Jackson City Council Planning Committee Meeting - May 14, 2026
Jackson City Council Planning and Economic Development Committee Meeting - May 14, 2026
The meeting was called to order at 3:35 PM on Thursday, May 14, 2026, with three council members on the dais, Council President Grisell participating remotely, and Councilwoman LaShea Brown Thomas expected. The committee discussed blight, code enforcement, the Bloomberg Innovation Team's work, the Clutch program for unhoused individuals, and the status of the Jackson-Hinds Library System. No formal votes were taken, but several directives and next steps were established.
Bloomberg Innovation Team Presentation
- Dr. Francine Sutton (Civic Designer) and Dr. Paris Smith (Data Analytics Manager) introduced the Bloomberg City grant (funded until 2027). They presented four ideas from community ideation sessions: streamlining the permitting process, improving communication via the 311 app, adopting a "Love Your Block" micro-grant program for neighborhood beautification, and updating land use/zoning policies.
- The "Love Your Block" grant application is due June 1, 2026, for $270,000 ($70,000 for micro-grants, $200,000 for two fellows). A decision is expected in fall 2026.
- Dr. Smith noted that Ward 5 has the highest density of blight and suggested targeting main corridors (Terry Road, McDowell Road) for demolition and grass cutting, with signs to credit the work.
- Council members expressed support for the team's work and encouraged them to help develop a HUD master plan for blight. Councilman Hartley provided a draft template for a city master plan to apply for HUD funding.
- The team agreed to coordinate with the planning department and provide regular updates to the council every two weeks.
Blight and Code Enforcement Update
- Robert Brunson, Manager of Code Enforcement, reported that all code enforcement titles have been consolidated under one division (Community Improvement), now with 12 officers (up from 5-6) divided into north, central, and south divisions (15 total staff).
- Officers average 20 inspections per day, totaling over 100 inspections daily. There is a backlog of 4,500 ready cases: 201 commercial and 4,342 residential properties. Ward 5 and Ward 3 have the highest numbers.
- Challenges include: owners hiding behind LLCs, properties going to tax forfeiture, and lack of funding for curing violations. Brunson requested stronger ordinances to hold people accountable, not just properties.
- Councilman Parkinson proposed a volunteer code enforcement program (deputized, trained volunteers) to increase capacity, citing 20 volunteers in Ward 7 ready to participate. He asked the planning department to set up a trial program.
- Councilman Hartley requested legal research on ordinances to address burned-out properties, suggesting a model from other cities.
Clutch Program (Unhoused Individuals)
- Angela Brown (Planning and Development Director) and Liz Brister (Downtown Jackson Partners) presented the Clutch program, a consulting model from Houston that focuses on rapid rehousing and closing encampments.
- The program has three components: rental assistance for housing, rapid response (hotels, bus tickets), and supportive services. The total cost is $10 million over two years, with $3 million from the city, $3 million from a partner, and $3 million to be raised from private/philanthropy.
- A pilot (proof of concept) costing under $50,000 is planned for summer 2026, with a full start date of October 1, 2026. The program aims to rehouse approximately 1,400 individuals out of an estimated 1,600-1,700 in the system.
- Council members expressed support and concern about funding and the need to address the "drop-off" population (people brought to Jackson). Councilman Hartley emphasized the need for a coordinated homeless division (strategic initiatives) and enforcement to prevent new encampments.
- The council agreed to continue fundraising efforts and work with the administration to finalize the plan.
Library System Update
- Jean Williams, Executive Director of the Jackson-Hinds Library System, reported that the system has 5 libraries in Jackson and 7 in the county (12 total). Financial challenges include historic overspending (exceeding income by $300,000/year in the 2010s), stagnant/declining per capita funding, and reduced state and federal grants (federal funding now less than $10,000/year).
- The library faces a fiscal problem in 2027 with the current footprint. The Medgar Evers Library is closed afternoons due to HVAC issues; Johnson Controls expects repairs in 4-6 weeks.
- Plans for reopening: Redeemer Church at Chastain Middle School (short-term lease), Udore Wealthy (co-location with partners, HUD grant of $3.75 million secured), and Richard Wright (assessment needed). Reopening Tisdale would strain the budget by $400,000 annually.
- The library has a $1.5 million endowment (at Community Foundation) but can only access 4% of interest annually.
