Jackson Free Press

April 13, 2005

Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. pulled no punches against the campaign of political adversary Frank Melton at a conversation in the home of a Belhaven supporter last week. Until recently, Johnson has spent the election playing defense, lauding his record with various city achievements. But rankled by recent rumors, Johnson veered from the high road on the evening of April 7.

Johnson said he was "eager" to enter into a debate with Democratic candidate Frank Melton, seeking to let people know "who they're voting for."

"I welcome a debate with Frank to talk about our record. What has he done for the city of Jackson? If he's interested in economic development and he's a millionaire, what kind of investments has he made in the city? What business has he started?" demanded Johnson.

The mayor then blasted Melton's record at the helm of WLBT. "We know he sold a business—a black-owned business that came into existence because of a struggle in the Civil Rights Movement—to make sure that (Mississippi television) stations stopped their racist acts. Well, when he came in, the first thing he did was bust the union at that station (the local AFL-CIO affiliate has endorsed Melton despite the 20-year-old union kill) and then later he sold the station (to a white-owned company), so we no longer have a black-owned station here in Mississippi. All this philanthropy of his has come through a foundation that was actually started out of the proceeds of the sale of this station."

Melton did not return phone calls this week seeking a response.

Johnson also called Melton's recent homestead-exemption snafu, as reported last issue, "the tip of the iceberg."

"It's ridiculous to me for a mayoral candidate to go around talking about leadership when that person hasn't even exercised enough leadership to register to vote in the city that he resided in for 20 years," Johnson said. "He has never voted for a mayor of the city of Jackson, yet he wants to be mayor of the city of Jackson. He never voted in the Democratic primary, yet he professes to be a Democrat. He voted twice, in 2003 and 2004. He didn't get a Mississippi driver's license until 2003, yet he talks about leadership and being mayor of the city."

Johnson claimed those facts speak to integrity and honesty. "That's an example of misrepresentation, the same kind of misrepresentation that he resorted to when he was asked ‘did you file homestead exemption here in Jackson?' and said ‘yes, here's the receipt.' It's that kind of playing to the crowd in 45-second sound bites that we don't need here in the city of Jackson."

Johnson also went on the attack against Melton's crime-fighting record, calling up figures from his days as head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

"We don't think anyone has gone to trial, yet (from the busts he made), but I think the most telling number is that arrests went up by 70 percent when he left. The year before he came compared with the year that he was there and most of the time in 2003, it actually went down by 30 percent. He had a lot of television time and a lot of grandstanding but with little return."

"What I'm telling people is to know who you're voting for," Johnson said. "If you know who you're voting for, then you'll see the tremendous difference between my character and his character. We need to make sure that people are not swayed by the persona that has been created out of 20 years of television."

Melton canceled an April 9 debate with the mayor at Tougaloo College. When asked about Johnson's charges at his April 11 press conference near City Hall, Melton said that he was "very disappointed in the mayor ... (saying things) knowing that in fact they're not true ... and I would not dare ever do anything like that, nor would I allow anybody in my campaign to do anything like that."

However, Melton campaign official Bob Hickingbottom called into the Kim Wade show on WJNT-AM on April 5 saying he wanted to respond to the homestead-exemption challenge. According to a tape of the program, he claimed that Johnson's daughter lives in Madison, saying: "(Johnson) bought a house for his daughter, a so-called house for his daughter, an expensive house. His daughter is not old enough to have the economic power to buy that kind of a house. If that continues, we're going to release that kind of stuff. We don't want to do nasty politics, but for crying out loud Frank Melton has been here 20 years and for those 20 years he's been right down front making his contribution and we're proud of it."

Johnson's daughter lives in Jackson and has never lived in Madison. The mayor says he does not own property there, and never has. Asked about the statement at the April 11 press conference, Hickingbottom said it was "just a rumor that had been around a while," adding that "I wouldn't put my hand on a Bible," when asked if the story was true.

A full transcript of Hickingbottom's remarks to Kim Wade at available at http://www.jacksontruth.org

Previous Commentsshow

I love Harvey's nerve, berating Melton for selling "a black owned TV station" to some white guys. What does he care? No, the real reason to bring that up would be to knock Melton's loyalty to the Black Community. Glad I'm not voting in that one.

Ironghost

Apr 13 2005

Let's stay on point Ironghost! Crime went up when Frank ran MBN. It went UP! That's probably why Governor Barbour fired him on the first day he could! Crime UP, Frank out! Arrests have gone up under George Phillips at MBN. These are the facts people should argue. As far as race goes, What about Frank's "answer" to the dual residence issue. "Excuse me, but I think it's ok for a black person to be able to own two houses!!!" Come on, this is ridiculous.

