In 10 days, April 1, Jackson Northsiders will vote in the mayoral primary election. Listen closely:
DO NOT VOTE IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY. VOTE IN THE DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY.
There is one simple reason for this: There is only one Republican mayoral or city council candidate. That person, Bruce Burton, is unopposed and doesn’t need your vote.
Meanwhile, there are 13 city council and 13 mayoral candidates running as Democrats or independents. There are three Republican mayoral candidates but none of them stand and chance.
In essence, voting in the Republican primary for Jackson mayor is a waste of your vote.
And not a single vote needs to be wasted in this election. Jackson is falling apart and fresh blood is desperately needed.
The incumbent mayor, Chokwe Antar Lumumba, does not deserve a third term. Not only has his office poorly managed almost every city department, but he is under federal indictment for bribery.
In Ward One, two-term councilman Ashby Foote is running as an independent for the first time. A Republican, Foote is running as an independent to give his constituents the power to influence the Democratic primary.
Many Jackson Northsiders don’t realize that Mississippi has an open primary system. You can vote in any primary you want to regardless of your party affiliation. There is nothing wrong with voting in the Jackson Democratic primary even if you are a registered Republican.
In 2021, Lumumba received 69.2 percent of the vote in the Democratic primary and 69.4 percent of the vote in the general election. Northsiders voted overwhelmingly for Lumumba. We gave him a chance not only once but twice.
Nothing would have made me happier than to see this young man succeed in his job and move Jackson forward. But that just didn’t happen, plain and simple.
Lumumba declared he would make Jackson the most radical city in the world. We laughed and thought it was just a campaign slogan. Not so.
It’s indeed pretty radical to be the only city in the U.S. to go for weeks without any drinking water or garbage pick up.
The list of dysfunction is long: the zoo, the libraries, the streets, the street markings, the garbage contract, the neglected federal grants, the crime rate, etc.
Lumumba’s biggest problem is that he is a radical ideologue in a city that must work hand in hand with a Republican governor and legislature. But instead of pushing his ideological opinions aside for the good of the city, he has bit the hand that could feed our city.
The state legislature, praise the Lord, has overcome its disdain and neglect of Jackson and is now willing to help turn our state capital around. The Capitol Complex Improvement District and the Capitol Police are proof of that. But rather than embrace the help, Lumumba has battled the state for infringing his political power.
We need a mayor who will work with state authorities in a cooperative manner. Jackson is used by the whole state. People from all around the state come to the Jackson metro area for work and entertainment. The City of Jackson is a big part of the metro area and needs to be a beacon of Mississippi’s progress, not an emblem of its problems.
Polls show that Lumumba is still popular with his core radical constituency and could make the runoff. Polls show that John Horhn and Tim Henderson have the best chances of keeping Lumumba from a runoff berth.
If Northsiders turn out en masse and vote for Horhn or Henderson, we could take an early next step to moving Jackson forward.
At 66, it’s time to start on the bucket list and I did so last week by visiting my dear friend Sudha Madakasira in San Diego and then driving to the pro tennis tournament in Indian Wells.
Sudha and I have known each other for 37 years, many of which we were league tennis doubles partners. He is a psychiatrist and owns the Psycamore Psychiatric Programs. Last year, we went to Sudha’s India homeland together, another bucket list item.
Flying to California, looking out the window at 33,300 feet, I am reminded how vast our country is. We flew for hundreds of miles and barely saw any significant development. Mountains and desert. More mountains and desert — a vast empty land.
Then flying into San Diego, the topography changes rapidly to desert, then snow-capped mountains, then beautiful forested meadowlands, then the gorgeous California coast.
Sudha’s house in La Jolla looks out over the beautiful coastline, full of seals and sea lions. The affluence and lack of any signs of poverty is staggering compared to Jackson.
Sudha loves being a tour guide. The first day, Peter Corson and I followed Sudha for t10 miles as we toured the city by car and foot, including an amazing visit to the retired Midway aircraft carrier.
It was a two and a half hour drive from San Diego to Indian Wells, the most affluent city in the Coachella Valley, known most for Palm Springs. San Diego is a huge county, covering most of the California area south of Los Angeles. Its population is more than the whole state of Mississippi. Its per capita income is $79,122 compared to $33,670 for the Jackson MSA.
Hugh Trussell joined us there at the VRBO we rented. The Indian Wells tennis tournament is the best in the U.S. and one of the best in the world. The facilities were immaculate. Over a dozen stadium courts. Great food. Perfect weather. Mountains in the background. We saw all the top tennis stars.
On the way back, we visited the Temecula Valley wine country with its 50 wineries. A fun time was had by all.
