The Octagon Group will serve another year as Jackson’s lobbyist, thanks to a recent vote by the Jackson City Council.
The council extended the Jackson-based firm’s contract for 12 months, at a cost not to exceed $135,000.
The measure was approved on a 3-1 vote, with council members Virgi Lindsay, Melvin Priester and Aaron Banks voting in favor. Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote was the lone holdout, saying that the city needs to focus more on lobbying Washington, rather than the state.
“Octagon does a fine job for the city of Jackson. My concern is that we don’t’ have a lobbying firm focused on Washington, D.C., where the real money is,” he said. “We need all the money we can get.”
Octagon President Quincy Mukoro said his agency has been “actively engaged in D.C. for every month that I’ve been here.”
The agency worked with Congress to save funding for the West County Line Road Project, and was instrumental in helping Jackson obtain a $300,000 grant from the Department of Justice to purchase body cameras for the Jackson Police Department and $250,000 in federal aid to help Jackson purchase police cars, Mukoro said.
“We have had two Congressional visits to Jackson, and Sen. (Roger) Wicker was here to attend the one-percent sales tax commission meeting. Three months ago, he had a bigger staff that came and toured the Savanna plant and sat down with Bob Miller to look at what legislation he would like going forward.” Miller is the city’s public works director. The Savanna plant is the wastewater treatment plant in south Jackson.
Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba told the council he “stands behind” the firm and recommended the council approve the extension, adding that Mukoro has also helped secure funding for Jackson’s transit system and worked with the state to ensure that “the school district remained in local control.”
Last year, Jackson Public Schools was facing a state takeover. However, the state is now working with the district on a corrective action plan for the district. “I’m very pleased with the work that he does,” Lumumba said.
For his part, Mukoro told the council he would do a better job of keeping them informed about their efforts in the nation’s capital. Mukoro said, “We will keep you in tow of everything we have going on federally.”
