By Othor Cain
Contributing Writer
Bishop Jeffrey Stallworth is no stranger to the court system.
In years past, Stallworth, pastor of Jackson’s non-denominational Word and Worship Church has been engulfed with legal matters both personally and professionally. Some of those matters are still pending.
Early this month, Stallworth took to the courts again, this time in federal court. He’s suing Gov. Phil Bryant, the state of Mississippi, the Mississippi Legislature, East Metro Parkway and the Mississippi Department of Transportation, for what he and others allege is a “hostile takeover” of Jackson’s Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport.
Stallworth, a former commissioner of the airport says if this law goes into effect it will cause irreparable harm and damage to him, residents of Jackson and the city at large.
“I’m a business owner. I own land in Jackson. This bill essentially allows the state to take my land without providing any type of compensation,” Stallworth said. “This is wrong and should not be allowed to happen.”
Stallworth is challenging HB 2162, which allows the state to take control of the airport, abolish its current five-member board, all of whom are appointed by the mayor of Jackson. The bill redesigns the board with a nine-member makeup, giving the mayor of Jackson and the city council one appointment each. The governor would have two appointments while the lieutenant governor, the Mississippi Development Authority, adjutant general, Rankin and Madison counties would each have one appointment.
Stallworth says the actions of the governor and members of the Legislature are unfair.
“I believe the governor is a nice man, but what he and members of the Legislature did during this last legislative session is unfair and racist in its purest form,” Stallworth said. “For other people to not live in Jackson and try and take over something that the city of Jackson legally purchased more than 50 years ago and mind you, it’s working properly, is just simply unfair.”
In the lawsuit, Stallworth alleges he will face emotional distress and a loss of his city’s tax base as a direct result of the state’s action. “I believe what they are doing will have lasting consequences on this city; it’s almost as if because of the makeup of this city’s leadership they don’t want to see Jackson be successful,” Stallworth shared. “This is disgraceful.”
Rankin County Republican Sen. Josh Harkins, the author of the controversial airport bill has said in the past the bill isn’t about race nor is it about depleting Jackson of its ability to profit from any sales or property taxes that it currently receives. “We made sure those measures were in place and that Jackson had its fair share of appointments to the board,” Harkins said during a heated debate at the state Capitol earlier this year.
Stallworth’s lawsuit is the first of many according to some proponents for allowing Jackson to maintain control of its airport. “I believe there will be additional lawsuits that could keep this bill tied up in court for many years,” said James Washington, a member of the grassroots organization called Keep It In Jackson. “The airport is working, making money and rolling on all cylinders, why take it?”
Even though the first lawsuit has been filed, the bill isn’t law. HB 2162 is still awaiting the governor’s signature. Bryant has said publicly he would sign it.
Stallworth is hoping his lawsuit and the forthcoming amendments, would prevent the governor from signing the bill into law. “You have to ask yourself, why hasn’t he signed it already?,” Stallworth pondered. “The bill has been sitting on his desk for a while now. I filed my lawsuit April 6, before the session ended … surely he’s been made aware of it.”
With the governor’s lack of action thus far and the hope of some additional amendments to his lawsuit, Stallworth remains cautiously optimistic that Bryant will not sign the bill into law.
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