Mayor Gist responds to fire safety concerns at civic center
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JACKSON, Tenn. — Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist reacts for the first time about fire safety concerns at the Carl Perkins Civic Center. Jackson firefighters did a walk-through of the building Wednesday, finding the fire alarm system is worse than they originally thought. Gist said he believes the civic center is completely safe and in full compliance with state and local fire codes. But a big problem still looms — a fire alarm system that has been broken for three years and dates back to the 1970’s “Some of the pull stations do not work and some of the horns did not sound for the system,” Jackson Fire Marshal Lamar Childress said. Fire department records showed the dated system has not worked properly for three years. “We had a couple of problems with some pull down fire alarms,” Jackson Mayor Jerry Gist said. “We asked for the fire watch with the fire department so they’ve been there and the civic center was made fully compliant.” But the fire department said after a walk-through Wednesday, more than half of the pull stations are not working and said they only learned of the issues after a contractor hired by the city told them in September of last year. “We pay those inspectors once a year to come in and tell us if the system is working correctly,” Mayor Gist said. “We get certification on that and we do it in every public building.” But Fire Marshal Lamar Childress said to his knowledge the fire department never received proof of the inspections on the fire alarm system at the civic center. “Judging by the tags that were on the system, we learned that it was three years.” Childress said. “We’d have to look back in our files and records to see if notification was given and where that paper work went to.” But Mayor Gist said the findings were definitely handed over. “They did happen, they happened in December of 2013,” Gist said. “It’s nothing but political posturing by the fire department union and one of my opponents.” The fire department said it will continue to have fire watches during every civic center event and Mayor Gist said he hopes they will continue to do so after the fire alarm system is fixed. The bid to replace the system is expected to be released in June. We reached out to the mayor’s four opponents for their comments on his response. Dr. James Baxter saying, “It is Mr Gist’s judiciary responsibility as the mayor of the city of Jackson to make sure that all buildings owned by the city reach all state and local codes in regards to fire. It is his responsibility to make sure every department is under those codes as well, to ensure the safety of the city employees as well as the citizens of Jackson who occupy those buildings during any given day of week. Mayor Gist’s neglect to carry out his responsibility in this case is one of the many reasons it is time for a change at city hall. I welcome the opportunity to serve as the mayor of the city of the Jackson, effectively and efficiently.” Lowe Finney said, “The report was provided to me on Monday afternoon pursuant to an open records request on the city of Jackson regarding city facilities. Interestingly, Mr. Gist cannot refute a single sentence in the inspector’s report. The report speaks for itself, and citizens have a right to know.” Charlie Motton responded by saying, “It is good news. As long as the civic center is in operation there must be safety precautions and any problems must be corrected. I am very glad that the mayor has corrected many of the violations. I don’t feel like it’s political posturing, there has to be a very good reason why the violations were not corrected immediately but I have good faith in the city’s authority and whatever they say or do I stand behind it.” And Tim York said, “I don’t know all the facts but this is a basic city function that should have been maintained. If it was a private business and this was not corrected, I believe the fire marshal would have shut them down.”
