OurTupelo

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Friday voted to confirm the appointment of Todd Gee to run the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, which is overseeing what officials have called the largest public fraud case in state history.

At a time when appointments to the U.S. Department of Justice have been particularly politicized amid the prosecution of former President Donald Trump, Gee’s confirmation was pushed through with help from Mississippi’s senior U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.

The Senate confirmation comes more than a year after President Joe Biden appointed Gee to the post.

“I talked to my colleague and friend Roger Wicker about Mr. Gee,” said Sen. J.D. Vance, a Republican from Ohio who previously worked to block any appointments to the nation’s lead law enforcement agency. “He assured me he’s a good person. We don’t have any major red flags in the background, so we ultimately voted yes. But the problem is, with all these nominations, is their boss. It’s not them, it’s their boss, who is (U.S. Attorney General) Merrick Garland.”

READ MORE: Who is Todd Gee, who will take over federal welfare scandal investigation?

Historically, unless there was some question of a nominee’s fitness, the Senate would approve the president’s picks en masse by a voice vote, but some Republican senators like Vance have insisted on confirming Gee and others through a roll call vote.

“The president is entitled to his or her nominees,” said University of Richmond Law Professor Carl Tobias. “This cuts against a long standing tradition.”

Wicker, Mississippi’s senior senator, could be seen on the Senate floor throughout the duration of Gee’s confirmation vote on Friday at times conversing with other senators.

President Joe Biden nominated Gee, who had been serving as deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice, a little over a year ago. Gee’s appointment had stalled until U.S. Sen. Cindy Hyde Smith returned a “blue slip” — an informal congressional practice that signaled her support for the nominee — in April. It took another five months for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to agree to bring the nomination of Gee to a vote.

“It’s unfortunate that Mississippi had to wait a year for that,” Tobias said. “It just doesn’t make any sense at all, especially when it’s not on the merits of the nominee. It just shows you the dysfunction of the Senate.”

Senators voted 82-8 on Friday to approve Gee. Opposing his nomination were Republican U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rick Scott (R-Florida), Rand Paul (R-Kentucky), Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), Mike Braun (R-Indiana), Katie Britt (R-Alabama), Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) and Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri).

Mississippi’s southern district, which encompasses the capital city Jackson, has not had a permanent U.S. attorney at its helm since Mike Hurst stepped down in January of 2021. Interim U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca has led the office since.

Gee will take the lead on prosecuting Mississippi’s historic welfare fraud case, in which several people have already admitted to using millions of federal grant funds that should have assisted Mississippi’s most vulnerable families instead to make favors for political allies or enrich their friends and family. Seven people, including former Mississippi Department of Human Services Director John Davis and prominent nonprofit founder Nancy New, have pleaded guilty to state or federal charges within the scheme, but none of them have been sentenced as they continue to cooperate with investigators.

The last public action the U.S. Attorneys Office has taken in the case was indicting former WWE wrestler Ted “Teddy” DiBiase Jr. in April. DiBiase pleaded not guilty.

Hinds County District Attorney Jody Owens, who secured the first indictments in the case, said last year at Davis’ plea hearing that his office was continuing to review evidence, such as text messages and other communication, as it “continue(s) to move up … the ladder” to prosecute more individuals. But since then, no one in a position above Davis has been charged.

Tobias said the U.S. Attorneys Office might have decided to wait to bring more charges, especially if it is looking at higher profile individuals, until the office had a permanent leader.

“I think it gives the public and lawyers and everyone a higher comfort level when it’s not just an acting attorney but rather someone who’s been nominated by the president, confirmed by the senate and that person checks out in terms of qualifications,” Tobias said. “That’s important. Especially if it’s high profile, because that person is going to have to do some very difficult things, maybe, if it involves these high ranking political officials. So you want the full weight of the office there.”

State Auditor Shad White, who made the initial arrests in the case in early 2020, said in a statement Friday morning that his office will continue to assist Gee’s office in the case.

