Jackson Free Press

Mayor Frank Melton sent out a Feb. 10 memorandum demanding that all city departments—including fire and police—take radical measures to rein in spending.

"It is imperative that we immediately initiate the following measures to assure a balanced budget and the necessary reserves for our adopted FY 05-06 budget," Melton ordered. It outlined six demands, including the elimination of overtime to city employees, a hiring freeze, and stringent restrictions on cell phone, pager and city vehicle use.

He also called for every city department to slash its budget.

"All departments shall reduce their adopted budget by 5 percent except the Police Department (which) shall reduce (its budget) by 2.5 percent due to public safety," he ordered, adding that the city attorney and the Finance Department would get a list of "items that are to be reduced" by Feb. 14.

Job cuts are also ahead. "If it is necessary to lay off individuals, the Department of Personnel and the City Attorney shall approve the proposed layoffs based on adopted personnel and civil service rules," he wrote.

Fire Alarms Ringing

Alarms sounded off in the Jackson Fire Department as Interim Fire Chief Todd Chandler scrambled for ways to make cuts.

"The only thing I can say is we're doing everything we can to make sure the budget cuts will not reduce the level of protection for the citizens of Jackson," said Assistant Chief Tony Davis. "Anytime we have budget cuts, it'll hurt you, but we're used to it. We'll do whatever we can."

Following city orders, Chandler had to cut all overtime in the department, which already causes problems in a sector short-staffed by at least 30 positions, said Firefighters Local 87 Union President Branden Falcon.

"There's no way they can stop all overtime, but what they've done is create a policy where the fourth man on every unit will be sent all over the city until all the units have three people on it, and then they'll start overtime," Falcon said.

Saddling each engine crew with only three riders means a barebones staff standing out on your lawn as your home spits flame. To cover the holes, Chandler recommended that a pumper truck zip to the scene from a second station if that station is not already busy battling its own infernos.

"They say they're going to send a third engine company, but that third engine company is seven to 10 minutes away," Falcon warns. "If you lose the house in the first three to five minutes, what are you going to do with a pumper that's seven to 10 minutes away?"

The staff shortage also causes automatic violations in NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) requirements. Federal laws restrict firefighters from entering a burning house unless there are two firefighters ready to storm the building and two more firefighters waiting outside to drag out the first two if they don't come back out fast enough. Unless the firemen know there's someone in the house, and they can actually see them, they're not allowed to enter until another unit arrives.

"It's a federal law, but we never abide by it. We can't. A fireman isn't going to let you die in your house waiting on somebody else to show up on a scene, but by law, if we went in on that entry and got hurt we wouldn't have any medical coverage, and we'd have to fight for our workman's comp," Falcon said.

"I mean, c'mon, if you're unconscious, and your baby's unconscious, there's no car in the driveway or nothing to indicate that somebody's in there, would you really want me to stand out in the yard until another unit gets there?"

A Nightmare Cometh?

Police Chief Shirlene Anderson said she would manage to make ends meet, but that she wasn't sure where to make cuts.

"We're just trying to fill those slots that are essential, like communications, dispatch, crossing guards." Anderson said. "These cuts are a little tough, but right now we're looking at slots that we haven't filled for some time and closing them by attrition. Now I don't know what these other departments are going to do."

Falcon speculates that serious city budget shortages—and poor planning by the new administration—are forcing the cuts.

"The rumor is that you have people like the Stephanie Parker-Weavers (estimated $70,000 a year) and Jimmy Heidels ($150,000 a year) and so forth making more than the people in the last administration, and those salaries are eating up the budget on the mayor's staff. There was a push on salaries on the front end," Falcon said.

"Back in June there was a clean sweep of the books, and the city was found to be financially sound. What has happened between June of last year and February of this year, though, I cannot tell you."

Another source inside the fire department, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that city departments are blazing with concerns that the city is in gargantuan financial trouble. The source warned that City Council and auditors may likely find big holes when the budget books are cracked open in March for the budget revision.

