- Jackson City Council votes unanimously not to assess property owners on Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive for the street's planned reconstruction.
- Property owners on MLK Drive objected when informed by the City earlier this year that they would be assessed up to $15,000.
- City's Chief Equity Officer John Willis and City Manager Jonathan Greene made the case to City Council Tuesday for reduced assessments.
- Video shows excerpt from initial assessment notice in January, City officials meeting with concerned neighbors in March, and Tuesday's City Council meeting.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I was here at Jackson's MLK Center when City officials came to discuss proposed assessments for MLK Drive reconstruction.
On Tuesday, City Council reversed course — with a tentative plan of NO assessments for MLK Drive reconstruction.
Earlier this year, I watched and listened as neighbors here on Jackson's South Side objected after letters went out from the City telling them they'd be assessed up to $15,000 for MLK Drive reconstruction.
Millions of federal dollars are on the table from the Department of Transportations RAISE, or Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity program.
The catch? The City must cover 15% of the expense. Assessing neighbors and businesses on MLK Drive was the plan.
But at Tuesday's City Council meeting, after hearing from the City's Chief Equity Officer John Willis about the history of segregation that left Jackson's South Side under-resourced and impoverished, and City Manager Jonathan Greene's proposed reduction in assessments, City Council voted unanimously to move forward with MLK reconstruction without ANY assessments on property owners whatsoever.
Tuesday's vote gets the ball rolling, with revised estimates, public hearings, and finalization of funding still in the future.
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