“More than three years ago, my team and District Attorney Jody Owens put a stop to the welfare scheme in Mississippi with the indictment and arrest of six people,” White said. “We also turned all our evidence over to federal authorities to show the public that the case would be fully investigated, all the way. At that time three years ago, federal investigators and the U.S. Attorney asked to take the lead on prosecuting any additional people beyond the first six defendants. My office agreed to assist them in any way possible. We have enjoyed a good relationship with federal prosecutors since then as they have deliberated about whom to charge. They make that call. And the appointment of Mr. Gee changes nothing in our posture. We will continue to work with federal prosecutors to bring the case to a conclusion.”

Mississippi Today reporter Anna Wolfe reported this story from Jackson. Freelance reporter Matt Laslo reported this story from Washington. Mississippi Today’s Taylor Vance contributed to this report.

The post Senate confirms U.S. attorney Todd Gee, who will inherit historic Mississippi welfare probe appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The entire U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule, again, on whether Mississippi’s lifetime ban on voting for people convicted of certain felonies is unconstitutional.

The decision of the 5th Circuit to hear the case en banc vacates a three-judge August ruling that did find the lifetime ban unconstitutional. Now, the entire 5th Circuit — around 20 judges — will decide whether the provision in the 1890 Constitution imposing the lifetime ban on voting is constitutional. Whatever the 5th Circuit decides, that decision most likely will be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

It will mark the second time the state constitutional provision on felony suffrage will be considered by the full 5th Circuit. The current lawsuit contends that the lifetime ban on voting imposed by Mississippi is unconstitutional because it is cruel and unusual punishment.

READ MORE: 5th Circuit panel strikes down Mississippi’s lifetime felony voting ban

In 2-1 decision in August, a panel of the 5th Circuit said, “By severing former offenders from the body politic forever, Section 241 (the lifetime ban provision of the Mississippi Constitution) ensures that they will never be fully rehabilitated, continues to punish them beyond the terms their culpability requires and serves no protective function to society. It is thus a cruel and unusual punishment.”

But that decision will be reconsidered by the full 5th Circuit.

In a separate case, the U.S. Supreme Court refused in June to hear another case seeking to find Mississippi’s lifetime felony voting ban unconstitutional. That case, which also was heard by the full 5th Circuit, sought to have the felony voting ban declared unconstitutional because it was originally adopted as part of the 1890 Constitution in an attempt to prevent Black Mississippians from voting.

The framers at the time admitted they placed the lifetime ban in the Mississippi Constitution as a tool to keep African Americans from voting. The framers said they believed Black Mississippians were more likely to commit some crimes. Those crimes placed in the constitution where conviction costs a person the right to vote are bribery, theft, arson, obtaining money or goods under false pretense, perjury, forgery, embezzlement, bigamy and burglary.

Under the original language of the constitution, a person could be convicted of cattle rustling and lose the right to vote, but those convicted of murder or rape would still be able to vote — even while incarcerated. Murder and rape now also are exclusionary.

The lawsuit that was addressed by the three-judge panel and pending before the full 5th Circuit was filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and others on behalf of Mississippians who have lost their voting rights. The office of Attorney General Lynn Fitch is opposing the lawsuit on behalf of the state.

Mississippi is one of about 10 states imposing a lifetime ban for people convicted of some felonies.

The post Full 5th Circuit to hear arguments on whether felony voting ban is unconstitutional appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Hospitals must give a 30-day notice about closure or the discontinuing of services, under a Mississippi State Department of Health proposed rule.

News of the proposed change came after Mississippi Today sought answers about the closing of Patient’s Choice Medical Center of Smith County in Raleigh, which was at the time still listed as open on the Health Department’s facilities directory. 

The Health Department said the proposal is not related to any specific situation.

While the Health Department for some time has required facilities to notify the agency of a complete facility closure under Rule 41.5.1, the proposed revision seeks to improve communication and maintenance of records, according to the department.

“The new requirement for notification of closure of service lines is to ensure MSDH has visibility of closures that could impact patient care within the state,” the Office of Licensure at the state Health Department told Mississippi Today via email.

