It wasn't until Friday, five days after Katrina had blown through Jackson, that a visibly uncomfortable Mayor Melton fielded questions about city response from what was a visibly frustrated, angry even, Jackson City Council.
For the first week of hurricane fallout in Jackson, city government offered almost no guidance as to where citizens might find power, food, shelter, water, ice, electricity and other necessities that were lacking all over town. Melton himself was seen infrequently, and by Friday he seemed oddly out of touch, with one of his few concrete suggestions being that students from evacuated areas could be educated by volunteers in public parks or similar buildings, an idea that was essentially dismissed later by the superintendent of JPS—because the district is legally
required to take the students.
In fact, at one point during that meeting, in the face of criticism and questions, Melton tried to turn it on the council members, saying, "We're going to have to stop this 'mayor stuff ' because one of the questions I have is 'what are you all prepared to do?'"
Council President Marshand Crisler replied: "Whatever you request, Mr. Mayor. We're here to assist. This is a strong mayor-council, so if you make the suggestion, Mayor, and if it is something that we are legally able to do, then it will happen."
Contrast Melton in crisis mode with Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in New York, who became a national hero for his comportment after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on that city. Supporters often compare Melton, who campaigned largely on "tough talk" on crime during the recent mayoral election, to Giuliani.
From Mr. Melton, however, we've seen very little of the capable coordination that New York got from its mayor during those trying times. Instead, Melton's office has been out of touch, his press conferences virtually non-existent and our "TV mayor" did very little to take advantage of that—or any—medium to get the word out to comfort and direct Jacksonians during this recent crisis.
BusinessWeek was less than kind to Melton this week, recounting his antics at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds on Tuesday, Sept. 6. The story details a "nattily dressed" Melton leading people out of a long line at the Trade Mart, where they were waiting for public assistance, into the Coliseum. According to Melton, he was getting the people out of the sun and, if only other agencies would get "out of the way," the city could take care of the people just fine.
According to the story, however, the people led out of line didn't get any expedited assistance, and the line the next day was much longer. The move left many volunteers angry and bitter toward Mayor Melton.
Melton's actions over the past two weeks betray an embarrassing failure of leadership and a lack of "situational awareness" in his administration. And while the Mayor deserves some benefit of the doubt because this disaster happened so soon after he took office, he also deserves criticism for that same reason—he and his team need to become much better prepared if they're going to be of any use as a city government. As of that emergency Council meeting, his people hadn't even given direct phone numbers for his staff to Council, yet.
We offer some suggestions:
1. The Mayor's office needs to work out who its spokespeople are for various departments and then acquire for them working telephones with voicemail boxes and published numbers. These people should understand that the media, and the public, have the right to question what they are doing, how, why and when.
2. The mayor himself—noting his lack of public-sector experience—should make good of his campaign promise to hire capable people and let them run the city. He must seriously reexamine his proclivity to hire family members and the circle of comrades who followed him from MBN and WLBT. Instead, Melton should recruit professional people with prior experience in city government and police departments.
3. The mayor needs to hold regularly scheduled press conferences in a designated location—ideally City Hall—and make himself available for questions from all media … whether or not he likes the media outlets in question. He is not a journalist; he is an accountable public servant and must start acting like one.
4. The Mayor was not elected police chief—he was elected mayor. It's time to trade the badge and vest for some rolledup shirtsleeves.
5. The Mayor should know if something would be effective and necessary before he does it, such as imposing "business curfews" and marching people around the fairgrounds. If he doesn't know whether such a thing is effective, he should ask a qualified adviser to determine legality and wisdom of the move in advance.
6. The mayor should immediately reveal to the citizens of Jackson all lawsuits in which he is currently a plaintiff or defendant and their status, and let us know how those suits are affecting his ability to be in the city of Jackson and maintain his daily schedule as mayor of this city.
7. The mayor needs to recognize that bringing ridicule and embarrassment to the city will not help with economic development. Sensible, professional city leadership is the only solution that Jackson has for digging out of what may be a short-term economic slump brought on by rising
prices, lost productivity and less discretionary income in the pockets of citizens.
In the long term, getting Jackson on its feet may be a great thing for the city, as residents of other communities who are relocated workers and "creative class" professionals here might stay in a revitalized Jackson—but only if there's housing, jobs, transportation, water … and, things like promise, hope, leadership, focus and vision. You know … mayor stuff.
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