"Something real bad is happening with this money. Truly we've lost businesses, but we haven't lost enough to hurt us this bad. I really would like to know, too, why all the sudden, Frank's hell-bent on cutting everybody back to the barebones," says the source about the mayor. He points to the city's recent problems with Blue Cross as another major concern.

Blue Cross Seeing Red?

The city pays Blue Cross and Blue Shield about $500,000 to provide the medical benefits plan for city of Jackson employees, but in late December Blue Cross and Blue Shield temporarily suspended their coverage because of what city Risk Management Director John Anderson called an oversight.

"It was a little bit computer glitch and a little bit mail problem, but it really wasn't that big a deal. It hit the media, and that caused some uneasiness," John Anderson said. "We had some mail getting crossed. Just like your monthly utility bill, we pay (Blue Cross and Blue Shield) through the mail, and it hadn't gotten there a day or two late, and so that caused some computer problem to show that something was due."

The unnamed source, however, disputed that description. "A month ago I thought something was wrong, but I didn't say anything about it, but there were some retirees that tried to use Blue Cross and learned that Blue Cross had canceled us. We pay Blue Cross every month to handle our paperwork, and the city hadn't paid them. They wound up having to come up with some money to pay them. They said it was an oversight, but that's bullsh*t because that money is direct debit. It was not an oversight. They were just hoping Blue Cross would work out of the goodness of their heart."

John Sewell, Blue Cross communications specialist, said the situation boiled down to a premium payment that did not make it to their office on time. "As far as we're concerned, the city delivered their check to our office almost immediately, and we reset things that night," he said.

Chief Financial Officer Peyton Prospere would not comment on the city's budget issues. "I just can't say anything, yet," Prospere said. "Not at this time."

Picking at Scabs

Council President Marshand Crisler said he could not comment on the health of the budget, which is due for a revision in March—after Melton requested a 30-day extension from the original February date.

"We can't talk about rumors concerning budget shortfalls and the possible losses of our budget reserve fund, but there's going to be conversation when that does happen," Crisler said, but added that he was incensed over the cuts to the city's fire department.

"I'm concerned with the issues of the cuts that continue to happen in this budget that we obviously did not have indicated to the council back during the budget cycle. This is all coming outside of everything we (the council) were given by the administration. My second concern is this is an administration that has given money back to business partners that we had, like the annual $200,000 we gave back to UMC (used for JFD equipment purchases), yet we're having to make cuts to the fire department, I'm certainly going to pick at that scab. I'm still confused, frustrated and upset when it comes to the fire department."

Ward 1 Councilman Ben Allen said he had also heard rumors of a failing city budget, but said he would also have to reserve his comment until the budget revision. "We're all concerned with our budget. We're concerned with the city losing its population—a thousand in the last 20 years. We're all concerned about it but I can't make a comment on it because I haven't seen the revised budget yet—but I'm sure looking forward to it."

Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said the city's budget had $6 million in reserves when he left in July—and that citizens should pay close attention to the status of the budget reserves. "If it turns out that the budget is hurting, it's not because of anything we did. Our reserve was in good shape, and that's the true indicator of how well you're managing your money."

Previous Comments

ID

65331

Comment

Let the layoffs and resignations begin...

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2006-02-22T22:59:22-06:00

ID

65332

Comment

Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. said the city’s budget had $6 million in reserves when he left in July—and that citizens should pay close attention to the status of the budget reserves. “If it turns out that the budget is hurting, it’s not because of anything we did. Our reserve was in good shape, and that’s the true indicator of how well you’re managing your money.” ...and that my friends is the bottom line!

