[Editorial]  Pick Better Battles

August 31, 2011

Jackson city government could be a prime example of democracy in action. The Jackson City Council and the administration of Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. could see their roles as they are designed, working hand-in-hand within democracy's intentional system of checks and balances.

Instead, council and the mayor's office too often act out adversarial roles, reacting with the same kind of swaggering animosity toward each other as we see played out in Washington, D.C.

The recent meetings regarding the budget are a perfect example. Both the administration and the council know (or should know) the budget process. Yet the council, in what looks like a purely politically motivated move, put the administration on notice that it hadn't had enough input in the process, and called a special meeting to add last-minute amendments.

After the bombast and sparring regarding the city budget in the council's regular session Aug. 23, the Aug. 24 meeting was practically a non-starter. Ward 1 Councilman Quentin Whitwell, the most outspoken member regarding the mayor's not fully integrating the council in the budget process, offered one amendment, to fund a study for Parham Bridges Park in his ward. Whitwell did not have the support of fellow council members, the proposal duplicated other city plans and, appropriately, the amendment died.

The council passed two amendments at the special meeting: one giving low-wage employees a 75-cent-an-hour raise (down from an originally requested $2 an hour) and another hiring an analyst for the city clerk's office. The first amendment, proposed by Ward 2 Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, came out of nowhere, and could prove not to be viable from a legal or budgetary standpoint. Such a proposal may have had a better chance if it had been proposed in a timely manner. The second amendment was pro-forma.

Then there was council President Frank Bluntson's request for a list of city employees, their titles and salaries. Regardless of Bluntson's reasons for wanting the information (they are irrelevant from a legal standpoint), this isn't his first dance. As outsiders looking in, the request came as an 11th-hour demand, and it put Johnson on the defensive. Bluntson then escalated the confrontation, threatening legal action if Johnson was not forthcoming.

We're curious, too, as to Bluntson's reasons for wanting the information and have requested a copy through the Freedom of Information Act. There may be nothing to see, but regardless, Johnson has no standing in denying to provide it.

The council and the mayor's office could do a lot better job of picking their battles. In a time when many U.S. cities are on the edge of insolvency, Johnson's budget may prove to be a marvel, and the sparring makes the entire bunch look like posturing peacocks. No one expects them all to hold hands and sing "Kumbaya," but they can surely serve as better examples of a unified city government.

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