Jackson’s water system is currently being run by a court-appointed, third party administrator, under the authority of the EPA and DOJ. The administrator, Ted Henifin, began his tenure by ensuring residents in Jackson that the water repairs would be a transparent process, but community advocates claim they have been shut out of the conversation. Nsombi Lambright-Hanes is Executive Director with One Voice Mississippi and member of the Mississippi Rapid Response Coalition.
“Communities and neighborhood associations are going to be the ones who have to live with this water system. We are the ones who elect the people who are in the places that have to govern these systems,” says Lambright-Hanes. “And so those are the people who we are able to hold accountable. And if we aren’t able to hold those people accountable, then the systems aren’t working for us.”
When the courts assigned control of water operations in Jackson, many residents of the city had concerns about what an outside expert could accomplish and if it would be in their best interest. Danyelle Holmes with the Poor People’s Campaign says her organization helped deliver community buy-in. But now, she says they are being left out of important conversations.
Holmes says “When you align yourself with those who have been in the community doing this work, and you can say ‘well you can trust me because I’m partnering with these individuals and I know they have the community’s trust,’ and then you turn around and throw the same organization under the bus, or throw us away, or not even acknowledge your said partnership, has been very troubling.”
The DOJ and EPA did invite advocacy leaders to a forum in Jackson on Wednesday, but the meetings were not open to the public or media.
