Who can negotiate contracts for the City of Jackson? Is it the mayor or is it the “governing authority,” as multiple members of the Jackson City Council claim?
That’s the question at the heart of the city’s ongoing garbage collection battle between Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba and the council.
The dispute has been ongoing since April 2023 when the council rejected the mayor’s choice of Richard’s Disposal Inc. to collect garbage, leading to over two weeks of trash piling up on the city’s streets and a lawsuit between Lumumba and the council. Richard’s later sued the city over lack of a full contract.
Matt Steffey, a professor of law at Mississippi College School of Law for over 30 years, said negotiating city contracts is an executive function, meaning it falls under the responsibility of the mayor. The council’s role is legislative.
“It would seem utterly unworkable to have a system where each member of the city council runs around negotiating contracts,” Steffey said. “I would say as a matter of general agency in governmental law this would seem to be an executive function that falls under the mayor’s purview. … And it would be the natural role of the city council to approve (the contract).”