4 ms·

Majority black town in the poorest state in the union, which is also a Republican state. That's no coincidence. EDIT: as in the town is being intentionally poo

Majority black town in the poorest state in the union, which is also a Republican state. That's no coincidence. EDIT: as in the town is being intentionally poorly maintained by the rest of the state.

Bud 4y ago
I'd like explanations from each and every person who downvoted this. Nobody apparently had the courage to try to refute the argument, and even a cursory examination of the facts will reveal that this commenter has the facts right. Mississippi's Republican governor and Republican legislature have repeatedly denied proper funding to Jackson to address this issue in the past. It takes about 45 seconds to look this up.
- wyager 4y ago
  > repeatedly denied proper funding to Jackson "Proper" as defined by the people who are asking for the money. The fact that they're regularly asking for more money is causally independent of essentially anything else. An alternative theory, which seems to have a lot of supporting evidence, is that the Jackson government habitually mismanages resources.
- adolph 4y ago
  I didn't downvote but I don't buy the city/state political divide as a significant cause. For one, accidents happen. For two, a water system needs to be financially sustainable. If its finances were in shambles, as the EPA assessment below found, then that will lead to the other problems listed. Having spent the 45 seconds the parent comment did not share, the story I see is one where the state was willing to match more funds but the city had other priorities. This isn't written as criticism of the city's decision but acknowledgement that different people see things differently. If some other disaster had happened that decision might have been vindicated. [Dated April 28, 2022, MS Gov] Reeves said the state was willing to match Jackson’s water and sewer infrastructure spending, and criticized the city only putting up $25 million of the $42 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds it received for such work. https://mississippitoday.org/2022/04/28/tate-reeves-veto-jackson-golf-course-planetarium/ https://mississippitoday.org/2022/04/28/tate-reeves-veto-jac... U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment team flagged numerous system problems in a July 2022 report, one month before the system failed. The problems highlighted in the report include: - Poor administration, lack of staff - Finances are in shambles - Customer complaints - Lack of routine monitoring and maintenance - Water in storage tanks isn’t cycled - Frequent line breaks https://www.wjtv.com/news/jacksons-water-crisis/jacksons-water-crisis-the-latest-updates/ https://www.wjtv.com/news/jacksons-water-crisis/jacksons-wat...
slowmovintarget 4y ago
Does the "rest of the state" have jurisdiction to run the town?
- afterburner 4y ago
  If the largest town and also capital of your state didn't have water for a while, would you not expect your state government to intervene well before such a failure? The responsibility for such a serious issue doesn't simply stop at the narrowest jurisdiction, it expands until it is addressed. Not to mention I bet the town's budget is very much affected by state politics.
emerged 4y ago

Majority black town in the poorest state in the union, which is also a Republican state. That's no coincidence. EDIT: as in the town is being intentionally poorly maintained by the rest of the state.

Bud 4y ago

I'd like explanations from each and every person who downvoted this. Nobody apparently had the courage to try to refute the argument, and even a cursory examination of the facts will reveal that this commenter has the facts right. Mississippi's Republican governor and Republican legislature have repeatedly denied proper funding to Jackson to address this issue in the past. It takes about 45 seconds to look this up.

wyager 4y ago
> repeatedly denied proper funding to Jackson "Proper" as defined by the people who are asking for the money. The fact that they're regularly asking for more money is causally independent of essentially anything else. An alternative theory, which seems to have a lot of supporting evidence, is that the Jackson government habitually mismanages resources.
adolph 4y ago
I didn't downvote but I don't buy the city/state political divide as a significant cause. For one, accidents happen. For two, a water system needs to be financially sustainable. If its finances were in shambles, as the EPA assessment below found, then that will lead to the other problems listed. Having spent the 45 seconds the parent comment did not share, the story I see is one where the state was willing to match more funds but the city had other priorities. This isn't written as criticism of the city's decision but acknowledgement that different people see things differently. If some other disaster had happened that decision might have been vindicated. [Dated April 28, 2022, MS Gov] Reeves said the state was willing to match Jackson’s water and sewer infrastructure spending, and criticized the city only putting up $25 million of the $42 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds it received for such work. https://mississippitoday.org/2022/04/28/tate-reeves-veto-jackson-golf-course-planetarium/ https://mississippitoday.org/2022/04/28/tate-reeves-veto-jac... U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) assessment team flagged numerous system problems in a July 2022 report, one month before the system failed. The problems highlighted in the report include: - Poor administration, lack of staff - Finances are in shambles - Customer complaints - Lack of routine monitoring and maintenance - Water in storage tanks isn’t cycled - Frequent line breaks https://www.wjtv.com/news/jacksons-water-crisis/jacksons-water-crisis-the-latest-updates/ https://www.wjtv.com/news/jacksons-water-crisis/jacksons-wat...

slowmovintarget 4y ago

Does the "rest of the state" have jurisdiction to run the town?

afterburner 4y ago
If the largest town and also capital of your state didn't have water for a while, would you not expect your state government to intervene well before such a failure? The responsibility for such a serious issue doesn't simply stop at the narrowest jurisdiction, it expands until it is addressed. Not to mention I bet the town's budget is very much affected by state politics.

emerged 4y ago