Mayors Harris, Gist address schools, jail overcrowding at First Friday Forum

JACKSON, Tenn. — Hundreds gathered Friday for the state of the city and county addresses in downtown Jackson.

The biggest point of emphasis from Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris and city of Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist was education, specifically Vision 2020.

“We have to get our education, public education, squared away,” Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said. “It’s got to be fixed. That is the biggest overriding issue both with the city and the county.”

“It’s up to us as a community to get behind and support that, whether you agree or disagree with it,” Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris said. “We’ve all got to pull together to point these schools in the right direction. It’s going to be a very challenging year for the school system.”

Mayor Harris also addressed the looming issue of the criminal justice complex, saying the upcoming year will see much of the groundwork laid to come up with options to fix the overcrowding at the current facility. But he said he doesn’t expect any groundbreaking to be done until at least 2017.

Mayor Gist said the city is ready to implement their master plan to improve areas across Jackson, and they plan to expand their use of surveillance cameras across the city.

Meanwhile, both mayors pressed the need for continued economic growth.

“Good sales tax growth,” Mayor Harris said. “We’ve had our unemployment rate has continued to come down. We’ve added jobs in existing industry — 332 jobs this past year — new industry, somewhere around 300 jobs.”

“Downtown Jackson is so important,” Mayor Gist said. “It speaks volumes about us. The industries know when they want their property, they already know about the property. They say ‘take me to downtown Jackson’ on the first visit.”

Officials said the best way residents can learn more about the city and county’s future plans in their upcoming meetings.

The Madison County Commission meets Jan. 19.

The City Council meets next on Feb. 2.