The proposed amendment will be on the agenda at the State Board of Health meeting in October.

According to the state Health Department’s Office of Licensure, Patient’s Choice did not notify the department of its closing. 

The licensure office told Mississippi Today that when state health inspectors arrived at Patient’s Choice to do a survey on May 15, they found the building was no longer in use. 

Patient’s Choice has sat empty for over three months, but it could reopen under new management.

Gregg Gibbes, president and chief executive officer at South Central Regional Medical Center in Laurel, told Mississippi Today in August he was eager to discuss the circumstances surrounding Patient’s Choice.

“That’s gonna be one of the biggest healthcare news stories this year. It’s very exciting,” Gibbes said. 

When Mississippi Today reached out to Gibbes days later for further clarification, he wouldn’t answer any questions.

Over the past four years, Gibbes has served as CEO and administrator at Simpson General Hospital (2020), Magee General Hospital in Mendenhall (2019) and Collins-based Covington County Hospital (2016).  

All three hospitals fall under the South Central Regional Medical Center’s partnership with multiple rural community hospitals in the state’s south-central region, according to a news release from South Central Regional Medical Center.

In late July 2023, before the Health Department updated its Directory of Mississippi Facilities removing Patient’s Choice, the hospital was listed as having 29 general acute care beds, 10 of which were in a geriatric psychiatric unit.

Any more specifics about what services were offered or changes in services would have to come from the facility itself, the state Health Department said. 

Mississippi Today reached out to a doctor and worker who were employed at the hospital during the administration of the late Paulette Butler. Both declined to speak about the services offered at Patient’s Choice or other questions related to the facility. 

Mississippi Today also reached out three times to a former chief executive officer at the facility, Tim Cockrell, but he was not available for comment before publication. Mississippi Today also could not reach the facility’s current owner, Robert Hall. No current contact number was available. 

Based on the Office of Licensure records, the facility voluntarily terminated its Medicare certification on July 3, 2023.

To understand the medical center’s conditions before it officially closed Mississippi Today obtained from the state Health Department the three most recent inspection reports for Patient’s Choice Medical Center, dated 2019, 2015 and 2011.

The facility was initially assessed as not up to code in the 2011 and 2019 reports. The inspection in between, in 2015, found it in compliance. In July 2015, the facility was noted as in compliance with the Medicare Conditions of Participation for Mississippi Hospitals after a Medicare recertification survey was conducted. 

According to the 2019 inspection report, the last one done of the hospital, the human resources director said there were four rooms used for acute care patients and 13 rooms had not been in use since 2014. The director also told inspectors that the acute care floor was shut down in May 2019 and not in use. 

The facility also had a senior care floor, according to the inspection report. 

The report stated that a registered nurse “confirmed no call lights were operable in any of the senior care patient rooms and maintenance is aware.”

Once Patient’s Choice provided a plan of correction addressing all deficiencies, the state Department of Health dated the corrections as completed no more than a month later. 

In August 2011, the report documented the facility was deemed not up to code for reasons including incomplete patient documentation, storage of expired medications and a failed fire alarm system in the senior care unit. After getting up to compliance, a letter dated in November 2011 was sent to the chief executive officer finding the facility’s “credible allegation of compliance for its Medicare deficiencies has been found acceptable.”

For now, talks with the potential new management to take over the hospital are in limbo, said District 3 Smith County Supervisor Benjie Ford.   

“It’ll be close to November or December before they ever give us an update on what’s going on,” Ford said.

According to September records, the Health Department’s Division of Health Planning and Resource Development has no certificate of need application in process for Patient’s Choice to reopen.

The post State Health Department was unaware a hospital had closed, a proposed rule change could keep that from happening again appeared first on Mississippi Today.

The post Marshall Ramsey: Shutdown appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Galloway United Methodist, the downtown Jackson church where incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is a member, will host a series of lectures on how providing access to health care is a Christian value.

