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Jeff Weill
Candidate: Jeff Weill
Office seeking: City Council, Ward 1
Candidate Web site(s): Under construction
Age and date of birth: March 24, 1957
Education: Law degree: University of Mississippi; BA: Michigan State University; Mediation training: Harvard Law School
Current job: Attorney/Mediator/Arbitrator
Past public office: Currently Ward 1 Councilman(since 2007)--no previous political experience
Spouse/family names: Tracy-wife of 21 wonderful years. 3 sons: Alan-17(Eagle Scout!); Joshua-15; Elliot-11
Contact info: Jweillsr@aol.com; (601) 366 3444.
Platform:
1. Explain how and why you would provide good leadership for your ward.
As chair of the city council budget committee, I helped figure out how to pay for $26.2 million for road resurfacing and repair. That was done without a tax increase by reducing the size of city government in creative ways. We cut the city’s contribution to JATRAN in half, reduced vacancies and defunded unnecessary spending on personnel. Last year Jackson’s entire road resurfacing and repair budget was 1 million dollars. I made it a priority to see that amount increase this year to upgrade our third world streets and by great effort that was accomplished. We’ll start slathering asphalt throughout Jackson in the next few months.
Also, the budget committee is investigating and shining a light on fiscal mismanagement. The Fuelman credit card scandal is one example. More than 1000 city employees have access to city credit cards with very little accountability. Thousands of misuses have occurred. Since our investigation began and this was made public, tens of thousands of gallons of fuel have been saved with the implementation of our recommendations.
Further, at my urging the council has also requested basic financial information from the administration such as 1099 and W-2 IRS forms to see where the money goes. Unfortunately, the mayor has taken the position that this information should not be released to the council or the public. We took the appropriate legal steps to compel production and are analyzing that data currently. Citizens have every right to see where their tax money goes.
Additionally, after the tornado devastated northeast Jackson on April 4, 2008, Hinds County was initially denied a federal disaster declaration. I chaired an ad hoc committee which worked with Governor Barbour’s office, MEMA and a host of local agencies to get that decision reversed, something which rarely occurs. The city received more than $5 million federal cleanup dollars as a result.
2. What are your infrastructure priorities, and how would you pay for infrastructure repairs?
Roads. Roads. Roads. See above for a description of how we raised $26.2 million without raising taxes this year to repair and resurface our streets. I hope to use the budget process this summer to creatively look for ways in the future to pay for road maintenance and for other infrastructure needs.
A very high percentage of our real estate is exempt from ad valorum taxes because it is owned by the state and federal government. The task is to convince the legislature that it needs to step up to the plate to make up the difference. With that contribution we can make necessary water/sewer upgrades and address our continuing street problems.
3. What measures would you propose/support for combating crime in the city?
Thousands of indictees are either out on bail or expensively detained awaiting trial. The bottle neck is often the circuit court system which doesn’t process cases fast enough. The people out on bond are committing most of the crimes. Get them tried and sent to prison they won’t be committing crimes.
We also need more sworn police officers. Almost 40% of the employees in the Jackson police department are civilians compared to 20% for similar-sized cities in the southeast. Reducing the number of civilians to the southeastern average would allow us to either hire up to 100 new sworn officers or hire 75 more officers and give the rest a substantial pay and benefit increase. Importantly this would be done without raising taxes.
4. How would you handle the police chief position? Would you support returning to a full-time chief? Why or why not?
Malcolm was doing a great job as chief/sheriff and I will support him if he chooses to return. Operational consolidation of key units(child protection, SWAT and narcotics) within the Sheriff’s department and the JPD has occurred and has worked well.
5. What are your economic-development priorities for the city?
For the most part, government only gets in the way of true economic development. Cut taxes and businesses will flock here. Government needs to get out of the way of the private sector and let it create jobs. I have supported measures which give tax breaks to business which locate here and will continue to do so.
6. How would you alter the employee pay/benefit structure?
Jackson has too many employees and that costs the taxpayers a gazillion dollars a year. 70% of our budget is spent on payroll. We could easily reduce the workforce by 20% across the board for nonpublic-safety departments.
We also lavishly fund health insurance benefits for employees and their families. Until 2005, the city required employees to pay 50% of health insurance premiums. Since that time, the city has not required employees to contribute to the cost of premium increases but has taken up the slack itself. Currently the city pays 69% of the premium and the employee only 31%. Simply requiring employees to pay 50% of their health insurance premiums would save millions with which we could pave our streets.
Also, Jackson shouldn’t be paying the health insurance premiums for the families of its employees. By law Hinds County can’t pay premiums for employees’ families(but is doing it anyway, contrary to statute) and neither should the city.
