2018 to relocate the zoo from its current home on West Capitol Street to LeFleur’s Bluff State Park—a state-owned park near Lakeland Drive. The board cited scarce patronage as its justification for the decision. Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba rejected that suggestion at the time, calling it ‘disingenuous’ and ‘disrespectful’.
Former Hinds County Supervisor David Archie revived those conversations in 2023 when he suggested that the City of Jackson should consider moving the zoo from its current location. District 1 Supervisor Robert Graham agreed with Archie at the time, saying that some residents were “just afraid to go into that particular area, even though the zoo is still functional, it’s still working, animals are still there.”
‘Rethink How the Zoo Functions’
Then-City Council President Aaron Banks also mulled over closing the Zoo, saying that it was not a cost-effective venture. “The problem is not that it’s not a worthy investment. The problem is the city’s got so many other problems,” Banks told WAPT in 2023.
In 2024, the City of Jackson confirmed that part of the reason the zoo did not generate greater revenue was that zoo staff had no operational credit or debit card readers and were forced to turn away patrons who could not pay in cash. “In the month of May, we had to turn away 423 potential patrons simply because we did not have electronic payments in place,” City of Jackson Parks and Recreation Director Abram Muhammad said during a Jackson City Council meeting in August 2024. “That equates to $5,000 to $7,300 of revenue we missed out on just that month alone.”
The Zoo now processes card payments, Jackson Director of Communications Melissa Faith Payne confirmed to WBT the following month.
Despite the ongoing conversations among city leaders over the current conditions at the zoo and its future profitability, Councilman Hartley shared concerns about how the surrounding community could be impacted if the City were to move the Zoo, adding that he wants to “keep the neighborhood strong and stable.”
McCants concurred with Hartley’s thoughts about the importance of the Zoo to the greater Jackson community, saying that “if the zoo does well, Jackson does well.”
Democratic nominee for Jackson Mayor John Horhn told the Mississippi Free Press on April 18 that while the Jackson Zoo has “historically been one of West Jackson’s largest public assets,” it is “in severe decline.”
“There is opportunity to rethink how the zoo functions, but we need a lot of community engagement in the West Jackson community to create a better plan for the zoo property,” he said.
‘A Solution That’s Not in the Park’
The Ward 5 candidates also answered questions related to blight elimination and homelessness, with incumbent Councilman Vernon Hartley sharing that he has been in talks with state lawmakers about legislation regarding both issues.
The City of Jackson began demolition on the long-shuttered Coca-Cola bottling plant in Ward 5 on May 1. With help from state lawmakers who lobbied for funding to clear blighted properties, the City planned to demolish at least 10 derelict commercial structures across the capital city, including the former Gipson Discount Foods grocery store that sits directly across the street.
Ray McCants said that, if elected, he would support the City of Jackson instituting a land bank entity to help get more of the blighted residential properties into the hands of residents. “We have a lot of young adults and older people that’s looking to get out of rental properties, get out of the apartment complexes. And we have properties that they can get into, and then we can get them in the properties at a low cost,” he said.
“Home ownership will also help the neighborhood’s property value,” McCants continued. “(If) we got homeowners, they’re going to care about their property more, they’re going to cut their grass, they’re going to make sure they have stuff together, and then that’s going to help everybody around us in the area.”
The City of Jackson previously lobbied with state lawmakers to institute a land bank. However, legislation proposed by Rep. Earle S. Banks, D-Jackson, died in committee in 2021.
On the issue of homelessness, McCants said that he supports homeless outreach services, but added that the organizations wanting to do that work might have to shift to other locations so that residents can enjoy their public parks. “Not being able to have a birthday party for your kids in the park in a decade is kind of sad,” he said.
“Somebody’s going to have to be the bad guy and say, ‘Let’s find a solution that’s not in the park so that we can get people the services they need while we also can have the people in the community enjoying their park,” he continued.
Pittman Park, formerly known as Poindexter Park, is one of the parks that Citizens for Action has rallied around, saying that the City should do more to enforce ordinances to keep the area safe and clean for residents.
Following the forum, Valerie Clark and her neighbor Shante Crockett told the Mississippi Free Press that despite the ongoing challenges in Ward 5, they wish that there was a more balanced conversation around the community they call home.
“The media wants you to think it’s this horrible place,” Clark said. “(Some people think) everybody in Ward 5 is poor and needy. That is not true … We have nice homes. We have good neighbors.”
The general election is June 3. Any eligible Ward 5 resident who was registered to vote at least 30 days before the election can cast a ballot.
