Jackson City Council freezes all city hiring after mayor hires political ally, former opponent
In an emergency move Tuesday night, the Jackson City Council unanimously approved a hiring freeze across a majority of city departments through the end of June.
The freeze follows two recent hires by Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, including former Hinds County District 2 Supervisor David Archie.
Archie confirmed to the Clarion Ledger after the Tuesday night meeting that he's been hired as a 'mayor's office staff assistant.' Notably, Archie ran against Lumumba for mayor but lost in the April 1 primary. Archie later endorsed the mayor during his bid in the April 22 runoff, according to an April 18 Facebook post by Lumumba.
The second hire was Tariq Abdul-Tawwab, appointed as deputy director of the city's Department of Public Works. Lumumba confirmed the hire during a May 12 press conference. Abdul-Tawwab previously served as 'chief experience officer' at JXN Water in 2023 but left the position later that year. His wife, Candace Abdul-Tawwab, is a director at the People's Advocacy Institute, a nonprofit founded by the mayor's sister, Rukia Lumumba.
It's unclear how much Archie and Abdul-Tawwab are being paid.
Speaking after the meeting, Ward 7 Councilwoman and Council President Virgi Lindsay confirmed that Lumumba's recent hires influenced her decision to introduce the emergency ordinance. Lindsay added the item to the agenda late, requiring unanimous approval from the council just to consider it. Council members looked surprised when they received the emergency ordinance, but approved it with little questions directed towards Lindsay. It looked as if they were just following her lead, but Lindsay said she had discussed it "with almost all of them."
Lindsay also pushed for the ordinance to be expedited, allowing it to take effect immediately. Typically, ordinances are introduced at one meeting and voted on at the next, taking 30 days to go into effect. In this case, the council unanimously approved both adding the item to the agenda and fast-tracking it for immediate implementation.
The emergency ordinance was approved in 7-0 vote.
According to a copy of the ordinance obtained by the Clarion Ledger, the measure places a freeze on all vacant positions — and those expected to become vacant — within the executive branch, except for roles specifically assigned to "certified law enforcement patrol and combat fire."
During the meeting, Safiya Omari, Lumumba's chief of staff, asked whether the hiring freeze would apply to all departments outside of JPD and JFD. She specifically inquired about the Office of the City Attorney, which is currently working to fill several positions. Lindsay affirmed that the City Attorney's office would indeed be affected by the freeze.
"We're five weeks from the change (in administration) and I just don't think it's prudent to be hiring people," Lindsay said after the meeting, adding that she did not discuss with Lumumba about the emergency ordinance.
Lumumba was not in attendance Tuesday night.
"We have a new administration taking office July 1 and the risk is there that the new hires may not even be able to keep their jobs, so it's just unfortunate that we even had to take this action tonight," Lindsay said. "But I think it's important as a body that we remain as fiscally responsible as we can to the taxpayers."
Lumumba lost the April 22 Democratic primary runoff to state Sen. John Horhn and his term ends June 30.
Horhn, who is heavily favored to become Jackson's next mayor, will face one Republican and four independent candidates in the June 3 general election.
