The City of Jackson is looking for ways to reach citizens from all walks of life to make city services more accessible.
On Tuesday, city council may approve paying Arlington, Virginia-based CNA Corporation $175,000 dollars over two years to conduct the second phase of a racial equity audit.
It would focus on city services, hiring practices, departmental policies, and other key functions.
Jackson Chief Equity Officer John Willis said, "Right now, at our political climate, I understand the questions and things that arise. What we’re trying to do is make sure we’re providing the best service to all ethnicities and all the different groups within our community.”
The city of Jackson already paid CNA $125,000 dollars for the first phase, which was completed in January.
The report identified preliminary areas of improvement in the Jackson Police Department.
“We thought it was really effective,” Willis said of the first phase. “It showed us that we really weren’t doing as bad as some of people thought we were and maybe not as good as sometimes we thought we were, so there were some areas that we needed to tighten up in terms of policies in writing."
“There were some policies that we had that were really, good, good policies in place, but some of the policies were policies that were just known amongst the department and others,” Willis added. “It showed us that we were in a good position, but we had opportunities to improve as well.”
In the second phase, CNA will review the city’s 12 other departments, including the assessor’s office, city clerk, fire department, neighborhood and economic operations, personnel and labor relations, public works, purchasing and treasurer’s office.
Tuesday night’s meeting starts at 6:30 p.m.