Newark’s economic crisis steward to help Mississippi city

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Mississippi’s capital city will use an outside consultant to help with the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

The Jackson mayor’s chief of staff, Safiya Omari, tells the Clarion Ledger that the city plans to bring in Michelle Thomas of the Thomas Consulting Group.

Thomas was the business administrator during then-Newark Mayor Cory Booker’s administration, and was credited with steering the budget through an economic crisis by cutting the city’s deficit by more than half. She’s also a former deputy mayor of New Orleans and was most recently the executive director of the Louisiana Housing Corporation.

Omari says Jackson couldn’t afford to hire her as its director of finance and administration. Instead, Jackson’s chief administrative officer, Robert Blaine, will take on the role for now, following Charles Hatcher’s resignation.

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Information from: The Clarion Ledger, http://www.clarionledger.com