JACKSON—Responding to a years-long water-billing albatross around Jackson’s neck, Mayor Chokwe A. Lumumba announced today that the City of Jackson has filed a lawsuit against Siemens Industry Inc. and associated divisions in the U.S. and Germany, along with multiple local subcontractors, seeking to recover money lost due to what the mayor characterized as “misconduct” in the execution of its beleaguered $90-million contract over water and sewer repairs and billing.
“Siemens and those working with the company failed to deal honestly with the City of Jackson, manipulated the City’s policies for creating business and job opportunities for its citizens, and burdened the City with one of the most expensive municipal water meter and billing systems in the country,” the mayor said at the press conference, while declining to take questions.
Siemens told the Jackson Free Press in an email late today that it did its part under the contract: “Siemens’ work on the project has been validated by an independent, third-party review performed by West Monroe Partners, who was hired by the city of Jackson and performed its work under the city’s direction. Siemens has gone above and beyond its contractual obligations to help address the city’s well-known challenges, which are complex. While Siemens has not yet reviewed the complaint, it is disappointed the city has taken this action and will respond through the appropriate legal channels.”…