Jackson Free Press

The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that mayoral hopeful Frank Melton seized an opportunity to complain about crime yesterday—and met with the ire of the crime victim's family: "Tempers flared Wednesday morning between Jackson mayoral candidate Frank Melton and a woman who accused Melton of using the beating of her elderly mother for political purposes."

"Melton held a news conference on Dreyfus Street in front of Melcenia Bell's home, where he discussed her assault, the killing of 18-year-old Jabari Crockett in an attempted carjacking earlier this month, inner-city dilapidation and his political platform. ‘Nobody told me they were coming out here or anything,' said Bell's daughter, Geraldine Bell-Kersey of Cleveland, Ohio, who arrived at her mother's home to find Melton and others talking with the media. ‘My mother is not a political figure.' After the news conference, Melton told Bell-Kersey he didn't have to contact anyone. He said he stopped by the house Tuesday night, but no one was home. ‘I'm going to do what I have to do. I don't give a damn about what anybody has to say,"' Melton said."

Previous Comments

ID

168297

Comment

I saw this and thought it was a bit absurd of him... Not that absurdity is surprising these days. The mayoral election is going to be one muddy mess if this type of stunt is any indicator of what the future holds.

Author

kaust

Date

2004-08-26T14:27:29-06:00

ID

168298

Comment

Imagine: a city official doesn't have to get our permission to have a political press conference in front of your house. I guess he doesn't give a damn what anybody has to say. Personally, I don't know that I would start a campaign this way ... but I have a feeling it's going to get even more interesting as it goes.

Author

ladd

Date

2004-08-26T14:30:17-06:00

ID

168299

Comment

when i first moved to jackson over four years ago, i was wary of mayor johnson and most of the city council. whenever stokes would have a flare up or the police chief would turn up in some new scandal, it made me angry, and i automatically blamed mayor johnson. he is responsible, to a certain extent, for his city council and the leaders of public agencies. what i've realized in the past two years is that mayor johnson has been telling the truth all along: he HAS gotten a lot done. he HAS improved a lot of the city. he CAN work with others to get things done. in fact, as our first african american mayor, it seems like he's gotten more accomplished and more projects underway than our past four mayors combined. it seems all they did was sit and watch as the tax base fled to the 'burbs. as for frank melton: gimme a break. for a man who lives in an affluent neighborhood in north jackson to swoop in and puff his chest in front of so much grief is, among other things, just plain tacky. but sadly, it's not surprising. it's going to get ugly. you want to talk about a race card being dragged to the forefront? we're about to be shocked and awed. harvey's got my vote.

Author

Jay

Date

2004-08-27T14:16:56-06:00

ID

168300

Comment

I'd be pretty wary of a mayoral candidate who "doesn't give a damn about what anybody else has to say." Ms. Bell-Kersey should have watered her mother's lawn and (Mr. Melton's press conference} and told Melton, "I don't have to have anybody's permission to water my mother's lawn."

Author

butterat

Date

2004-08-27T22:42:23-06:00

ID

168301

Comment

Another stellar editorial from the Gannett Corp.óthis one on Frank Melton. Most intriguing is that they just spend an entire lead editorial without saying anything useful. (Imagine.) But the part that made me roll my eyes was the following: "Melton is known for being outspoken and having strong views. Johnson is known for being deliberative and studious. Should make for an interesting contest. But it's obvious that the premier issue of the campaign is crime." First, read that last sentence, and note what The Ledge just did for Frank Melton. The paper, known in the past for its extremely sensationalistic coverage of Jackson crime, just declared that crime is the top issue in the upcoming mayoral race. In other words, they just handed Mr. Melton a prize on a platter, the one he wants. Do they think about this stuff before they write it??? Also, they could have noted in that statement that the mayor has some pretty strong views, too--but that fact doesn't fit into the C-L's this-vs.-that paradigm that corporate media love so much. Sigh. In addition, note that The Ledge got the word "perception" in an editorial about crime five--count 'em, five--times. They know anti-Jackson folk like to get frothy at the mouth over the (twisted and inaccurate) campaign by The Ledge, and other Jackson media, last year that Chief Moore said that crime was only a "perception." That was bullshit then, and it's bullshit now. We've shown it repeatedly. And this point simply shows the superficial journalism done in this market--that journalists don't do their homework at the scholarship surrounding this issue. Double sigh. I really hope this isn't a sign about how The Ledge is going to cover this election, milking it for all its worth to sell newspapers, with the city hanging in the balance. It's a bad sign that they let Melton score a cheap point with this one in this editorial. A really bad sign. It's the media coverage I dread in this election, more than dealing with the candidates. If this editorial is any indication, it indeed is going to get ugly, and The Ledge will lead the way. Remember, Ledge, "civic journalism." You've been doing a better job lately; don't screw it up now.

Author

ladd

Date

2004-08-28T01:02:37-06:00

ID

168302

Comment

One other point about the editorial: I'm intrigued by the partial quote by Moore at the end: "an abandoned house has never killed anyone." It's out of context and, boy, do I not trust The Ledge to ever get the context right, but that statement could annoy me, perhaps indicating that the chief doesn't believe that "broken windows" lead to crime. Ironically, of course, it would be a statement that should make the mayor/chief's detractors very happy. Strong advocates of the tough-policing model don't tend to support efforts to clean up bad neighborhoods to prevent crime -- they don't want to spend the precious resources; they just want to lock up all them wild tigers and throw away the key. But, with The Ledge's track record on Chief Moore and context, I'll hold out for the actual context before I go off whole-hog on this point.

Author

ladd

Date

2004-08-28T01:03:10-06:00

ID

168303

Comment

This reminds me of Bush and the GOP holding their convention in NYC.

Author

kate

Date

2004-08-29T12:16:26-06:00