The featured speakers in late October are expected to tout Medicaid expansion, a federal-state program that would provide health care coverage to an estimated 300,000 poor, working Mississippians. Reeves, serving in two of the state’s top leadership roles for the past 12 years, has adamantly opposed the program, disparagingly likening it to “welfare expansion.”

That’s clearly not how the governor’s pastor sees it.

“Obviously, with a topic like ours, the issue of Medicaid expansion looms large,” Galloway Senior Pastor Cary Stockett said in an email to reporters announcing the lectures. “And I believe each of our speakers are in favor of Medicaid expansion. We do not look to it as a panacea, nor do we wish these conversations revolve around the legislative football that subject has become.

“So, while we will not avoid mention of Medicaid expansion, our purpose is to bring people of faith to see good healthcare as a corollary of Jesus’ command, to love your neighbor as yourself,” Stockett continued. “We want it understood that this is a kingdom of God issue, grossly ignored right in the middle of the Bible Belt. We want the people who quote John 3:16 to understand that it matters to Jesus that there are people (our Mississippi neighbors) without real access to good healthcare…and so it should matter to us, too.”

No doubt, Stockett had no intention of inserting himself into a political debate. In his announcement of the lectures, he certainly didn’t mention Reeves or the 2023 elections.

But as more Mississippians than ever are tuned in to the state’s worsening health care crisis — and as the lectures will be held right against the backdrop of the November governor’s election — the contrast in views is impossible to ignore.

The Galloway lectures will take place Oct. 27-28, just 10 days before the Nov. 7 general election. Reeves faces Democratic challenger Brandon Presley, who has made his strong support for Medicaid expansion a top issue of his campaign. Independent candidate Gwendolyn Gray, also on the ballot, supports expansion.

READ MORE: Brandon Presley again vows to expand Medicaid as Gov. Tate Reeves reiterates opposition

Reeves publicly touts his Christian values, regularly posting Bible verses to social media and discussing his faith on the campaign trail. He even hosted live-streamed prayer services on his Facebook page during the COVID-19 lockdowns. He said it was his “pleasure” to declare Christian Heritage Week of Sept. 21, which also happened to be the date of Yom Kippur, the day of atonement in the Jewish faith and the religion’s holiest day.

Though the governor speaks publicly of his religion and even his membership at Galloway, he has never publicly equated health care access with his faith.

Mississippi, which has the nation’s highest rate of people without health insurance, is one of just 10 states that has not expanded Medicaid, thus leaving more than $1 billion in federal money on the table annually. Reeves has gone out of his way for more than a decade to block it.

The state is also in the throes of a hospital financial crisis in which nearly half of rural hospitals are at risk of closure and even larger hospitals have been forced to slash services or lay off staff. The hospital crisis is exacerbated by the fact that hospitals themselves must cover the health care service costs for uninsured patients.

After years of inaction on the health care crisis, Reeves last week announced a plan that would provide additional funding to hospitals. Much of the new funding would come from an increase in hospital taxes that would then allow the state to draw down additional federal funding through a Medicaid reimbursement program.

Experts say the Reeves proposal will help hospitals, but they said the plan will provide no relief to uninsured Mississippians. In the press conference announcing his plan, Reeves was asked why he supported drawing down federal money to help hospitals under his plan but opposed drawing down federal money to help uninsured patients via Medicaid expansion.

“We need more people in the workforce,” Reeves said. “… So adding 300,000 able-bodied Mississippians to the welfare rolls, I would argue, is a bad idea.”

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves announces 11th hour plan for hospital crisis. Opponents pan it as ‘too little, too Tate’

A study by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 61% of Medicaid recipients work and another 30% of recipients are students, people who are disabled, or caregivers. Medicaid expansion is designed, in part, to provide health insurance to people who work in jobs where their employers do not provide health insurance and they do not earn enough to afford private insurance.

