State, JMAA battling in court

Mississippi state officials are trying attempting to take over some 1,200 acres of undeveloped land surrounding Jackson-Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport. Part of the legislation passed in 2016 calls for doing away with the Jackson Municipal Airport Authority (JMAA), and replacing it with a regional board, essentially taking the airport away from the City o f Jackson and transferring it to the state. Jackson has filed a legal challenge in U.S. District Court. The case was still in discovery last week. Attorneys representing the city want lawmakers to turn over all correspondence related to the airport. Gov. Phil Bryant is asking the court for a protective order to prevent state staff members from being forced to give depositions. District 20 state Sen. Josh Harkins, who author the SB 2162 that passed both houses of the legislature, says the background issue is that JMAA has failed to economically develop 1,200 acres for decades. “For 35 years the airport hasn’t changed,” he told the weekly Northside Sun. Harkins has agreed to turn over all e-mails related to the bill. Under that bill, JMAA would be replaced by a nine-member regional board. Only two of would be appointed by Jackson city officials. Harkins claims the bill isn’t a takeover because the city would still own the airport, land, and receive revenue from leases made on the property. But SB 2162 passed before the extension of the East Metro Parkway. Before that completion, JMAA could not access the acreage to market it, according to JMAA Chief Executive Carl Newman. Without a majority on the new board, Jackson’s elected leaders would have little say in how the land could be leased or to whom. The airport sits on about 3,800 acres in Rankin County. Ward Two Councilman Melvin Priester believes politics is the behind the attempted takeover, and points to efforts in other “red states” (where a majority of legislators and governors are Republican). In 2013, the North Carolina legislature voted to replace the commission at the Charlotte-Douglas airport. The attempted run-around was blocked by a federal judge. (Source: Northside Sun series 02/19/18)