Even with the council overriding his veto, Lumumba is not giving contracts to JPD, JFD chiefs

There will be no contracts for the police and fire chiefs.

Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba defiantly made that announcement during his Monday press conference.

The Clarion Ledger asked the mayor what the next steps would be now that the Jackson City Council voted to override his veto of a controversial order that turns the Jackson Police Department's police chief and assistant chiefs, as well as the Jackson Fire Department's fire chief into contract positions.

"No. There will be no contracts," Lumumba said. "I sometimes feel like I'm Dr. Seuss on this, right? The council cannot issue a contract. They can't do it on a boat. They can't do it with a goat. They can't do it high. They can't do it low. The courts have unequivocally said this: the council cannot issue a contract."

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It's similar to the mayor and the council's heated trash battle saga, where the question at the center of the debate was who can negotiate contracts: the mayor or the "governing authority?" The Clarion Ledger talked to Matt Steffey, a professor of law at Mississippi College School of Law for over 30 years, in the thick of the trash battle.

Steffey said in February that negotiating city contracts is an executive function, meaning it falls under the responsibility of the mayor. The council's role is legislative.

Further, Lumumba called the council's order, first introduced and spearheaded by his well-known adversary Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes, "distracting." Stokes' reasoning for the contracts is it would protect those positions during election years where they may be replaced depending on who wins the mayoral election.

"It's to create the illusion that there is some beef between the chief and I," Lumumba said, who then invited Jackson Police Department's Joseph Wade to speak on the matter.

"I've received so many phone calls and text messages through this contract conversation and they've urged me to hurry up and sign the contract 'before the mayor fires you,'" Wade said laughingly. "I've explained to them, we've had deep conversations … I've told them I have more questions than answers in reference to a contract, but I have a good, relationship with the mayor and we both share a mutual respect of each other."

Wade and Lumumba both brought up the fact that if Wade signed a contract then he would be responsible for his own healthcare and would lose his place in the Public Employees Retirement System of Mississippi.

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Lumumba also stated that Stokes didn't ask any of the chiefs if they wanted a contract.

"You should ask a person before you champion something," Lumumba said. "You know what it reminds me of? It reminds me of when my father died and Kenny Stokes jumps out and says, 'Chokwe Lumumba was murdered.' You didn't ask the family how we felt about that. You didn't ask us whether that was beneficial to us, right? You didn't ask us if we needed you to be our champion in that time."

Lumumba finished by saying: "The chief's job is safe … I'd rather just move on from it."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Even with the council overriding his veto, Lumumba is not giving contracts to JPD, JFD chiefs