“Until Medicaid is expanded, Mississippians will continue to pay the price in lost dollars, lost jobs, and lost lives,” Roy Mitchell, executive director of the Mississippi Health Advocacy Program, said of Reeves’ recent announcement. “This is a state executive branch, making a health policy decision based largely in myth and an ideological belief structure. The reality is hundreds of thousands of Mississippians are not paid enough to afford health insurance coverage.”

Without question, the moral arguments being made by Stockett, Mitchell and others for health care access for poor Mississippians will continue regardless of the outcome of the 2023 governor’s election.

The Galloway lecture series will begin Oct. 27 at 5:30 p.m. and Oct. 28 at 8:30 a.m. at Galloway, located a block from the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Jackson. The lecturers are:

• Rev. Chuck Poole, former pastor of Northminster Baptist Church in Jackson and now working with Together for Hope.
• Dr. Dan Jones, former chancellor of the University of Mississippi and former dean of medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
• Rev. Jason Coker, president and director of Together for Hope, a collation working to improve the standard of living in rural areas such as the Delta and Appalachia.
• Dr. Sandra Melvin, a public health doctor and chief executive officer of the Institute for the Advancement of Minority Health.
• Von Gordon, executive director of the Alluvial Collection, previously known as the William Winter Institute.
• Dr. Michelle Owens, an OB-GYN in Jackson and the president of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure.

The event is part of Galloway’s T.W. Lewis Lecture Series on Jesus and a Just Society. The series was started by an anonymous donor in honor of T.W. Lewis, an ordained elder in the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church and professor emeritus of religious studies at Millsaps College — the governor’s alma mater.

READ MORE: Experts say Gov. Tate Reeves’ plan will help hospitals, but not uninsured Mississippians

The post Faith, medical leaders to discuss expanding health care access at Gov. Tate Reeves’ home church appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Sept. 29, 1962

Mississippi Gov. Ross Barnett spoke at halftime of the University of Mississippi’s game against Kentucky. Barnett whipped up the all-white crowd, which some compared to a Nazi rally in Nuremberg. While Confederate battle flags waved defiantly, Barnett told the crowd of more than 40,000 gathered, “I love Mississippi. I love her people. Our customs. I love and respect our heritage.” 

The next day, an insurrection took place on the Ole Miss campus after the admission of James Meredith, the first known Black student to attend.

The post On this day in 1962 appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Incumbent Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said last week he is eager to have debates with his Democratic challenger Brandon Presley and that his campaign was working with Presley’s to make them happen.

But a spokesman for the Presley campaign on Thursday said, “That was news to us,” and that Reeves’ campaign has made no such entreaties.

Despite both candidates saying they are eager to debate each other, no Mississippi gubernatorial debates have been announced as the Nov. 7 election draws near.

The Reeves campaign on Thursday did not respond to a request for comment or update on gubernatorial debate plans.

Presley has for months called on Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves to debate him. Presley has proposed five debates and has accepted debate invitations from WJTV in Jackson for Oct. 13 and stations across the state owned by Gray Television for Oct. 26. He’s accused Reeves of dodging debates.

Reeves at a press conference last week said he’ll have debates — plural — with Presley, and that, “Our team is working with their team.”

“I have been pretty busy,” Reeves said last week. “… I am letting the campaign team work on that. But I am sure we are going to have debates. We have always had debates.”

READ MORE: Gov. Tate Reeves says he’ll have ‘debates’ with challenger Brandon Presley

Presley’s campaign on Thursday launched a new video ad titled “Hunt,” accusing Reeves of “hiding” from Mississippians and refusing to debate. The Presley campaign in a release said, “Tate Reeves is nowhere to be found in planning debates or responding to debate organizers.”

The Presley ad features a tracker with a team of bloodhounds searching for Reeves. The narrator says, “Tate Reeves has gone missing. He refuses to face the people.” At the end, Presley says, “I’m Brandon Presley, and unlike Tate Reeves, I won’t hide from the people of Mississippi.”

Last week, Reeves said he was eager to face Presley in person.

