Jackson Free Press

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton, elected July 4, was already looking to shake the system July 27, calling for the resignation of city board and commission members. In a press release, Melton's office told the media in an unprecedented announcement that he wanted immediate resignations of the almost 200 members of the 22 boards and commissions "in an effort to assure that the necessary policies and programs are initiated."

Carolyn Redd, the city's marketing, public relations and special events coordinator later said people are "trying to read more into" the request than what is there.

"Many people sitting on the boards are from previous administrations, and when you have a new administration come in your boards are very important," Redd said Monday. "Knowing the value of that (boards and commissions), Mayor Melton wanted to ask everyone to voluntarily resign their board positions and re-submit their requests or resumes to be placed back on boards. He wants to make sure everyone's on the same mission, and that he wants to make sure that they are his appointees or a part of his regime."

Melton told the media last week that he expects to reappoint most of the board and commission members, and that current members may continue to serve through the reappointment process. He said, however, that there are some that he "doesn't want back."

City attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans, who did not return phone calls, later confirmed that Melton doesn't have the authority to push board and commission members, who work on a volunteer basis, out of their positions. "It's a request," O'Reilly-Evans told The Clarion-Ledger. "He is very much aware that he could not mandate their resignations or fire them, if you will."

Attorney David Watkins, who is outside counsel to the school district, said he already knew this, insofar as the Jackson Public School Board was concerned. "The board members are appointed for set terms by state law," said Watkins. "State law mandates that each board member is appointed for a five-year term, and they serve staggered terms."

The school board also tends to have holdovers, such as Chuck Lindsey, whose term expired on Feb. 28 of this year but has continued to legally serve as a school board member until someone is confirmed by the city council to replace him.

Melton said he wanted to pay particular attention to the school board and warned that members of all boards had "better perform."

Watkins said that, in regard to the school board, state law was unsympathetic to mayors who have a beef with appointments, however.

"Even if you don't like what they're doing, you just have to live with a bad appointment," Watkins said. "We've litigated those issues, but the statute is real clear. The only way to remove them is if they move out of the school district and no longer qualify, they don't do their continued education requirements or they commit a felony—and even then they're only subject to removal. They aren't automatically removed. But the mayor doesn't have any authority to remove any board members once they're confirmed by the city council."

John Lawrence, president of Downtown Jackson Partners, said his 21-member board was willing to comply with the mayor's request, but pointed out that the mayor only appoints four members of his board.

"Our city appointments have been productive members, and they've been good to work with, but that's up to the mayor and anybody he suggests or appoints, we'll be happy to work with," Lawrence said.

Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. pointed out that making appointments for these non-paid positions was "no easy task."

"You really need to have some balance in terms of race, in terms of gender, in terms of geography, and it's not easy at all, and people have to be willing to serve. That's why some of these folks are kept on, because given all the variables out there, they fit the bill and I felt we we're lucky to have them."

Click here to read an earlier thread about Melton's effort to get board members to resign, as well as view a PDF of the press release his office sent out.

Previous Comments

ID

64670

Comment

"Carolyn Redd, the cityís marketing, public relations and special events coordinator later said people are ìtrying to read more intoî the request than what is there. ... "He wants to make sure everyoneís on the same mission, and that he wants to make sure that they are his appointees or a part of his regime.î ... For all 187,000 of us! Need they say anymore?

Author

pikersam

Date

2005-08-04T08:45:24-06:00

ID

64671

Comment

[sarcasm]yeah, pike. I mean, large organizations and governments always work really well when *everyone* has the *exact same outlook* and is more worried about agreeing with the Mayor than with doing their job in the most effective manner. And, I'm sure the Mayor knows more than any of the board officers about their fields of expertise, so they really should just follow his lead on everything. I already feel safer, knowing the Mayor finds personal loyalty more important than effectiveness.[/sarcasm]

Author

kate

Date

2005-08-04T09:18:36-06:00