‘We’ve got the people in place to run it properly’: Council says it’s time to transfer water system back to city

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) — More than three years after the federal government took it over, Jackson city leaders say it’s time to start transitioning the water system back.

On Tuesday, the Jackson City Council approved a nonbinding resolution encouraging the federal government to return full control of the management and operation of the beleaguered system back over to the city.

The resolution was introduced by Ward Three Councilman Kenneth Stokes, who says JXN Water is no longer listening to the concerns of residents and that under Mayor John Horhn, the city is better equipped to take it back.

“We have a different mayor. We have a Public Works director. We understand that when they come back to the city, there would be guidelines,” he said. “Nobody’s up here saying we want to go back to dirty water. What we’re saying is it’s time now to consider giving the water back to the city.”

“We’ve got the people in place to run it properly.”

The federal government took over Jackson’s water system in late 2022, after years of failing to comply with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Ted Henifin was appointed interim third-party manager over the system. As part of the court order appointing him, he is responsible for implementing nearly a dozen “priority projects” to bring the system back into compliance with federal law.

He is also responsible for sorting out problems with the city’s billing system. For the first time since taking over, monthly collections surpassed $8 million in September.

[READ: Approximately 600 people in danger of having water shut off, task force officials say]

Council Vice President Vernon Hartley said he’s grateful for the federal help, but “did not envision forever” in regard to the water takeover.

He asked Chief Administrative Officer Pieter Teeuwissen whether the city has a transition plan in place.

Teeuwissen said the transitional plan must be in place by October 2026, per the federal court order, and that he and the mayor already have been meeting with Henifin to work on that plan.

“The real question is what phase do we go to next, and what is the timeline?” he said. “I suspect the timeline will be something sooner than what the city previously proposed.”

According to the initial stipulated order, Henifin is expected to stay in the capital city at least until 2027.

Any modification to that agreement must be signed off on by the city, the Mississippi State Department of Health, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Because of the government shutdown, DOJ attorneys “are prohibited from working, even on a voluntary basis, except in very limited circumstances, including ‘emergencies involving the safety of human life or the protection of property,’” the agency informed the court on Monday.

The council’s vote comes as the Mississippi Poor People’s Campaign and the People’s Advocacy Institute are also asking to lift the stay on the litigation involving the takeover, saying the city’s water emergency is over.

“A stay was originally entered nearly three years ago to allow the parties to ‘focus all efforts on negotiating long-term solutions to the city’s drinking water issues in the form of a consent decree,’” attorneys for the groups wrote.

“Extending the stay — this time for the eighth time — will continue to work against the just, fair administration of this case.”

In an October 3 response to that motion, the United States argues that ending the stay would result in “unnecessary, costly, and resource-intensive litigation, even though the injunctive relief necessary to address the violations alleged in the complaint is being implemented by the third-party manager.”

“This argument makes no logical sense. As noted above, the ITPM, under the court’s supervision, has already completed several projects aimed at stabilizing the drinking water system.”

Of the 13 priority projects listed in the court order, six have been completed, one is under design, and two others have had implementation schedules approved by the EPA.

Projects included entering into operations and maintenance contracts to run Jackson’s water treatment plants, locating an emergency water supply for the city, and implementing a new backup power plan for the O.B. Curtis Water Treatment Plant.

As for Tuesday’s resolution, the measure was approved on a 6-1 vote. Ward One Councilman Ashby Foote voted against it.

Foote says rather than focusing on water, Jackson should focus on reducing crime, cleaning blight, and bringing more economic development to the city.

“We’ve got enough on our plate to do those three things,” he said. “We have to get economic development going to get investors back in the city. We have to attack blight with industrial solutions, and we have to get crime under control.”

“Crime is the No. 1 issue. We don’t need to take over the water plants, which are running fine,” he said. “We have issues with the bill collections, but we can’t solve that problem ourselves anyway.”

Council President Brian Grizzell, who voted in favor of the measure, says he would like to see an authority put in place to take the politics out of governing the system.

“We want to make sure that the citizens are not being victimized to the point where we go weeks without water again, or folks sitting on top of invoices like we saw last time,” he said.

Prior to the takeover, Jackson had been under a citywide boil water notice for months.

Meanwhile, a 3 On Your Side exposé revealed that staffing levels were so low at the city’s treatment plants that they were in danger of closing.

[READ: EXCLUSIVE: Emails reveal staffing shortage threatened to shut down water treatment plants]

“Our water system should not be at the helm of the change of mayors or anyone else. Because you get a new mayor, you get a new Public Works [director], and nobody’s leaving this ‘Dear John’ letter… to say, ‘this is where we left off.’”

The council also approved a nonbinding resolution encouraging JXN Water to provide billing adjustments to residents. That measure was approved on a unanimous vote.

A statement from JXN Water is posted below.

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