Interim human and cultural services director presents flat budget, outlines planetarium opening and senior-program goals

Pamela Deasy Junior, interim director of Human and Cultural Services, told the Jackson City Council that her department’s fiscal 2026 request is essentially flat relative to 2025 and described priorities the department plans to pursue within that constraint: reopening community centers, staffing and activating the city’s renovated planetarium, restoring Monell (spelled in the transcript several ways) Gardens and resuming the Jobs to Jacksonian senior employment program once federal support is resolved.

Deasy Junior said the department’s operating numbers “haven’t really changed from last year” and emphasized doing more with current funds by expanding programming for seniors and leveraging volunteer and grant resources. She said Sykes and Smith Robertson community centers are currently closed but the administration hopes to reopen Sykes pending relocation of an occupying organization. She described senior-center programming plans including tai chi, walking clubs and book clubs and said Jackson State faculty will provide staff training for senior-center coordinators.

On the planetarium, Deasy Junior said staffing and operational planning are priorities: the planetarium’s salary line shows a FY25 budget but low actuals because the facility has not yet opened. She gave a specific operating-line number of $172,072 tied to salaries for the planetarium and said management plans to move a coordinator from Thalia Mara Hall to the planetarium when staffing shifts occur. The department expects to open the planetarium in April 2026 and wants staff to start with the new fiscal year so they can begin booking programs and outreach. She said volunteers will be crucial to planetarium operations.

Deasy Junior also described the Jobs to Jacksonian program — a Department of Labor–linked senior-employment program that has furloughed 32 participants and staff pending federal decisions; she said program leaders were pursuing recertification so participants could return to work. She told council members that community centers in Tougaloo and other locations have had recent repairs (e.g., roofs and restrooms) and that the department is coordinating with Planning and CDBG funds to address facility repairs.

Council members asked for clarification about the planetarium staffing, opening date and Sykes Community Center occupant; Deasy Junior and staff said they would return with staffing plans and relevant organizational details. No formal votes or motions were taken during the presentation.

Ending: The department will begin phasing planetarium staffing with the new budget year, continue program development for seniors, and pursue grant/CDBG opportunities to repair community centers; Deasy Junior said she would return with details and staffing proposals for council review.