Contact Charlie Drape at cdrape@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Lumumba recent hires spark Jackson MS hiring freeze
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On Monday, the Prime Minister revealed the results of Lord Robertson's Strategic Defence Review, which included a pledge to build up to 12 new attack submarines and increase defence spending from 2.3 per cent to 2.5 per cent of national income. He had barely finished the announcement when it was reported that Nato would oblige him to commit to increasing defence spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035. On Thursday US defence secretary Pete Hegseth pushed for five per cent. Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development predicted that the UK economic growth would slump to a measly one per cent next year, hit by uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariffs regime and higher-than-expected inflation. Even if Starmer manages to reform the welfare system, as he has promised – and his handbrake U-turn on winter fuel payments suggest this will be easier said than done – it appears inevitable he will have to put up taxes, too. 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'Since the late 2000s, when everyone had to tighten their belts, there has been increasing exasperation that some people are wrongly living off the fat of the land by claiming benefits they aren't due,' he says. 'While people get angry at cases of systematic criminal fraud, they can get just as angry at individuals they think just can't be bothered to work. It all adds up to this sense that nobody seems to be able to govern Britain properly. Inevitably, the anger at those milking or ripping off the system rebounds towards politicians.' Soon after winning the general election last year, Keir Starmer announced that cracking down on benefit fraud would be a priority for his government. In his speech to the Labour Party conference in September, he said that new legislation, following a policy mooted by the Conservatives, would let investigators 'root out' fraud with similar powers of 'search and seizure' to those enjoyed by HMRC. This would compel banks to hand over financial information about their customers where there was reasonable suspicion of benefit fraud. The plan was designed to save the taxpayer £1.6 billion over five years and free up more money for public services. Another proposal, announced in January, was to strip benefit fraudsters of their driving licences. Starmer's reforms have met with resistance. Neil Duncan-Jordan, who was elected the Labour MP for Poole last year, has proposed amendments to the bill that would ensure only those suspected of fraud would be surveilled. Writing in The Guardian, Duncan accused Starmer of 'resurrecting Tory proposals for mass spying on people who receive state support' and that under the proposed legislation 'welfare recipients would be treated as suspects, simply because they need support from the state'. The vast sums of money lost to benefit fraud are also an incentive for a government to crack down on it, to free up money for other projects. Recent comparative international studies are thin on the ground, but Britain might learn from Finland, a high-trust society with a relatively simple benefits system and high rates of digitisation, where fraud rates amount to less than half a percentage point of the total paid. According to the latest report by Kela, the Finnish welfare institution, there were 1,104 suspected cases of benefit 'misuse' in 2024, amounting to €7.2 million (£6 million); the number of cases has been stable over the past five years. In the UK, failing a cultural reversion away from seeking out every benefit you might be entitled to, Shalam believes technology might improve efficiency. 'Analysing and assessing all the information about people's claims and their condition takes a huge volume of human resource,' he says. 'There's a lot of potential in AI to crack down on fraud and make sure the system is going to those who need it most.' 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In attempting to mitigate Sara Morris's sentence, her lawyer Paul Cliff conceded that her application to the DWP 'did not give the full picture,' but that 'running was one of the ways she tried to manage her MS'. 'She lost her home because of financial problems,' he also said. 'And was struggling to keep her head above water financially.' As he tries to placate an increasingly angry electorate while balancing Britain's precarious books, Keir Starmer may sympathise with her. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
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LGBTQ+ advocates respond with outrage after a Facebook post from a local Republican group appeared to tie Pride Month to notorious criminals, including serial killers and sex offenders. The post, shared by the Mandarin Republican Club, included the caption: 'Happy Pride Month. So glad our Acosta Bridge was lit in their honor.' Below were images of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, convicted child molester Jerry Sandusky, and a Georgia couple convicted of sexually assaulting their children. >>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<< Also included in the post was a photo of Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan with Andrew Gillum, a former Florida gubernatorial candidate who was involved in a sex scandal but never faced any criminal charges. LGBTQ+ community leader James Eddy called the post offensive and hateful. 'In this day and age, people on Facebook feel like they can put anything,' Eddy said. [DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks] 'It's sad that it came from the Republican Party.' Eddy said he 'really was disgusted… the fact that you associate Pride—because they said 'Happy Pride' in it—with pictures of like Jeffrey Dahmer.' The post appeared to criticize a peaceful protest where supporters lit up the Acosta Bridge with flashlights. That protest was in response to a state ban on lighting public structures in specific colors, which LGBTQ+ advocates believe targets Pride celebrations. 'You know, when something is taken away, you try to fight against it,' Eddy added. [SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter] After Action News Jax began asking questions, the post was deleted. The Duval County Republican Party responded with a statement: 'We did not push it out. We did not approve it. We did not sanction it.' Attempts to contact the head of the Mandarin Republican Club were unsuccessful. The mayor's office declined to comment. As of now, it is still unclear who within the Mandarin Republican Club was responsible for the post. Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
