A Jackson one-percent commissioner is speaking out after being forced to recuse herself on a recent vote due to a perceived conflict of interest.
Meanwhile, the commissioner who began the finger pointing at her may have conflicting interests of his own.
In September, Commissioner Beverly Hogan recused herself from voting on funding the North State Street and West County Line Road reconstruction projects, after fellow Commissioner Pete Perry questioned whether she had a conflict of interest.
Hogan is president of Tougaloo College. The college owns several hundred acres of land that would be opened up for new development as a result of the West County Line work.
Hogan, though, claims there is no conflict, and that her only concern is for her students. “I am a public servant. I do not benefit. It is for the education of the students,” she said.
Hogan told the Sun she recused herself, not because of a potential conflict, but because she didn’t want the projects to be tied up further because of “baseless thoughts.”
The college president is seeking an opinion from the Mississippi Ethics Commission for clarification.
“To me, it’s far-fetched. How can it be a conflict of interest?” she asked.
In September, the commission voted 4-1-1 to allocate $6 million in funding for the North State and West County Line projects, contingent on a ruling from the Mississippi Ethics Commission.
Perry wants the city to ask ethics officials if the board can award the funding for the project as long as Hogan is a member.
The $6 million would be paid out over a three-year period and is critical to the projects moving forward.
The city had not sought an opinion at press time. However, Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, who chairs the oversight board, said the city would be seeking one.
While Perry is concerned about Hogan’s potential conflict, he already could have benefited personally from one-percent work.
Perry’s two sisters live on Greymont Avenue, one of the streets paved as part of the city’s neighborhood street repaving program.
In 2016, the commission approved spending up to $10 million for neighborhood street resurfacing, with Perry making the motion and voting in favor of it, according to minutes.
A $9.7 million contract was awarded to APAC Mississippi last year.
Perry, though, claims there is no conflict because he did not choose the streets that would be repaved. I didn’t pick the streets. They were given to us by public works,” he said.
Perry’s sisters both have homes in Greymont’s 1300 block, according to Hinds County land rolls.
The commissioner also argues that comparing Greymont to West County Line Road is akin to comparing apples and oranges. “It’s not building a new street so property could be accessed so I could build a home on it,” he said. “The street was already there and it needed to be repaved.”
The West County Line Road project includes building a new section of roadway to realign the existing street with East County Line Road.
The project is being funded in large part with a $19.5 million TIGER grant. The federal matching grant was awarded to the city in October 2015.
TIGER stands for “Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery.”
The grant application states the West County Line project was needed, in part, to open up Tougaloo land for new development, Perry says.
Additionally, the project was needed to improve safety for motorists. Right now, motorists turning onto and off of West County Line must cross over a railroad track. As part of the project, an overpass that will be created to allow motorists to pass under the tracks.
The commission is responsible for helping determine how the city of Jackson spends a special one-percent infrastructure sales tax.
Under state law, commission members are responsible for drawing up a master plan and ensure that the taxes are spent in compliance with it.
