This is a legit question.

[paindonthurt]

But based off this article and “audit”, will we ever know what the money was spent on?

https://www.wlbt.com/2022/05/16/aud...nt-money-based-revenues-it-knew-wouldnt-come/

 

[The Peeper]

Like I posted in an earlier thread, the same elected officials are anxiously awaiting the newly pledged financial help from state and federal sources. 5 years from now will still be here asking the same questions, "where did the money go" and the answer will be the same "into the pockets of crooked elected officials"

 

[patdog]

One thing to keep in mind is this is just the city’s regular annual financial audit. Not a specific audit of the water/sewer fund or the Siemens settlement. It would be interesting to see the results if the SAO fraud division were to look into this.

 

[GloryDawg]

If it is true that the city of jackson don't force water payment from it's citizens I do not want any of my tax money going to help them. Before any money is given to repair that crap, the collections need to start. Maybe not collect back payments but forced to collect payments going forwards. Jackson needs to do their part.

 

[Shmuley]

Keep in mind that they paid a Birmingham-based law firm over $30 million in contingency fees out of the $90 million settlement with Siemens. They “netted” $60 million out of $90 million and then promptly wasted the net recovery.

 

[stateu1]

One thing to keep in mind is this is just the city’s regular annual financial audit. Not a specific audit of the water/sewer fund or the Siemens settlement. It would be interesting to see the results if the SAO fraud division were to look into this.

Should have read the article first.

 

[paindonthurt]

Once upon a time I worked for the MDEQ construction branch.

We have loans to municipalities for sewage systems and infrastructure. But as a part of that loan they had to show expected usage fees and revenue to pay it back.

Is the city of Jackson not eligible for something similar?

 

[She Mate Me]

I've been reading these water threads and a lot of the related articles from the past few years.

It seems obvious the state will have to get involved. I don't know or really want to know all the legalities involved with that, but one thing seems obvious. The vast majority of the people involved in creating this problem over the last many years must not be involved in fixing it or running it afterwards.

The level of incompetence is staggering. You can't get a bill to and collect from a customer for a service you're providing for months or even years at a time?? A service that is handled efficiently and properly by thousands of entities all over the country?

It's time for somebody to stand up and tell the citizens in no uncertain terms that their city officials are incompetent in the same way the mayor seems fully capable of standing up and blaming it on everybody except the ones causing the problem.

Pass me the Advil

 

[ababyatemydingo]

Keep in mind that they paid a Birmingham-based law firm over $30 million in contingency fees out of the $90 million settlement with Siemens. They “netted” $60 million out of $90 million and then promptly wasted the net recovery.

And by "wasted" you mean stole.

 

[paindonthurt]

This is why I want to see the accounting.

Where is Shad Pad White on this one?

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

This is why I want to see the accounting.

Where is Shad Pad White on this one?

Jackson Jambalaya often chronicles potential graft in Canton City government, but Shad stays away from that too.

 

[DoggieDaddy13]

Like I posted in an earlier thread, the same elected officials are anxiously awaiting the newly pledged financial help from state and federal sources. 5 years from now will still be here asking the same questions, "where did the money go" and the answer will be the same "into the pockets of crooked elected officials"

These crooked elected officials aren't working for themselves. They're all on somebody's payroll, more likely several somebodies. That's how they keep getting reelected without doing anything of real substance. Sure, these elected officials are banking cash, but the big money is ending up where it always does.

In other words, the people who call the shots in this corrupt state are not just those in elected positions.

 

[Trojanbulldog19]

Jackson city officials are a bunch of crooks and have been for some time. They care nothing about actually fixing anything. The state either needs to take over completely or threaten to move all state offices out of Jackson and just let the city completely disintegrate and the crooks can have it

 

[SteelCurtain74]

It appears the mayor is co-hosting an event in great city of Miami this weekend for the Orange Blossom Classic. He is hosting it with Ben Crump who is one of the attorneys who represented people in the Flint Michigan water issue. How appropriate and on par for his "leadership".

https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1564660479494168579?s=20&t=WGoOT6ihtej_JddMnB8lJg

 

[johnson86-1]

Keep in mind that they paid a Birmingham-based law firm over $30 million in contingency fees out of the $90 million settlement with Siemens. They “netted” $60 million out of $90 million and then promptly wasted the net recovery.

