Six Jackson leaders meet almost every day to ensure Jackson Mayor-elect John Horhn will be prepared to head the operation of the city starting next week.
The mayoral transition team has its work cut out, considering just 27 days separate Horhn’s victory in the general election on June 3 and July 1 when he takes the oath of office.
One of the most important tasks of the team is a deep dive into the city’s finances, so it can learn more about revenue sources, expenditures and the overall plan of operation in order to advise Horhn.
“We’ve had meetings with the chief financial officer of the city,” said Robert Gibbs, an attorney and developer who chairs the transition leadership team.
“We’ve met with the accounting firm that has been doing the city’s annual audit. We’ve got a copy of the budget and are studying it.”
The city has been helpful in providing information requested, he said.
The preparation and adoption of the city’s budget for the next fiscal year is an important task that comes early in a mayor’s term, said Kane Ditto, a former mayor of Jackson who serves as co-chair of the leadership team.
“You come into office and soon after you have to have a new budget,” he said. “It’s like drinking water out of a fire hose.”
The city’s strong mayor-council form of government makes the mayor responsible for preparing the budget and the city council responsible for reviewing, amending and adopting it.
The city council must adopt a budget for the 2025-2026 fiscal year by Sept. 15. Last year, the city council spent several weeks meeting with department heads and listening as they made financial requests for their departments.
Gibbs said there’s no notebook to follow for a mayoral transition, but he believes having leaders on the team with varied expertise makes it work.
“We have very capable people who know the right questions to ask,” he said. “We’re getting our hands around the city operations.”
Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr. of New Horizon Church International, Carol Palmer, a community advocate and entrepreneur who for many years owned the Everyday Gourmet; and Beverly Hogan, Ph.D., former president of Tougaloo College, are members of the mayoral transition team.
Willie Bozeman, Horhn’s interim chief of staff, who served as his campaign manager and has worked as a lobbyist and served in the Legislature, is also a member.
The team is studying how the city’s departments work to determine their effectiveness and ways to maximize their performance, Gibbs said.
“We have asked for the organizational chart for each city department,” he said. “We’ve asked for the names of the directors of the departments, and we have the pay plan for the departments. We’re going to see if they’re organized as well as we think they should be and see if we should recommend any changes to the mayor.”
The team is also reviewing the city boards to which residents are appointed.
“We have the dates of their appointments and the dates when their appointments expire,” he said, noting that some boards are not meeting because members need to be appointed.
Finding residents to fill vacant positions on boards should not be a problem, Gibbs said.
“We’ve had a lot of people who want to volunteer their services,” he said. “We’ve had people who suggested boards they would feel good to serve on. With the new administration, there’s a lot of excitement.”
Gibbs expects a task force to study the city’s public works department, which lacks a director, will be established.
The team also has plans to assess the city’s arts and culture scene, which is not surprising given Horhn’s work as a program manager at the Mississippi Arts Commission, a former state film commissioner, a former state tourism director and an organizer of the Mississippi Blues Commission.
“The arts are important for the city to grow,” Gibbs said, mentioning an important piece of that, Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson, which is ready to re-open.
“We were told the fire marshal approved opening Thalia Mara Hall, but a couple of things need to be in place before that can be done. That’s good news.”
Eight at-large transition team members, so appointed for their specialized expertise, began meeting on June 18, Gibbs said.
Members of the at-large transition team are Rep. Zakiya Summers, who represents District 68; Sen. Sollie Norwood, who represents District 28; Johnnie Patton, former National Democratic Committeewoman; Surinder Singh, entrepreneur; Patricia Reese, entrepreneur; Gabriel Prado, CEO and president of PraCon Global Investment Group; Warren Herring, president and CEO of TrustCare Health and current chair of the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority; and Brenda Scott, labor advocate.
Gibbs expects the work of the transition team to be completed within 90 days.
“The goal is to get the administration organized, have the right people in the right position and have the administration moving very smoothly so the mayor can go out and promote the city,” he said.
