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Jackson City Council approves consent agenda, contracts and appropriations; hires outside counsel and staff
Summary
The council passed a broad consent agenda including contracts for lobbying services, IT renewals and appropriations to Jackson State University, approved legal retainers and a personnel appointment, and voted to enter executive session for legal matters without taking official action on return.
The Jackson City Council on Dec. 16 approved a broad consent agenda that included routine claims, contract renewals, IT purchases, and appropriations, and took up personnel and legal-retainer matters before adjourning following an executive session.
Clerk announcements established that matters on the consent agenda would be enacted in one motion unless pulled. The council approved the municipal claims docket, which the clerk read as totaling $6,000,948,997.52; the four largest claims identified by the CFO were payments to McInnis Electric ($579,745.48), Hemp Hill Construction Company ($524,705.03), Motorola Solutions ($484,059.48), and AJ Construction ($424,503.29) with associated fund sources noted. The vote sequence for large-claims approval recorded a 6–0–1 tally.
Council approved a revision to the Department of Planning and Development budget for fiscal 2025–2026 after brief questions about leadership and possible department consolidations (vote 7–0). The council also authorized mayoral execution of professional services agreements for lobbying: one with Stellian Strategies LLC (council noted abstention, vote 6–0–1) and an amended contract with Ice Miller Strategies LLC (vote 6–1). Ken Neuberger, CEO of Bastillean Strategies, described plans to coordinate a legislative agenda with the mayor and council.
Other notable approvals included a 12‑month renewal with Granicus LLC for 311 call-center access; an addendum with Quality Recording Solutions LLC to provide RevCourt recording equipment for the Jackson Police Department emergency operations center; continuation of CoLogic integration to connect the fire-alerting system with police CAD; a corrected Microsoft Office 365/Teams renewal amended to $78,840; and IT procurement for a Pure Storage solution. The council ratified multiple grant applications and contract acceptances for senior services and community programs and approved two $100,000 appropriations in support of the 2025 SWAC Football Championship at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
On legal and personnel matters, the council approved a revised retainer agreement for Susan Richardson of Kirkpatrick Townsend and Stockton LLP to represent the city in ongoing federal litigation and appointed Victor Allen as chief deputy clerk of counsel. In discussion related to housing-finance items, City Attorney Drew Martin described a subordination arrangement that allows United Bank to become the permanent lender for the Noyo Place housing development; the city’s prior HOME funds remain subordinate in the repayment line.
Council took a motion to go into a closed executive session for legal matters; upon return the council said no official action had been taken and adjourned.
Votes at a glance (selected items recorded on the transcript): claims docket approved (6–0–1), Department of Planning & Development budget revision (7–0), Stellian Strategies contract (6–0–1, abstention present), Ice Miller Strategies amended contract (6–1), Granicus 311 renewal (7–0), Office 365/Teams amendment (7–0), Noyo Place subordination (passed; vote recorded on the transcript), legal retainer approval (passed).
