Interim Third-Party Manager Ted Henifin says that in order to achieve long-term sustainability for the Jackson water system, changes need to be made to how Jacksonians are charged for water. Henifin answered questions about the economic, social, and public health impacts of the financial plan at Millsaps College yesterday. In the first draft of the proposal, residents would be charged by property value rather than usage.
When asked about what political processes he would have to go through to finalize this plan, Henifin said the federal court order that brought him here puts him mostly in charge.
"It sounds really terrible, but it gives me really, really broad authority, probably more than I'd give myself." he said. "So theoretically there's a process in the order that I could propose this rate structure to the city, and the city would have to consider it, but if they didn't do it, I could just do it anyway."
Joining Henifin on the panel was Lamees El-Sadek, a Doctoral Candidate at the Harvard school of Public Health. The Millsaps alumna spoke from the perspective of public health and public interest. She sees Henifin as a much needed "moderator" between the city, state, and its residents, and she hopes he uses feedback from the people of Jackson to make decisions.
"I believe in the philosophy of FUBU; for us, by us." she said. "I believe that any time reform comes from within a community, that reform is more sustainable... Jackson's water system problems have been going on for years decades and the state had lots of opportunity to intervene before this."
Henifin hopes to publicly share a final draft of his financial plan in early April.