Man, who at the city got rich off of that? Need to have a full time state tax employee assigned to everybody associated with that deal. Go back with a fine tooth comb for as long as the law allows and if they can't put them in jail over what they find, commit that they will have a rectum exam yearly. Can't stop them from moving out of state and having the lawyers that got rich funnel them some money, but at least make it uncomfortable enough that they have to move.

 

[She Mate Me]

It appears the mayor is co-hosting an event in great city of Miami this weekend for the Orange Blossom Classic. He is hosting it with Ben Crump who is one of the attorneys who represented people in the Flint Michigan water issue. How appropriate and on par for his "leadership".

https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1564660479494168579?s=20&t=WGoOT6ihtej_JddMnB8lJg

If it was to my advantage to highlight the incompetence and lack of concern of this mayor, I'd be trumpeting all weekend his whereabout while competent strangers he didn't call in are fixing his fiefdom's water system with money he didn't collect or obtain.

 

[Smoked Toag]

If it was to my advantage to highlight the incompetence and lack of concern of this mayor, I'd be trumpeting all weekend his whereabout while competent strangers he didn't call in are fixing his fiefdom's water system with money he didn't collect or obtain.

Yet no one does this. It's like he's above criticism yet he's directly in charge of the city.

And to be clear, it's not all his part, and many things had to happen for this situation to occur. So I wish we wouldn't play the blame game. But since we are, why do only the state and Republican leaders get the criticism? Most of them were not even around when the damage was done over the years to this water system.

THAT is how far the liberals will go to simply be jackasses.

 

[paindonthurt]

Bc white Mississippi Republicans are racist.

 

[maroonmadman]

Yet no one does this. It's like he's above criticism yet he's directly in charge of the city.

And to be clear, it's not all his part, and many things had to happen for this situation to occur. So I wish we wouldn't play the blame game. But since we are, why do only the state and Republican leaders get the criticism? Most of them were not even around when the damage was done over the years to this water system.

THAT is how far the liberals will go to simply be jackasses.

Because the Republicans were busy stealing $77 million plus from TANF funds. BOTH parties are busy ripping you off. Unfortunately most of you will vote to re-elect these crooked mofos all the while complaining about how Jackson keeps on re-electing its' dumbass mofos.

 

[She Mate Me]

Because the Republicans were busy stealing $77 million plus from TANF funds. BOTH parties are busy ripping you off. Unfortunately most of you will vote to re-elect these crooked mofos all the while complaining about how Jackson keeps on re-electing its' dumbass mofos.

Do you have a suggestion on how we could fix the epidemic of crooked politicians?

I don't. The jobs seem to naturally draw a lot of bad apples or apples with bad spots on them. All I know to do is point it out when it's obvious a change is vital.

 

[johnson86-1]

Because the Republicans were busy stealing $77 million plus from TANF funds. BOTH parties are busy ripping you off. Unfortunately most of you will vote to re-elect these crooked mofos all the while complaining about how Jackson keeps on re-electing its' dumbass mofos.

Republicans didn't rip me off by misspending/stealing $77M in TANF funds. The harm to me was more or less already done by the time they got their hands on that money. Not sure how much harm they did overall.

In contrast, the money that's going to be spent on Jackson's water system was money meant for an essential purpose. THe money that should have been spent doing that was either not collected as a form of vote buying or given to attorneys in a crooked deal giving away probably $27M to $29M more than necessary for the work done.

Not saying people shouldn't be thrown out of office and/or in jail for the TANF funds, but they're not the same thing. But I'm also fortunate in that I am just being hurt very indirectly financially, and not worried about tracking down water to drink or shower in, and also not wondering what the value of my house is going to be now that people realize Jackson is so far gone that it can't even provide basic services like water and sewer. That would be much more offensive to me than diverting TANF funds to the News' cronies and a volleyball facility.

 

[yazoolegend]

It appears the mayor is co-hosting an event in great city of Miami this weekend for the Orange Blossom Classic. He is hosting it with Ben Crump who is one of the attorneys who represented people in the Flint Michigan water issue. How appropriate and on par for his "leadership".

https://twitter.com/AttorneyCrump/status/1564660479494168579?s=20&t=WGoOT6ihtej_JddMnB8lJg

https://twitter.com/ChokweALumumba/status/1565371111826653190?s=20&t=cClEVK4Ocf62MWaOiYo1FA

 

[maroonmadman]

Do you have a suggestion on how we could fix the epidemic of crooked politicians?

