HINDS COUNTY, MS (Mississippi News Now) -
Hinds County Supervisors have voted to pull back from the commitment of $17 million dollars in bond money to the Old Capitol Green project. The money was to be used to develop a parking garage at the site of the old Trailways bus station in downtown Jackson.
The board room was packed apparently anticipating an effort to put Jimmy Lewis back in as emergency operations director. But that didn't happen when supervisor Doug Anderson, who has been ill, did not show up, even though he put the item on the agenda. Lewis had been fired July 1.
Board president Robert Graham admitted he made a big mistake when he voted to appoint Lewis emergency operations director, when Larry Fisher retired.
"I made a mistake and I am owning up to my mistake. Sometimes mistakes are made and what we are doing now is to make sure we have the right person, the proper person, in there to make sure they can do the proper job," said Graham.
Graham says he would compare the job Lewis did with that of the interim director as "night and day".
Another vote is expected on Lewis and he now has the votes to get his job back. After going into an executive session, the supervisors came out and voted openly to back away from putting $17 million dollars in bond money into the Old Capitol Green project, which would run from the Old Capitol to Silas Brown Street.
Supervisor Kenneth Stokes warned they were killing the project.
"If the county backs out of this project, it is slowly going to die."
"They can provide financing on their own, that would certainly be something that they could do and we would welcome," said supervisor Phil Fisher.
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