“I’ll be honest with you, I look forward to getting on the stage with that individual, who seems to have a really hard time telling the truth,” Reeves said. “It doesn’t matter the topic, he has a pretty easy time lying … I give him credit, he’s a really talented politician — that is to say he’s willing to lie about anything. He’s willing to stand in any room and say what he thinks they want to hear, and then he goes to the next room and says something exactly opposite based upon what he believes their views are.”

Conventional wisdom is debates would be most likely to help a challenger such as Presley, trailing the incumbent in campaign cash and name recognition.

Every Mississippi gubernatorial election since at least 1987, with the exception of one, has seen candidate debates — and in most cases multiple debates. In 2015, incumbent Gov. Phil Bryant did not debate his Democratic opponent Robert Gray.

The post Gov. Tate Reeves still hasn’t agreed to a debate against challenger Brandon Presley appeared first on Mississippi Today.

LAUREL — Days after Republican Gov. Tate Reeves doubled down on his stance against Medicaid expansion, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Brandon Presley promised Jones County voters he’d pass the policy on his first day in office.

The state’s health care crisis has remained one of the major issues of the governor’s race. As hospitals struggle financially and hundreds of thousands in the state don’t have health care coverage, the top gubernatorial candidates are debating the merits of Medicaid expansion, a federal-state program that would provide health care coverage to an estimated 300,000 poor, working Mississippians and help hospitals cover costs.

Presley, who appeared at a legislative forum in Laurel on Wednesday hosted by Rep. Omeria Scott, placed the blame for the state’s health care problems squarely on the governor’s shoulders and repeatedly vowed to expand Medicaid.

“Now there’s one reason Tate Reeves is not for expanding Medicaid,” Presley said. “It’s because a Democratic president passed the Affordable Care Act, and what a silly, small way to be. Let me tell you about me: If Donald Trump had passed the Affordable Care Act and 230,000 people in this state would benefit, I’d be for it in five seconds because it’s not about the politics. It’s about the people.”

Mississippi is one of just 10 states that have not expanded Medicaid, an option under former President Barack Obama’s 2010 Affordable Care Act. Experts say the state could receive about $1 billion a year for expansion, and it would go a long way to stemming Mississippi’s health care crisis. One report puts nearly a half of rural hospitals at risk of closing — many of them are losing millions caring for people who are uninsured.

Reeves reiterated his opposition to Medicaid expansion at a press conference last week announcing a hospital funding plan, repeatedly disparagingly calling it “welfare” and suggesting the health care crisis would be aided if more people joined the workforce in Mississippi.

But supporters of Medicaid expansion say it’s for people who are already working but don’t have jobs that provide them with private health insurance.

READ MORE: Experts say Gov. Tate Reeves’ plan will help hospitals, but not uninsured Mississippians

Just last week — less than two months before the election — Reeves announced a complex scheme to draw down more federal money for hospitals in lieu of expanding Medicaid. While his plan, which hasn’t been approved by the federal government yet, would put more money in some hospitals’ pockets, it won’t insure more Mississippians. 

That means under Reeves’ plan, uninsured people in Mississippi will largely have to continue to rely on emergency rooms for their medical care and forgo preventative care. 

At the forum on Wednesday, Presley reminded attendees of Reeves’ plan and who it benefits.

“Remember that Tate Reeves has shown us who he is. Don’t forget it,” he said. “With your help on Nov. 7, we’re gonna tell Tate Reeves his party’s over.

Presley also drew contrasts between his background and Reeves’ at the Wednesday event.

“I understand what it’s like to come home and have your lights and your water cut off,” he said. “Tate Reeves doesn’t understand families like ours exist. He was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I have been where working people in Mississippi are. It’s one of the reasons that I support and will take action on day one to expand Medicaid.”

The proclamation garnered shouts and applause from the hundred constituents before him, including Samella Walker. 

Walker, a lifelong resident of Laurel, is a three-time cancer survivor who knows intimately the importance of health insurance. She’s been attending Scott’s forum since its inception decades ago. This year, however, she said the energy was different. 