I don't. The jobs seem to naturally draw a lot of bad apples or apples with bad spots on them. All I know to do is point it out when it's obvious a change is vital.

That's a damn good question but unfortunately, I do not have a solution. Blind party loyalty is one of the biggest problems. We got Tater Tot because not enough folks would cross party lines to vote for Jim Hood even though Hood was probably the better candidate. Same is true in Bennie Thompsons' district, he will get re-elected no matter how good of a candidate anyone puts out there. When we start electing the best person for the job and not just choosing along party lines then maybe we'll see some improvement.

 

[maroonmadman]

Republicans didn't rip me off by misspending/stealing $77M in TANF funds. The harm to me was more or less already done by the time they got their hands on that money. Not sure how much harm they did overall.

In contrast, the money that's going to be spent on Jackson's water system was money meant for an essential purpose. THe money that should have been spent doing that was either not collected as a form of vote buying or given to attorneys in a crooked deal giving away probably $27M to $29M more than necessary for the work done.

Not saying people shouldn't be thrown out of office and/or in jail for the TANF funds, but they're not the same thing. But I'm also fortunate in that I am just being hurt very indirectly financially, and not worried about tracking down water to drink or shower in, and also not wondering what the value of my house is going to be now that people realize Jackson is so far gone that it can't even provide basic services like water and sewer. That would be much more offensive to me than diverting TANF funds to the News' cronies and a volleyball facility.

Your rationalizations are the problem. You minimize the theft committed by one group and maximize the theft done by another. You are part of the problem. Here's my point: BOTH parties are stealing us blind and ripping us off. What both of these situations should show you is that we put incompetent people in charge of large sums of money and do not properly monitor how this money is spent. They (our elected officials) are responsible for appointing folks who can do the job. It is obvious these people are miserably unqualified to do the job. This is a complete failure of our political leadership on both the State level and at the municipal level for Jackson. We should not accept either.

 

[ababyatemydingo]

Do you have a suggestion on how we could fix the epidemic of crooked politicians?

I don't. The jobs seem to naturally draw a lot of bad apples or apples with bad spots on them. All I know to do is point it out when it's obvious a change is vital.

I have one. Vote in an Attorney General and State Auditor that don't owe Haley Barbour any favors. That would be a good start. Until then, they'll just go after the low hanging fruit, such as deputy water clerk that skimmed $150 for gas money, or the occasional deputy chancery clerk that took a few dollars for some info on upcoming bankruptcies, foreclosures, and divorces. Lynn Fitch is just about as worthless of an Attorney General as we could possibly have. my opinion, of course.

 

[paindonthurt]

The difference is I’m all for an open transparent investigation for both issues.

If Phil and Tate were involved in TANF gate, I won’t vote for them again.

 

[HotMop]

...

 

[mstateglfr]

Republicans didn't rip me off by misspending/stealing $77M in TANF funds. The harm to me was more or less already done by the time they got their hands on that money. Not sure how much harm they did overall.

In contrast, the money that's going to be spent on Jackson's water system was money meant for an essential purpose. THe money that should have been spent doing that was either not collected as a form of vote buying or given to attorneys in a crooked deal giving away probably $27M to $29M more than necessary for the work done.

Not saying people shouldn't be thrown out of office and/or in jail for the TANF funds, but they're not the same thing. But I'm also fortunate in that I am just being hurt very indirectly financially, and not worried about tracking down water to drink or shower in, and also not wondering what the value of my house is going to be now that people realize Jackson is so far gone that it can't even provide basic services like water and sewer. That would be much more offensive to me than diverting TANF funds to the News' cronies and a volleyball facility.

$77mm in misspending/theft is ok because you don't feel ripped off due to the money already having been taxed and collected from the public?
Curious take.

 

[patdog]

They were heavily involved (allegedly). And you've only got one more chance to not vote for either of them.

 

[patdog]

Republicans didn't rip me off by misspending/stealing $77M in TANF funds. The harm to me was more or less already done by the time they got their hands on that money. Not sure how much harm they did overall.

This is quite possibly the dumbest thing I've ever seen posted on this message board. By this logic, no politician has ever harmed any of us by taking bribes or steering public funds to cronys for no work. May as well shut down the investigative division of the Auditor's Office.

 

[paindonthurt]

Funny. You won’t comment on the **** show that is Jackson but you’ll jump in on a comment that fits your agenda.

 

[paindonthurt]

Allegedly isn’t an open transparent investigation.

