Jackson’s troubled sewer system will now be under the oversight of Ted Henifin, the interim-third party manager a federal judge appointed last year to oversee the City’s ailing water system.
Efforts to expand Capitol Police’s jurisdiction over the City of Jackson and to reintroduce a more limited citizen-led ballot initiative process remain alive in the Mississippi Legislature.
Both federal manager Ted Henifin and the Jackson Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba are warning that state politicians are attempting to take over Jackson’s water system, along with hundreds of millions in federal funds meant for repairing it.
Jackson’s troubled water system has suffered multiple system-wide failures since 2021, including in late December 2022 that continued into this month amid a winter freeze.
“Some areas could go into the teens, maybe even the single digits. And not only that—we’re expecting very dangerous wind chills as well, enough to bring us down to negative temperatures. It’s very scary,” said MEMA Chief Communications Officer Malary White said on Dec. 21, 2022.
Beyond Jackson’s water crisis or the TANF welfare scandal, Mississippi is experiencing a leadership crisis, Nsombi Lambright-Haynes writes.
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