Author

pikersam

Date

2006-02-22T23:29:24-06:00

ID

65333

Comment

Should we start a JFP Pool on how much is left in the reserves?!? ;-) It would be a new and creative use for the blog.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-22T23:33:03-06:00

ID

65334

Comment

We're concerned with the city losing its population—a thousand in the last 20 years. That doesn't sound right to me. Can someone doublecheck this? Should we start a JFP Pool on how much is left in the reserves?!? ;-) It would be a new and creative use for the blog. You're a mess! :-P

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-02-22T23:51:39-06:00

ID

65335

Comment

That quote does seem suspect, L.W. I'll get Adam on it. Or if Ben sees this and want to clarify, have at it, dude. My mama used to call me "a mess," L.W. Love it!

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-22T23:55:03-06:00

ID

65336

Comment

Seriously, we all need to be very concerned about the Fire Department. These are life-and-death games.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-22T23:56:09-06:00

ID

65337

Comment

I have been under the impression that an administration cannot "pass the torch" to an incoming administration with a deficit budget. Thanks to this article by Adam Lynch, my opinions were correct. This is another proof of point that this Texas cowboy has no idea of how to run a municipal government. When you are in charge of a city as Melton is in charge here, you would think that he would surround himself with strong department heads so that you can progress. Instead this is further proof that not only did the mayor apparently make bad decisions about the people that he put in office but he himself is not living up to standards as a good leader. How much more do the citizens have to suffer before he learns how to do his job? Will we fall all the way to the bottom before we start to see a turnaround? The sad thing about this is that Frank will probably come out later and say what a wonderful job his staff has done to keep this city from sinking, when in reality he would only have stopped from going all the way to the bottom of the barrel because he apparently could not make the transition from private industry to city government. Jackson as well as other cities suffered a loss from hurrican Katrina, the national deficit, and other factors. Some of our neighboring cities have risen above adversity and pushed ahead. They utilized their mental resources and created plans that have kept them going forward. What have we done? We rode into apartment complexes like the calvary. We picked up students and held them at the Juvenile Detention center without having developed a plan with the school officials. We rode up and down Highway 80 and arrested people. We busted up into strip clubs and told grown individuals what they can and cannot do. We have hired people under contracts that are insanely expensive to our budget. The list goes on. I have an idea. If the mayor really wants to make things better, why not allow qualified people to assist him in starting to get us out of this mess. He has put people in high places that don't even live here and tried to justify it by saying that that is not a concern of his where a person lives. I have said all along that there are people that live right here in Jackson that can do the job. We citizens have a vested interest in this city. These individuals would not be in charge just to bring in a paycheck but to make their "home" a better place to live in.

Author

lance

Date

2006-02-23T08:15:24-06:00

ID

65338

Comment

None of this news really surprises me. The Melton administration has apparently been spending money like a druken sailor on shore leave with high paid consultants and specialists (like Ms Parker-Weaver) and high profile media stunts like the Jksn Apts closures (I wonder how many taxpayer dollars were actually spent on relocating residents) while making insane moves like "giving back" thousands of dollars to UMC, it sounds like from this article Mayor Melton has been a good steward of the people's money thus far, in spite of his "good intentions."

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2006-02-23T08:22:33-06:00

ID

65339

Comment

“It was a little bit computer glitch and a little bit mail problem, but it really wasn’t that big a deal. It hit the media, and that caused some uneasiness,” John Anderson said. “We had some mail getting crossed. Just like your monthly utility bill, we pay (Blue Cross and Blue Shield) through the mail, and it hadn’t gotten there a day or two late, and so that caused some computer problem to show that something was due.” Does this statement not raise an eyebrow? This city claims to be a modern place to live. With all of the unwarranted firings that the mayor has done, one would wonder why he did not fire the person who made this mistake. I said that to say this...Does the city not use electronic bill payments? I believe that they do. I think that is is archaic to use stamps to send mail to Flowood when they could simply pay automatically. Out of one side of their mouth (the mayor's office) they gloat about how cutting edge they are with technology and then they turn around and say that the mail got crossed up? Give me a break. Mayby if the city started using things like electronic bill pay, we could save a ton of money that we are spending on stamps!