7. How would you improve transparency in government?
Since I was elected in 2007 I have loudly called for the administration to open its books to the public and the media and will continue to do so. Recently the administration, after an enormous struggle, turned over thousands of pages of financial documents to the council. I am currently combing through that looking for any improprieties to make sure tax dollars are being spent properly. Stay tuned.
It shouldn’t be necessary for citizens and the media to resort to freedom of information(FOI) requests to obtain basic financial data, something I have done more than once.
8. There are various proposals that would ostensibly help with flood control on the Pearl, and perhaps increase development and/or green space for the city. What program would you support and why?
Last year as a new councilman I tried to sit down with representatives advocating the two main flood control proposals in an effort to find common ground and to get more information for myself and the rest of the council. We actually had a date and location set but one side pulled the plug at the last minute.
We need flood control done. It should have been done 20 years ago but political bickering has delayed it. The benefits are obvious--safety, property protection, recreation and economic development.
9. What needs to happen to improve the relationship between City Council and the mayoral administration?
We need to talk offline more.
For example, as budget chair last year I decided to use my experience as a mediator to bring councilmen and department heads together in a relaxed environment prior to the public meetings to explore common interests. Public discussions often serve to harden positions rather than achieve compromise. The process worked. We passed a balanced budget with no tax increase yet set aside enough money to fund the largest road resurfacing project in 30 years.
The administration needs to be more transparent, too. The council shouldn’t have to file FOI requests and issue orders compelling the production of what should be public information.
10. What role should the city play to help the youth of Jackson? Please provide your specific plans.
Jackson already spends millions on parks and recreation to keep its youths busy and entertained. That should be the role of parents, not the city. Jackson should maintain clean parks and leave the parenting to parents.
The role of city leaders is to encourage young men and women to wait until marriage to have children and to lead by their own example. Single parenthood is a massive social pathology and responsible for so many of Jackson’s problems. For example, the overwhelming common denominator for both perpetrators and victims of violent crime is the absence of a father in the home. Other examples abound.
11. How would you bring new funds into the city of Jackson’s coffers?
I don’t want to see government grow. I want to see it operate more efficiently. Rather than looking for new revenue we need to account for the money we spend.
For example, Jackson spends big money on consulting and other fees which are hidden until ferreted out. Recently the council passed, over my strenuous objection, a complicated and murky ‘interest rate swap’ to raise one-time cash. It will raise quite a bit of money for the city but has considerable long term risks. The council could never get a clear answer on how much we were paying consultants and attorneys and that’s another reason I voted against it. After considerable effort to find out, I now know the scheme will pay more than $1.5 million dollars in fees and costs to attorneys, banks and financial advisors.
Further, JATRAN has been and remains a huge drain on city resources. More than $8 million dollars was spent last year on it to serve a few thousand riders who generated only $300,000 in revenue. The budget committee cut JATRAN’s budget dramatically to help pave our streets this year, but large empty buses continue to roll.
12. Do you support making Capitol Street two-way?
I strongly support this since it will knit together most downtown development projects--the King Edward, Convention Center, Pinnacle and more.
As chair of the budget committee I have found the $700,000 in city matching money to help pay for the two-way project. I’ve also met with our representatives in Washington to obtain federal help.
13. What can you do/support to make the city more attractive to residents?
Jackson will be more attractive to its residents when city leaders competently perform the basic fundamentals of government:
Citizens need to feel safe--I have supported every effort to hire more police officers and to better pay them.
Citizens need to know basic infrastructure is maintained--this year we will spend tens of millions on road resurfacing owing to our work on the council.
Citizens need reassurance their hard-earned tax dollars are spent wisely--I regularly bring the administration to task to explain its spending and have long pushed for a tax cut. Ward One residents make up less than 15% of Jackson yet pay more than 38% of its real estate taxes. We are entitled to know where that money goes and to get our fair share back in the form of road resurfacing and city services.
I’m fighting to reduce the enormous size of city government so that we can spend money where it counts--on roads and cops--and not on salaries. That’s what will make Jackson more attractive to the citizens here.
14. What can you do/support to make the city more attractive to businesses?
Businesses need to know there is competent leadership in charge of city government. That means they need to know who to talk to about construction, permitting, certification and tax issues and have the assurance the city will follow through promptly and correctly. Too many city employees drop the ball.
Businesses are made up of the workers who(hopefully) live in Jackson. We can make Jackson more attractive to businesses by making it more attractive to their employees.
15. What is something fun/interesting about you that few people know?
My sons and I caught the 4th largest alligator in Mississippi recently. 440 pounds. 12 feet, 4 inches.
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