“Something has got to be done,” Walker said, shaking her head. “The party is over, and it’s time for a change.”

READ MORE: Gov. Reeves announces 11th hour plan for hospital crisis. Opponents pan it as ‘too little, too Tate’

The post Brandon Presley again vows to expand Medicaid as Gov. Tate Reeves reiterates opposition appeared first on Mississippi Today.

In another attempt to insert local voices into the fixing of Jackson’s water system, city advocate groups filed a motion this week to intervene in the federal environmental lawsuit. 

Two local groups – The People’s Advocacy Institute and the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign – filed the motion this week to try and become parties to the case, which began last November following the city’s infamous water system collapse. The current parties are the U.S. Department of Justice, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Mississippi State Department of Health, and the City of Jackson.

The advocate groups are getting help from a large legal team, including the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights, ACLU of Mississippi and Forward Justice. The National Resources Defense Council is also supporting the groups in an emergency petition they filed with the EPA last month. 

The groups’ sprawling concerns over how the water system is being handled include transparency from the current system manager – JXN Water, led by Ted Hedifin – and sending some of the historic influx of federal dollars towards local contractors.

“It is unconscionable that the federal government finally grants us hundreds of millions of dollars and there’s no requirement that these funds create employment for our residents,” Brooke Floyd of the Jackson People’s Assembly said in a press release. “This is one of the many reasons why we need a seat at the table.”

The groups have made a list of specific asks that include: 

• Assuring the public the return local control of the water system once Henifin leaves

• Requiring JXN Water to comply with public record and procurement laws
• Requiring regular community meetings, as well as input from the community over hiring and contracting decisions 
• Requiring monthly water system updates, versus the current quarterly requirement
• Requiring a community ombudsman to consult with JXN Water over important decisions
• Alerting residents of boil water notices in person, via text, e-mail, phone call and social media

“We’re in an age where people don’t get their information from one source,” said Rukia Lumumba, PAI’s Executive Director.

Advocates during a press conference Wednesday said residents aren’t receiving enough communication from JXN Water when experiencing poor water pressure or other issues, such as discoloration. 

Henifin, who has over 40 years of water system experience, has maintained that the city is complying with all water quality requirements. As far as pressure, JXN Water has repaired over 200 water line leaks, and its latest quarterly report says that only a few locations – Merit Health Hospital, some homes on Shannon Dale Road and the Henley Young Juvenile Detention Center – still have unreliable pressure, adding that solutions for those areas will take shape in the next quarter.

While the advocates’ motion to intervene went unopposed by both the city and the DOJ, the groups have already made many of the same requests to the presiding judge, who largely dismissed their concerns. 

At a July status conference, U.S. Judge Henry Wingate – who’s overseeing the case, and who put Henifin in temporary charge of the water system – heard in-person many of the comments echoed by the advocacy groups this week. Some of the speakers also pointed to a lack of local, Black leadership within JXN Water, and expressed concern that some of the larger contracts went to out-of-state vendors.

About 11% – or $2.65 million – of JXN Water’s spending has gone towards minority-owned contractors so far, according to the last quarterly report, and at least a few of those are local businesses. The largest contract so far was given to Texas-based Jacobs Engineering for about $10 million to staff the city’s water plants. The quarterly report added that while many services the water system requires are not available in Jackson, one of JXN Water’s goals is to create new small Black firms to meet those needs.

A week after the status conference, Wingate filed a response to the advocates where he panned them for bringing race up as a concern, arguing they were too concerned with the fact that Henifin is white and from out-of-state.  

“Overall, the presentations from Henifin’s critics were either uninformed, short-sighted, clearly political, well-intentioned but naïve, or (as earlier discussed) racist,” the judge wrote. 

Wingate pointed out that 90% of JXN Water’s 20-person team is Black. He largely dismissed the requests made for more transparency, and listed over 30 public appearances Henifin has made, adding that the manager plans to expand his public visibility. 