Again, I’d love to have one if there is reason to.

But there isn’t any arguing the situation in Jackson is squarely on Jackson leadership and not the mean white devils.

 

[mstateglfr]

Funny. You won’t comment on the **** show that is Jackson but you’ll jump in on a comment that fits your agenda.

What now? I have commented on Jackson and it's water issues countless times.

Jackson's incorrect billing, lack of billing, lack of maintenance, lack of employing necessary staff to operate at full capacity, and lack of infrastructure planning is all unconscionable.

The legislature's routing of funding elsewhere(outside of Jackson) and refusal to assist the city thru the years is unconscionable.


I can't imagine living in a city where I don't receive a water bill or I receive one for thousands of dollars. This **** just isn't difficult to perfect- small *** towns across the country manage to bill for water every month. Understaffing a facility to the point that it can't run at max production, even though demand required max production, is also insane.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

What now? I have commented on Jackson and it's water issues countless times.

Jackson's incorrect billing, lack of billing, lack of maintenance, lack of employing necessary staff to operate at full capacity, and lack of infrastructure planning is all unconscionable.

The legislature's routing of funding elsewhere(outside of Jackson) and refusal to assist the city thru the years is unconscionable.


I can't imagine living in a city where I don't receive a water bill or I receive one for thousands of dollars. This **** just isn't difficult to perfect- small *** towns across the country manage to bill for water every month. Understaffing a facility to the point that it can't run at max production, even though demand required max production, is also insane.

People keep saying that the State just refused to help for years. That’s maybe technically true, but that’s like reading the headline and not the article to form an opinion. The truth is that the City never even developed a plan for how to repair or fix the water system. They just kept asking for blank checks that they would “pinky promise to spend wisely to fix the problems”. You can’t get money for anything that way. Hell, even Benny Thompson called out Chokwe for this last week. If Benny 17’ing Thompson has to come out and say “you can’t get federal dollars if you don’t have any plan”, that’s all you need to know about that. We now have federal dollars coming in because the State stepped in, came up with a plan, and then asked the feds for help with the plan. The State developed an actual plan in like 18 hours. The City couldn’t come up with one at any time in the last 30 years, apparently.

I’ve lived here almost all of my life. I’m not arguing that State elected officials are awesome, but anyone suggesting that this problem is on the State is either intentionally misleading or being a lazy sack of ****.

 

[patdog]

There’s about as much question about the corruption in City of Jackson government as there is in State of Mississippi welfare grant money.

 

[paindonthurt]

You got one main thing right.

Cities all over the country do it with state or federal help.

But here’s your chance at redemption. Do you think if the state and federal government give Jackson money it should be completely managed outside the city of Jackson? Or do you wanna give them another chance to 17 it up?

 

[paindonthurt]

No one is arguing that. But that’s different than saying Tate reeves was involved and complicit.

 

[patdog]

In this case, no, it's not.

 

[mstateglfr]

You got one main thing right.

Cities all over the country do it with state or federal help.

But here’s your chance at redemption. Do you think if the state and federal government give Jackson money it should be completely managed outside the city of Jackson? Or do you wanna give them another chance to 17 it up?

17 you with your chance at redemption ********.
If funds are allocated to a city, they should be managed in the same way all other funds are managed- and that is by the process that is already established prior to allocation.


Fun fact, my city operates its water 100% on customer revenues. No taxes, whether local, state, or federal are used for service, maintenance, or improvements/expansion.
Our water costs $6.20/1000gal and Jackson's water costs $5.09/1000gal. Our sewer costs $6.35/1000gal and Jackson's sewer costs $7.16/1000gal.
I understand where I live is different from Jackson and each city has its own challenges, so direct comparisons on cost can be viewed as meaningless. At the same time, I provided the numbers to show that a system can operate and grow even at similar levels to what Jackson charges.

 

[paindonthurt]

You are proving my point.

Your city does it. Jackson can’t. So why should we give them more money so they can mismanage that?

That’s a serious question.

How does that make any logical sense? Does that work anywhere else in the world?

Child - you get $20 a week allowance. Don’t spend it all in one place. Child spends it all day 1 and asks for more - do you give them more every time they ask without some oversight ?

Project manager - we need $1.5 million to complete this project - corporate gives $1.5m - we need $500k more - well the only way you get that in the corporate world without losing your job is to show justification. And we 17ed up isn’t justification but it’s better than blaming someone else.