Rankin County rep to draw up Jackson takeover bill (Madison: 2013, apartment)

[golden eagles fan]

They're coming for our airport, and now they want to come for our city. State representative Mark Baker of Rankin County plans to introduce a bill in the next legislative session to take over Jackson, much like in the way the state takes over a failing school district.

Lawmaker considering city takeover bill | Local News - Home

Maybe Jackson should secede from the state of Mississippi.

[madison2013]

Horrible drinking water, horrible infrastructure, horrible airport. The State couldn't do any worse.

[golden eagles fan]

The city has gone to the state for a long time asking for help from the state, but always get very little or nothing at all. Yet, the state is always taking from us.

By the way, the airport is operating in the black.

[madison2013]

Yes Jackson always asks for money. Always. And the State gives money and then what? Nothing. Then it's repeated over and over. Plus why would the state trust Jackson?


And the airport is the largest in the state and is a joke. It's embarrassing.

[dwashington]

Originally Posted by madison2013

And the airport is the largest in the state and is a joke. It's embarrassing.

75%+~ of Jackson is a joke... That's the sad part. I am embarrassed for people that are not from the area to even stop at a gas station in the Jackson city limits. It's bad enough seeing all of the dilapidated homes, businesses, and apartment buildings from the interstate with the piles of trash and tires in front of them.

What's even worse than the dilapidated homes is the fact that a lot of them still have people living in them. Trash strewn all over the yard, grass grown up, broken down cars in the driveway, all while someone just sits on the front porch waiting on the day to go by, only getting up from their seat to walk to the nearest gas station to grab a drink and a bite to eat.

What does it honestly take to get everyone on board to have pride in their city, their neighborhood, their own home?

[golden eagles fan]

Originally Posted by madison2013

Yes Jackson always asks for money. Always. And the State gives money and then what? Nothing. Then it's repeated over and over. Plus why would the state trust Jackson?


And the airport is the largest in the state and is a joke. It's embarrassing.

The airport is operating in the black. What else is embarrassing?

The city has asked the state for PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) money to help with things like infrastructure. They know what our roads and pipes are like. They take up a lot of space in the city, whether it's state agencies, JSU, UMMC, etc.--space that's untaxable to the city. No, the state isn't responsible for most of our problems, but they haven't been willing to give us a helping hand either.

[madison2013]

Yeah it's the states fault.
Or Rankin County fault.
Or Madison County fault.
Or people living in the suburbs fault.
Or the police fault.


It's always someone else's fault. All Jackson needs is a helping hand and money. That's what's holding back progress.

[golden eagles fan]

Nowhere did I place blame on the surrounding communities.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by dwashington

75%+~ of Jackson is a joke... That's the sad part. I am embarrassed for people that are not from the area to even stop at a gas station in the Jackson city limits. It's bad enough seeing all of the dilapidated homes, businesses, and apartment buildings from the interstate with the piles of trash and tires in front of them.

What's even worse than the dilapidated homes is the fact that a lot of them still have people living in them. Trash strewn all over the yard, grass grown up, broken down cars in the driveway, all while someone just sits on the front porch waiting on the day to go by, only getting up from their seat to walk to the nearest gas station to grab a drink and a bite to eat.

What does it honestly take to get everyone on board to have pride in their city, their neighborhood, their own home?

Usually renters don't take as good a care as an owner does. And if the landlord lives out of town, hes probably a slum lord and has no interest in taking care of that property as long as he gets his rent money. I also think there's alot of people that don't know how to take care of yard because they never had a yard to take care of.

[dwashington]

Originally Posted by Ivory Lee Spurlock

Usually renters don't take as good a care as an owner does. And if the landlord lives out of town, hes probably a slum lord and has no interest in taking care of that property as long as he gets his rent money. I also think there's alot of people that don't know how to take care of yard because they never had a yard to take care of.

I understand not knowing how to take care of a yard because you've never had one before, but at the same time picking up trash off of the ground or not throwing trash on the ground in the first place and keeping the grass mowed are both pretty basic things that you would expect from those that own/rent any piece of grass.

I had a friend that owned a few duplexes and she was kind enough to include yard maintenance in with the rent. She said pretty much anytime they showed up to mow the grass, there'd usually be tons of trash all out in the yard and when the tenants were asked they would claim that it's the yard man's responsibility to pick up the trash, not theirs. (Why not just not put the trash in the yard to begin with???)

Most of the communities I've ever lived would generally have people (sometimes me) that would walk the streets and pick up trash they saw just to try to make things look nice. In Jackson I don't think we have too much of that, it seems everywhere I go is striving to look more like a landfill than a nice, safe place to raise children.