- Council members noted the library's role in economic development and homelessness services, and encouraged continued partnerships.
Key Outcomes
- The Bloomberg Innovation Team will continue to develop the HUD master plan with the council and provide biweekly updates. The "Love Your Block" grant application will be submitted by June 1, 2026.
- Code Enforcement will work with the legal department to draft ordinances for burned-out properties and volunteer code enforcement programs. Councilman Parkinson will coordinate a trial in Ward 7.
- The Clutch program pilot will proceed this summer; fundraising for $3 million will continue. The city will seek a fiscal agent for donations.
- The library system will explore co-location opportunities and pursue repairs; the city will assess the Richard Wright and Udore Wealthy buildings.
- Councilman Hartley will send a formal request for legislative recommendations on blight, code enforcement, and burned-out properties.
Meeting Transcript
Okay. Picky Picky Picky. All right. I want to call to order this planning and economic development committee meeting of the city council. C in Jackson for on May the 14th, Thursday, 2026, beginning at 335. Okay. The appreciate everybody's attendance here. We got three councilmen on the dias and and councilman Grizel, President Grisell's on line. And I think LaShea Brown Thomas says somewhere in the in the house. So hopefully she'll be here shortly. The um is an any announcements or comments anybody wants to make beginning the meeting here prior to getting ready up going down the agenda? I just think um first of all, thanks everyone for for being here. Hopefully we can push forward towards a lot of work, especially on our blight control and and other issues. But uh Mr. Chair, I think we need to uh make sure we introduce, see who's here. That's a good point. So I knew in fact I I'd uh coordinated with the um uh mayor's brain trust, Gerald Sibley and Nick Lott to uh try to get the Bloomberg fellows here that I had seen on a on they showed up on a video at the neighborhood association meeting. Um are they here in the house? Can you stand up and and tell us uh introduce yourselves? Uh there's Mr. Lott coming in the door too, and and tell us uh what your bona fides are and and what your aspirations for the city of Jackson are good afternoon. I'm Dr. Francine Sutton, and I'm the civic designer on the City of Jackson's innovation team. Hello, I'm Paris, Dr. Paris Smith. I'm the data analytics manager on the innovation team as well. So two years ago, the city of Jackson was selected as a Bloomberg City, and we're on a grant funded role until 2027. So pretty much our priorities are driven by the mayor's priorities, and one of the key initiatives that we were brought in to assist with in the assist the city of Jackson, what building capacity is that was on housing innovation. And for the past year and a half, we conducted housing research just to understand some of the the challenges that Jackson is facing in terms of blight, vacant housing, and also the housing need across all demographic groups and across all income groups. And at that last week, we shared some of our research finding at the JN's board meeting, and one of the things that we did since we were here in November and December, we hosted ideation sessions with both city staff and residents, and we were able to present some of our four ideas that we learned from those ideation sessions with community. And one of the first ideas that we wanted to present to community at that meeting was to streamline the permitting process. And the second idea is to improve the communication between city staff and residents, and that's with the 311 app. And then the third idea that uh was the most exciting for everyone was to adopt the block. So we wanted to have the opportunity to do some micro-level neighborhood beautification efforts, and then the fourth one, which will be one of the longer um hurdles that we hope to get technical support on, is updating the land use and zoning policies. Okay, do you have a I mean you're going pretty pretty quick? I I mean I imagine some questions are popping up already. Uh, but do you have a this laid out any any kind of way? Uh overview or format or just what your uh goals are. Um, yes, I do, but I didn't prepare that for this meeting since this was the uh planning and economic development meeting, but I do have a uh I team one pager that I can share with council. That'd be great. Thank you. Yes, yeah. Yeah. Um so at the Jan meeting, and you presented this information. What was the what was the discussion then? So some of the discussion we we offered was that the city is on the past city council agenda that we're hoping to go after the love your block grant application, so we can offer micro grants to neighborhood associations if we're awarded this opportunity. So one of the things that we learned from the community is that beautification efforts require funding, and at the micro grant level, that can empower neighborhood associations or nonprofits or even individuals to provide uh to apply for these opportunities to lead community resident-led opportunities for beautification. Okay, so when um tell me about the grant, is there what is what's our chance of getting it? When will we know something about it? Things of that nature.
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