As Our Resources Will Allow

After nearly 8 years, and about 7 weeks before the primary, the City Council has discovered a new resurgence of enthusiasm for enforcing the prohibition against parking on lawns.

The ordinance itself is one of many in Jackson that are unenforceable without spending net new tax dollars. This one passed while Harvey Johnson was in office. Its been an unfunded mandate from the outset.

So the Council deemed symbolic and JPD was designated as the agency that should begin enforcing the law.

The Chief sent one of his emissaries to tell the councilmembers the same thing the Sheriff has told the Hinds County Board of Supervisors all these many years -- please get screwed.

The Wizard of McMillin doesn't plan on enforcing the law. Said Deputy Chief Lindsey Horton “We stand ready to enforce it as our resources will allow.”

Political candidates categorically disregard another of Jackson's unenforceable laws, the one that regulates the placement of campaign signs. Sheer violations of the campaign sign law, in raw numbers, probably dwarfs all of the other unenforceables.

Will the City Council take a stand?

There were .07 less accidents in Fondren today!

WAPT reported that JPD says there were 12 accidents at the intersection of Lakeland and Old Canton in the three month period before the red light cameras were installed but only 5 accidents in the three months after the cameras went live.

In other words and without JPD's hype, there was an average of .13 accidents per day at that intersection before the cameras and now we've lowered that fraction with the cameras to an average of .06 accidents per day.

The red light cameras are a driving tax. ATS chose the locations not JPD. That is what you call maximizing profits.

Legislature Says NO to Red Light Camera Tax

The red light cameras are about to be given the heave-ho. Don't believe for a second that the cameras were about reducing traffic accidents. It was all about the money.

In One Word

Presented in two parts, the latest JFP interview with Melton is, in one word, BORING.

All dollars aren't equal

Can we agree that inflation reduces the value of a dollar. I don't want to debate the fine details. Here is a taxpayer funded CPI Calculator.

Let's consider an example. One dollar ten years ago, 1999, is worth seventy-nine cents today. 1999:$1.00 = 2009:$0.79

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 1999 Jackson's share of generated sales taxes, also referred to as the diversion, was $37,285,094.86.

Now, for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2008 Jackson's share of the diversion was $35,529,581.90.

See the problem?

Dangerous Downtown

Things got ugly downtown this week as this older gentleman brazenly robbed Liberty Bank & Trust on South Lamar. (Clarion-Ledger photo.)

He eluded the Precinct5 border checkpoints that have been deployed to stablize that troubled area. Confidential sources report that the suspect walked out of downtown by disguising himself as a overweight middle-aged chain smoker.

As always, be careful when you go downtown.