Author

lance

Date

2006-02-23T09:34:03-06:00

ID

65340

Comment

We’re concerned with the city losing its population—a thousand in the last 20 years. That doesn't sound right to me. Can someone doublecheck this? US Census Count for Jackson: 2000--184,256 (-12,381 from 1990) 1990--196,637 (-6,258 from 1980) 1980--202,895

Author

Rex

Date

2006-02-23T11:02:14-06:00

ID

65341

Comment

That's a loss of 18,639 over 20 years.

Author

Rex

Date

2006-02-23T11:03:10-06:00

ID

65342

Comment

That sounds more like it. Thanks, Rex.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-23T11:54:46-06:00

ID

65343

Comment

That sounds more like it. Thanks, Rex.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-23T11:55:15-06:00

ID

65344

Comment

The typo was entirely my fault, guys. Allen's quote was actually "We’re concerned with the city losing its population—a thousand +a year+ in the last 20 years." I can only hope my credibility isn't completely shot.

Author

Adam Lynch

Date

2006-02-23T16:48:53-06:00

ID

65345

Comment

I wish the citizens of Jackson, Ms. would wake up and see that the mayor is head hunting everyone who went against him during the election. I voted for him, but I deeply regret it now.

Author

Lspd2

Date

2006-02-23T21:55:28-06:00

ID

65346

Comment

Let the fire and police cry. They were against Harvey and supported Melton. Harvey didn't downsize them or try to run them off. They wanted this clown now that his true colors are showing they are crying. No one could tell them to beware of this guy even tho some of them new of his past with those little boys. This should be very interesting as to how far he is going to kick them. Ha Ha

Author

jada

Date

2006-02-24T01:54:54-06:00

ID

65347

Comment

Jada, there was a select group within the department that supported Melton from both sides of the JFD and the JPD, not all of them. These are the people that we call when we are in distress. I believe that the only one laughing is you. We all are entitled to our opinion, but laughing at our safety and wellfare is another thing. I am very concerned that because of the mayor's inability to manage the city's finances that we are facing possible higher insurance ratings, diminished fire protection, reduced police protection, etc. I would like to look back one day and see where we, as a community, came together and get things back on track and then mayby laugh at some of the anyics of Frank but now I don't see anything funny. Are you from Jackson? Or just too young to know any different?

Author

lance

Date

2006-02-24T07:02:08-06:00

ID

65348

Comment

The real test comes when he wants to run for re-election. We'll see if Jackson voters have good memories or if they forget.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2006-02-24T10:02:21-06:00

ID

65349

Comment

Yeah, I'm not laughing, either, Jada. There is no time for laughing or "we told you so." We have serious problems on our hands across the board because too many people in Jackson bought into Mr. Melton's political "thug" rhetoric. The real test is now, Ironghost. Things can get really bad between now and the next election. The question is, how do we keep Mr. Melton from completely screwing up Jackson now. Left and right, people like lspd2 above are saying that they made a mistake by voting for him. My question is: What kind of new coalitions are going to arise to keep him in check and demand accountability from this man? It's time to put aside the pain of being wrong about him: truth is, people were lied to, and too many bought it. However, as we know well in Mississippi, the shame comes when you see the truth and don't do anything about it. The truth is out there now. Now what, Jackson?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-24T12:07:47-06:00

ID

65350

Comment

lance you are correct it is not funny. I just had a moment of weekness. I am so angry at the direction this person is taking this city that I have to strike out at those people who beleived his dribble. I am trying to do everything I can to help Jackson stay afloat but it seems that the more some of us do the right thing this clown just keep dumping. When will this madness stop?? I hope that those who have influence on the mayor will do what ever it takes to put brakes on him. I hope everyone who reads this will forgive my madness.

