City councilmember Kenneth Stokes is opposing the confirmation of interim Public Works Director Robert Lee, and he has added a vote of no confidence in Lee to the agenda for the council’s meeting Tuesday.
Lee, who has worked for the City of Jackson for nearly two decades, was the city engineer prior to being appointed interim director of public works in February by Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba.
Also on the agenda for the Tuesday meeting is a motion to confirm Lee to his temporary position. According to a news release from when Lee was appointed, the City is conducting a nationwide search for its next permanent head of public works. The confirmation was added to the agenda by Lumumba.
The no confidence motion comes after a week of back and forth between Stokes and Lumumba, some of which included the councilmember’s criticisms of Lee’s department.
On Sunday, April 30, Stokes held a news conference where he resurfaced the January conviction of former Jackson constituent services manager Keyshia Sanders for fraudulently obtaining tens of thousands of dollars. Stokes then complained about past due payments, including those from the public works department, and referenced specific infrastructure projects that are unfinished, most if not all of which predate Lee’s less than three months on the job.
Lumumba then called his own news conference on Tuesday, May 2, to address “inaccurate information.” Lee spoke at that news conference, defending his record on paying contractors.
Lee said when he was named interim director in mid-February the city was behind in some payments, but he said since that time his office has caught up on that backlog and all payments are up to date. He then addressed some of the specific infrastructure projects that Stokes had criticized for being unfinished.
Then, after that news conference Stokes began to speak out more directly against Lee. He told WLBT that the veteran city employee is “incompetent” and “in over his head.”
Lumumba has not responded to Stokes’ most recent comments. Lee has been a regular participant in the mayor’s news conferences, dating back to before his time as interim director of public works. In the February release, Lumumba confidently endorsed Lee for the interim position.
“This is a big responsibility in our City given our challenges, and the City is grateful for Mr. Lee’s interest in taking on the job,” Lumumba said. “I have full trust in his decision-making, knowledge and skills moving forward.”
In the time since Stokes added the no confidence vote to the agenda, he has been faced with personal tragedy. His wife, LaRita Cooper-Stokes, a former councilmember herself, and the first Black woman elected to judge position on the Hinds County court, died Monday morning.
Stokes had missed a number of council meetings in recent weeks in order to be with her. As this is his agenda item, Stokes would have to be present in order to bring the no confidence motion forward. He could not be reached for comment Monday.
In text messages Monday, Lee had no comment on the proposed no-confidence vote but passed along condolences to Stokes.
“My prayers are with Councilman Stokes and his family on the passing of Judge Cooper-Stokes. I pray that God comforts the Stokes family during this time,” Lee said.
The City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday at 10 a.m.
