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“WHERE’D ALL THE MONEY GO?” Jackson MS problems are deeper than the water.
In all the frustrating and heartbreaking reports surrounding the desperate difficulties of the Jackson, Mississippi water situation, I heard a snippet that buzzed around in my head for a bit.
Well, 2 actually. First, of course, their water problems are all legacy “institutional racism.” In this day and age? GOES WITHOUT SAYING. *eyeballroll*
The second? Something about a near $100M settlement with Siemens Corporation for…faulty water meters? Did I hear that right? If that’s true, why and where’d that money go?
To the first, oft-repeated assertion, I can only point out Jackson has been a Democratically controlled city (with a one-off Republican in the 40s, and Mayor Ditto, who turn coated from Dem to Rep for the last 2 years of his mayoral term) for the better part of a hundred years (WIKI List). We are all aware of what Southern Democrats of a certain era were capable of.
Jackson has been a Democrat-controlled city since Mayor Johnson, in 1997. So a quarter century to start taking things in hand. Make those changes. To be fair, they were up against a rock and a hard place, with a declining population, “white flight” to the suburbs or elsewhere, leaving a lower income citizenry in its wake, with a city to support on a tax base that was melting away. In fact, according to WABE, “a population 20% smaller today than in 1980.”
I get it.
But good decisions are what needs to happen when you get your shot, and, HOO, BOY, did not. This is where the Siemens debacle came in.
In 2013, the city contracted with Siemens to upgrade sewer lines, the water-treatment plant, and install new water/sewer meters with a streamlined modern billing system. Sounded like a terrific deal. Lots of promises, according to this excellent Jackson Free Press article.
… In 2013, the City of Jackson entered into the $90-million performance contract with Siemens to upgrade Jackson’s sewer lines and water-treatment plants and to install a new automated water-sewer billing system. Court records show that, in the months leading up to the contract, Siemens had promised $120 million in “guaranteed savings” for the city. The corporation stated that the new water-sewer repairs and billing system alone would generate enough savings to pay for the $90-million project.
“In its pitch to the City, Siemens repeatedly invoked the guaranteed structure of an energy performance contract,” the City’s June 2019 lawsuit against Siemens reads. “When it came time to execute an agreement, Siemens effectuated a ‘bait-and-switch’ that fell short of a true performance contract.”…
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