About a year after Jackson Mayor John Horhn began touting that “Jackson is rising,” he unveiled a new catchphrase Tuesday at his State of the City address.
“Comebacks don’t get announced,” he told a jubilant audience at the Jackson Convention Center. “They get built. They get repaired. They get paved. And ‘Jackson is rolling.’”
Horhn, a Democrat who took office July 1, 2025, returned to the catchphrase repeatedly throughout his speech to remind Jacksonians that his administration is following through on at least some of its promises.
New business permits are being approved faster than before, Horhn said, citing data from the Planning and Development Department. A much-anticipated bid to redevelop the dilapidated Jackson Zoo has been posted. And Thalia Mara Hall was reopened.
“Broadway is back in Jackson,” Horhn said to whoops and cheers.
While Jackson still lacks up-to-date annual financial reports, the city has made progress, Horhn said, in completing the 2023 audit last year. Working with the Jackson City Council, he asserted his administration erased a $25 million deficit in the city budget – a claim contested by some council members who sat behind Horhn during the speech.
“You deserve to know where your money goes,” Horhn said. “And anyone thinking about investing in Jackson deserves confidence that our financial house is in order.”
The development-minded mayor praised the private investment underway in Jackson, shouting out affordable housing developments planned for Robinson and Raymond roads, as well as apartment complexes that developer Gabriel Prado is constructing in north Fondren.
Horhn also repeatedly applauded recent steps to nab what many view as Jackson’s economic white whale: A developed riverfront on the flood-controlled banks of the Pearl River.
Some influential Jacksonians backing these efforts joined the mayor on stage, including key supporters Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr. of New Horizon Church International, lawyer-developer Robert Graham and local restaurateur Jeff Good.
Horhn made new pledges for the city. He said his administration will repave Woodrow Wilson Road and Medgar Evers Boulevard. He pledged to publish quarterly data on permitting timelines, code enforcement and housing investments. He plans to ask the council to pass a new zoning code. And, finally, Horhn promised to redevelop Farish Street.
“Yeah, I said that, too,” Horhn said. “We’re gonna get it done this time.”