Mayor Horhn is proposing to let the Convention Center run Thalia Mara Hall. Horhn says that since the Convention Center ended a third-party management contract, operating losses have gone from $2.5 million to nearly breakeven.
On top of the list of turning around Jackson is to get a good hotel across from the convention center. That state legislature should help with that.
Horhn expects Thalia Mara to be open by next year. Let’s hope so. It’s a wonderful facility with great acoustics. This is a real test of the new city leadership.I am praying for success. Thalia Mara must be renovated by the next International Ballet Competition in June, 2027. We can’t lose that.
Horhn is also planning a $40 million city bond with some of the money going toward Thalia Mara repairs and a street repaving. It’s impressive that the city is able to borrow money at all. Somebody has confidence in Jackson and is putting their money where their mouth is.
The key to downtown revival is to have at least 2,000 people living downtown. We currently have 800.
Two thousand downtown residents is the threshold number to have a grocery store, drug store and other signs of retail life.
The new owner of the old Deposit Guaranty Building is planning to turn Jackson’s tallest building into a residential facility with 200 units. Only a thousand more people to go.
The state should consider building incentives for downtown residential buildings to achieve the 2,000 downtown residents goal. That should be a top priority. Downtown high-rise residential buildings are the key.
Priority two should be ensuring Jackson has at least one cool, vibrant street with shops and restaurants open on weekend nights where tourists and people can walk around. Capitol Street is the obvious choice.
This is what young college graduates and professionals want. They are who we need to attract. With a new mayor, state support and visionary thinking, this can be accomplished.
House speaker Jason White recently stated that one of his goals is to help turn around Jackson. This is a monumental change from a decade or two ago, when Republican leadership was more than happy to let Jackson decline while they pointed fingers and said I told you so.
Governor Tate Reeves and Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann also advocate helping Jackson turn around. The Republican leadership, indeed the whole state, is finally realizing that Mississippi cannot succeed if its core is rotten.
Look at booming Nashville, Little Rock and Birmingham. These cities were all struggling and now are growing like crazy, bringing growth to their entire states. We should follow this model.
There are some very positive signs. The murder rate in Jackson is on track to drop by half. The new state Capitol Police force is evidence of state leadership, as is the Capitol Complex Improvement District and the new state-created Jackson court.
Having a competent mayor who cares is a huge step in the right direction. The turnaround of the water system was another huge step.
Unfortunately, the honeymoon is over for JXN Water as it's running out of operational money. Federal Judge Henry Wingate is finding out that running an urban water system is no walk in the park.
There’s still a lot of federal infrastructure money to be spent on pipes, but that money can’t be spent on operations. A rate hike is imminent.
JXN Water has been trying to collect from a lot of big apartment complexes that are behind on their bill to the tune of millions.
One stumbling point is that the past billing system was so deficient that some complexes have legitimate complaints about the accuracy of their past bills.
Perhaps one solution would be to negotiate the existing balance, work out a payment plan and then start over from scratch now that the billing department is functional.
I spent some time using AI to compare Jackson’s water rates to comparable cities. They are on the high side already, but not outrageously so. Comparison is difficult because different cities bill in different ways. For instance, Jackson includes trash pick up in their water bills. Some cities build it into the taxes.
My buddy Tom Parry lives in Madison and gets his water from the Pearl River Valley Water District, which supplies water to about 5,600 customers near the reservoir.
Our houses are about the same size. He has two living at home. I have three. His bill includes trash pickup, so does mine. Turns out our bills are nearly identical.
Getting the collection rate up to a normal level is critical for JXN Water. There is no easy way to do this, especially given the high poverty level in Jackson. But there is no viable alternative. That’s just the way it is. JXN Water must be solvent.
