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| Photo Credit: AP. |
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Years before people in Jackson were recently left without running water for several days, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves claimed to have helped block money to fund water system repairs in the capital city.
Reeves, a
Republican, blames Jackson’s water crisis on mismanagement at the city level.
The city’s latest water troubles are far from its first, and they have stemmed
from decaying infrastructure beyond one water treatment plant. The EPA said 300
boil water notices have been issued over the past two years in the city.
As Reeves
climbed Mississippi’s political ladder, he cited his opposition to financially
helping the capital as evidence of his fiscal conservatism. Jackson-area
lawmakers say the troubled water system is one example of Jackson’s status as a
political punching bag for Republican officials, who control the Legislature
and the state Bond Commission.
“We operate
under the golden rule here,” said Democratic Sen. John Horhn of Jackson. “And
the golden rule is: He who has the gold makes the rules.”
In Jackson,
80% of residents are Black, and 25% live in poverty. Repeated breakdowns made
it unsafe for people to drink from their tap, brush their teeth and wash their
dishes without boiling the water first. At a September news conference, Reeves
said water service was restored to most of the city only after the state
“stepped in” to provide emergency repairs. He also said that he didn’t
anticipate a need for the Legislature to approve more debt for Jackson’s water
system.
The specter
of another weather-induced water stoppage looms large for some Jackson
residents. “Winter is coming,” said Brooke Floyd, a local activist. “He’s
saying it’s fixed. But it’s not fixed.”
Water
service was also cut off in parts of the city due to a winter storm in 2010. By
June 2011, Reeves was locked in a Republican primary campaign for lieutenant
governor. As the tea party movement thrust government spending to the center of
political debate, his opponent lambasted him for signing off on bond debt
increases.
With
election day just weeks away, Reeves — who was the state treasurer — appeared
on a conservative talk radio show to push his track record as a tightfisted
“watchdog” over state legislators eager to borrow. The host, Paul Gallo, wanted
to know why Reeves had voted to approve most bond projects as a member of the
state Bond Commission. His voting record didn’t tell the whole story, Reeves
said. For instance, take the millions in bonds the city had requested to repair
its crumbling water and sewer infrastructure.
“I’ve never
voted against that because it’s never gotten to the Bond Commission. We are
talking to the city of Jackson,” Reeves said. “If we are not comfortable, we
never bring it up for a vote.”
The Bond
Commission decided not to consider issuing bonds for Jackson water projects
that had been authorized by the Legislature, Reeves said.
“Let’s just
say there is an economic development in a town that doesn’t have a lot of
political power,” Gallo responded. “The Bond Commission can just refuse to take
it up? ... Isn’t that the same thing as a negative vote?”
“It is the
same thing as a negative vote,” Reeves said.
Most years,
the Legislature authorizes projects in one king-sized measure, known in
legislators’ parlance as “the big bond bill.” Then, the Bond Commission — made
up of the governor, attorney general and state treasurer — votes on whether to
issue the bonds.
The
commission issues most bonds that come up for a vote. In 2011, Reeves’ primary
opponent said Reeves voted during his two terms as state treasurer to approve
too much debt. But some bonds aren’t brought to a vote or are delayed, such as
those proposed for Jackson water and sewer improvements.
In response
to questions at a September news conference, Reeves said his recollection of
what happened in 2010 is that the city never prepared the necessary paperwork
to receive water bonds authorized by the Legislature. A document obtained by
The Associated Press shows city leaders prepared a proposal in 2010 asking the
state for $13.5 million in bonds for water system upgrades downtown. The
Legislature later approved a dwarfed bond proposal for $6 million.
But after
the Legislature’s approval, Reeves and Republican Gov. Haley Barbour initially
failed to include the city’s water project in the state bonds to be issued in
the fall of 2010.
The
Legislature added an application requirement for the bond, which former
Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration spokeswoman Kym Wiggins
told the Jackson Free Press was “exclusive” to Jackson at the time. In order to
have its application approved, Reeves said the city would need to answer a
number of questions about how the money would be spent.
Barbour and
Reeves later relented and voted to approve the bond after city officials made
commitments that included funding projects through low-interest loans, rather
than the interest-free loans outlined in the legislation.
The
governor’s office told the AP that as state treasurer, Reeves ultimately voted
to approve the bonds. But in the June 2011 interview with Gallo, he said the
Bond Commission had refused to put Jackson water bonds on its agenda.
“We make the
decision prior to it being on the agenda such that there is not an actual
vote,” Reeves said.
Before the
Bond Commission gets involved, bond bills proposed by Jackson-area lawmakers
frequently fail to make it out of the Legislature.
In the 2022
legislative session, a bill that would have authorized $4 million in bonds for
Jackson water and sewer improvements died in committee. Another would have
appropriated money to construct a separate water system for Jackson State
University, which had to bring in temporary restrooms and portable showers in
August as discolored water flowed through dorm faucets.
At another
September news conference, Reeves said the state gave Jackson $200 million over
the last several years to address its water problems. But the numbers Reeves’
office gave Jackson television station WLBT-TV include revenue generated from
measures like a 1% sales tax paid only by people who shop in Jackson.
“That is not
money that comes from the state of Mississippi,” said Democratic state Rep.
Earle Banks of Jackson. “That is money that comes from the citizens of Jackson
and people who do business in the city of Jackson.”
With
population decline eroding Jackson’s tax base, voters in 2014 overwhelmingly
approved a 1% local sales tax for infrastructure repairs. The Jackson city
council asked for legislative approval for another election to double that
local tax to 2 cents on the dollar. A bill to increase the sales tax died in
the 2021 legislative session.
Reeves said
Jackson needed to fix its problems with its billing system before “asking
everyone else to pony up more money.”
Efforts to
attract private investment by keeping taxes low have long been central to
Reeves’ economic thinking.
The
government does not create jobs; it simply “creates an environment which
encourages the private sector to invest capital,” Reeves said in the 2011
interview with Gallo. “And the infrastructure around that is a function of
government.”
Reeves said
government has a role to play in building infrastructure to hasten development.
Those economic principles have not been applied to Jackson, some officials
said.
“Look, we
can we can bury our heads in the sand and say, ‘Jackson’s problem is not our
problem,’” Horhn said. “But when you hear there ain’t no water, and you can’t
brush your teeth or take a crap, you strike Mississippi from the list.”
Michael
Goldberg is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America
Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service
program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered
issues. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mikergoldberg.