The judge also wrote that, through the hiring of a new call center — Protel Inc. in Rankin County — wait times for residents’ calls decreased dramatically, from over four hours when the city was handling calls to under two minutes on average.  

Some of the advocates who spoke at this week’s press conference took issue with the judge’s comments.

“This isn’t an attack on Mr. Henifin,” said Danyelle Holmes with MS-PCC. “This is not a Black or white issue. When the judge makes a statement that we just want someone Black to fix our water, that’s very disingenuous.” 

Others noted that many of the requests made at the July hearing went unaddressed in Wingate’s response. 

“We felt like it was unfortunate that he did not quite understand what we were trying to say,” said Makani Themba with the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition. 

The groups now wait as they hope Wingate will grant their motion to formally intervene in the case.

While Henifin has said that JXN Water has been transparent with how it’s operating, he agrees there’s work to do to improve educating and communicating with the public.

Billing and water shutoffs

This week, Jackson residents received letters notifying them that water shutoffs would begin this fall for water customers who haven’t paid their bills.

“No customers have been turned off yet,” Henifin said in a statement.

At status hearings, Henifin has emphasized that getting customers to pay their bills, which includes restoring trust in the water they receive, is a crucial step to long-term funding for the water system.

The letter states that less than six of 10 customers are paying their bills. Henifin has estimated that thousands of properties are using the city’s water without an account. While JXN Water is installing new water meters throughout the city, about 10,000 customers don’t have new meters and their bills are being estimated based on the city’s average consumption, the letter adds.

Residents can go to JXN Water’s website or call 601-500-5200 to pay their bills, set up a payment plan, or access financial assistance.

The post Advocates attempt to intervene in Jackson water case, respond to judge’s criticism appeared first on Mississippi Today.

Only 8% of Mississippi school districts got a D or F on this year’s accountability grades, an even smaller percentage than last year.

The grades, released Thursday by the Mississippi Department of Education, are the state’s annual assessment of school quality based on state test performance, student growth from year to year, and graduation rates. Schools and districts did not receive grades in 2020 or 2021 because of the disruptions of the pandemic, receiving post-COVID grades for the first time last year.  

The 2022 grades saw many schools and districts significantly improving their accountability score from 2019, but education officials cautioned against year-to-year comparisons because of the impact of the pandemic on the data, making it possible that those improvements wouldn’t hold. 

Instead, most scores have remained the same or continued to improve, with even more districts moving up to the A or B categories. 

State law requires the cut scores for each letter grade to be raised when 65% of schools or districts are rated A or B, a benchmark the state hit for the first time this year. MDE officials said they will be looking into this in the coming months.

“I’m proud to say that Mississippi has resumed its momentum from before the pandemic,” said Raymond Morgigno, interim state superintendent of education. 

Morgigno said he was pleased to see proficiency on the state tests met pre-pandemic levels and was proud that schools were largely able to maintain their high growth scores. 

“Honestly we were a little concerned last year when we had such strong results, we thought that would be the COVID bump with some of our growth, but yet our schools maintained that,” he said. “So we were really proud to see, especially in our elementary schools, that they just continued to move forward.” 

Morgigno also said there were still a few lingering impacts of COVID testing waivers in this year’s data. MDE officials said they expect next year's accountability data to be the last year with any of those lingering impacts.

School districts have also received a significant cash infusion from the federal pandemic recovery funds, which have allowed them to invest in technology, tutoring programs, additional staff members and some building renovations. These funds are set to expire in the fall of 2024. 

READ MORE: How three Mississippi school districts are spending $207 million in federal relief funds

Morgigno expressed some concern that school performance will be impacted by the loss of those additional funds but said the state will not be lowering its standards. 

“We never want to get in the game of making excuses,” he said. “I think success breeds success and I don’t see anyone lowering their standards, we just may have to roll up our sleeves and work a little harder, but that’s kind of what we do here in Mississippi.” 

Accountability reports for each district will be available on the Mississippi Succeeds Report Card portal. 

The post School accountability scores are same or better than last year appeared first on Mississippi Today.