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At a committee meeting Tuesday, 6 of the board’s seven members agreed unanimously to enter into a contract with K. Craft Associates to facilitate a workshop on race, equity, and inclusion as it relates to leadership development for the Jackson workforce leadership academy. The project stands to receive funding from the Aspen institute in a move aimed at substantial job creation in the City.

Mayor Lumumba wasted no time addressing the recent incident which took place on  January 1st, 2020 that left many Jacksonions angered and frustrated. A  video went viral showing cars seemingly drag racing and performing donuts in a move that shut down RT 55 for nearly an hour.

Restoring the city’s roads, enhancing the transportation system and creating business opportunities in Jackson dominated the conversation during the City Council’s January 5th meeting. On Tuesday, the Mayor and his administration introduced several proposals aimed at revitalizing the city,one of which utilizes city funds to  target undeveloped areas of Jackson. Mayor Lumumba introduced an order authorizing an agreement with the company Naviretail LLC to provide recruitment services in the city of Jackson. 

In a move aimed at enhancing transportation access to the community’s more vulnerable residents, Mayor Lumumba introduced an order authorizing the purchase of three 25-Passenger ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible buses for the City’s transportation system, JTRAN.

In spite of any concern with the administration’s approach to revitalizing Jackson, the city continued to take substantial steps towards upgrading local infrastructure, as the Mayor introduced a resolution to make substantial upgrades to the  West capitol street area infrastructure. Dr. Charles Williams from the City’s department of public; “ With the mayor’s support we were able to garner funds from the $35 Million infrastructure bond to put towards this project “

Councilman Stokes introduced a motion to address the community crisis by utilizing unused city budget funds for additional support to the police force in the form of pay increases retroactive to January 2020. Responding to crisis with force seemed to be a staple in both of these items Stokes introduced during Tuesday’s meeting.

In July, Jackson residents provided a five page list of recommendations to the City Council asking for funding for more mental health programs, affordable housing, job programs, youth programs, garden programs, water support, and infrastructure development.