Hayes

Apr 14 2005

I actually think Ironghost's got a point. It's kind of a footnote, at least for me, that WLBT was a black owned station and now it's not. More disappointing is that it was locally owned, and now it's not. I do think that Mayor Johnson' motivation in bringing it up is about loyalty to the community. But, whatever. At least what he's saying is true. And, I'm assuming at this point that the stats on Melton's tenure at the MBN are true. I'm sure some kind supporter of Melton will gently correct us, if they are not. At this point, though, I think Melton needs to fire Hickingbottom, for knowingly spreading rumors about the Mayor and his family. The thing about Melton not voting bugs me alot. I hate it when people don't bother to vote. The fact that he never voted here, and now is running for mayor smacks of hubris, at least to me.

kate

Apr 14 2005

First, I think it's obvious that that's the reason that Johnson is bringing that upójust as the opposite was the reason for many of the comments Melton made to the ladies of North Jackson (including that he was running as a Democrat so he could win). No harm in pointing it out, but there's no "Wow!" there. I disagree with Kate a bit on this one. The history of WLBT is VERY important to this discussion. Read Kay Mills' book about the saga of getting WLBT to turn from being a racist station to black-owned and operated, and the import of Johnson's (true) statement about Melton selling it will become more apparent. There's a lot of history there, and many voters in Jackson, black and white, understand that. This is likely a counter to the meme of Melton supporters that he is a great businessman, and thus is qualified to be mayor of Jackson. Yeah, the HIckingbottom thing is astounding, to say the least. How do you pull that stuff out of thin air and get away with it?

ladd

Apr 14 2005

Re the voting thing: I'm offended at the idea that a journalist isn't supposed to vote. Lord.

ladd

Apr 14 2005

Re the MBN arrest numbers: I don't know the answer. Melton didn't return calls to respond, and we haven't gotten info otherwise. So let's make that one a Truth Watch. I'm a bit behind on adding new ones, but will try to do those today. There are a bunch of new questions being raised on both sides that need some scrutiny.

ladd

Apr 14 2005

Was TV-3, Inc.'s corporate home based in MS or TX for tax purposes? Curious and if you have answered it in another thread just point me there.

tortoise

Apr 14 2005

Maybe Melton reports truer numbers? I mean, I know there's a lot of unreported theft and simple burglary going on in Jackson that JPD just doesn't file paperwork on. Melton touched on that (the numbers game) in today's Metro article. Then again, he doesn't have any training in law enforcement, so that'd be a knock against him there. You have to admit that at least he shows passion about the issue of crime in Jackson. :)

Ironghost

Apr 14 2005

Little confused, Iron. Are you saying that people do not call the cops on, or that the police ignore and don't file paperwork on? The first would be hard to prove and, per the second, I wish something would actually present some evidence on this rumor. See our crime Issue story this week.

ladd

Apr 14 2005

Also, here is a paper about the history of media reform and it especially focuses on the civil rights struggle surrounding WLBT. It really opened my eyes to why the Mayor is using and mentioning that WLBT was sold to Liberty Broadcasting. http://communication.ucsd.edu/people/f_horwitz_brr.html It is a really long paper, so here is a quote towards the end that stands out after explaining the whole history behind WLBT and the end results from the FCC hearing: "They helped organize a local integrated group, called Communications Improvement, Inc., as the interim local operator -- securing a $300,000 loan from the Methodist Board of Missions to satisfy the FCC that the operator was adequately capitalized. They forged a unique arrangement such that station profits would go half to public broadcasting in Mississippi and half to Tougaloo College, where it would be used to teach black students in communications skills and management. Parker was able to induce Tom Murphy and Dan Burke of Capital Cities Broadcasting to send skilled people to Jackson to train the new black employees. According to Parker, this training was essential. The takeover by the public group made the station the leading station in the central South. Yet it was not until 1983 that the station was finally permanently licensed to a group that was 98 percent black-owned." 1983 would be when Melton took over. And, he did a great job; but, I think the Mayor is upset he sold the storied station, WLBT, to Liberty Broadcasting located in SC; and that it is no longer minority controlled much less MS based. The Mayor's remarks seemed harsh until I read the history of WLBT! Wow!

tortoise

Apr 14 2005

The fact that he sold WLBT to a "white" company is immaterial. How can anyone honestly look at WLBT today and say it reminds them of the station's segregated past? WLBT has the most diverse and experienced staff in the city. Johnson should be ashamed of invoking something as trivial as that. You anti-Melton people would have been up and arms if Melton hadn't sold the station while simultaneously serving as MBN director. Harvey is about to unleash the "Mayor John Street of Philadelphia Strategy" which is to run and tell everybody that the white folks are out to get him and that Frank Melton is their Uncle Tom surrogate.

esanders

Apr 15 2005

It's all about the history and the fact that there are not a lot of minority owned media outlets in America. And, we had one of them! The paper above calls the WLBT ruling in 1967 one of THREE of the most important events in media history for the FCC. That is really cool! And, since the history is not that distant, I can see how some people can find this of interest in this election.

tortoise

Apr 15 2005