Author

jada

Date

2006-02-24T13:06:55-06:00

ID

65351

Comment

So, it seems that Stephanie Parker-Weaver disagrees that she makes $70,000 -- but refuses to tell we-the-citizens how much she actually makes. When will these games end, people? You are a public servant. Answer the damn question.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-24T17:02:25-06:00

ID

65352

Comment

Jada, I think that asking for forgiveness will suffice just fine. ;-) Don't worry, we feel your pain.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-24T17:03:51-06:00

ID

65353

Comment

Jada I was not trying to impose anything negative against you. I respect your comments as well as everyone elses. I commend you for you response. I only hope that enough people will follow your lead and let's try to make this city somewhere to be proud of. You are not mad......just strong enough to be admired.

Author

lance

Date

2006-02-24T17:25:25-06:00

ID

65354

Comment

According to CMPDD, we as a City are around 179,500 today (2005). We are averaging 1000 people / year loss. Blacks are leaving west Jackson for Clinton (even Eric Fleming) at an alarming rate. Clinton High School is now almost 30% black (up from less than 10% 8 years ago). White "flight" has abated some except in the areas "collapsing" due to Section 8 housing problems where areas that were neighborhoods are now "rental home meccas" and mostly property that is owned by out-of city investors and sometimes, unfortunately, leased or purchased by people who could not afford to be there w/o this assistance, which many times brings a whole other set of issues/problems. This can sound harsh, but it is reality.

Author

Ben Allen

Date

2006-02-24T18:04:03-06:00

ID

65355

Comment

Melton has all of you snowed! While he is publically talking about budget cuts and "laying off" people (presumably who don't work); he is quietly hiring his cronies and people who supported him in the election at very high salaries. Many of the these new hires are coming in at newly created managerial levels, making a lot of money and either have no job description or if they have a directive from the mayor do not have the ability to carry out the assignment they have been given. And I am not taking about the higher profile department heads most of who are capable. There is always the "middle managment" tier that the public does not know about. The reality of this situation is the lower paid employees who are civil service (policemen, firemen, engineers, office workers,) are working overtime, weekends, taking work home, and trying to do the work that was previously assigned to two or more people. This man has single handledly dismantled several departments who now have one-half of less of the personnel they had one year ago. Morale is an all time low, and people who haven't been fired are leaving everyday. These positions are rarely filled. How on earth do you think the City can be run? The high paid managers certainly aren't going to do it. They are the big guns who go to meetings, Richmond and god knows where. In most departments there are barely enough people left to even cover the phones all day. And all they read about in the paper and on blogs like this one is how sorry they are. GIVE ME A BREAK! Adam, I challenge you to get access to the salaries of the new employees including one person who ran against him, a felon, several "consultants" who are not even allowed to make personnel decisions and while you are at it, find out how many people who at lower paid levels have been unjustly fired. Ahem! I believe this is called the spoil system and was supposed to be eliminated by civil service systems.

Author

realtime

Date

2006-02-24T21:18:31-06:00

ID

65356

Comment

I think Todd must be able to see into the future. One of my favorite articles of his seem to see this coming when talking about what is best for the city of Jackson: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=1838_0_7_0_C

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-02-24T21:37:29-06:00

ID

65357

Comment

Sorry about the rambling previous post. Thought I had deleted the last two paragraphs. My point simply is -- the Mayor's actions have contributed to this problem greatly and he has sacrificed lower paying jobs (a deserving hard working people who had them) to give very high salaries to his new hires. I have heard the Legal department, headed by Sarah O'Reilly Evans, has hired ten new attorneys, meanwhile other divisions are being cut more every day. I think everyone could buy in to the concept of a fair re-organizational plan that looks at job descriptions, and redistributes work loads to make sure everyone is working efficiently. That same plan should allocate reasonable salaries to department managers (who are not consultants but can hire and fire and fun the department). And finally it shoud eliminate the middle management layer than all business people know is targeted first in corporate American re-organization plans. Middle managers are the one type of employee that are not needed. If Melto

Author

realtime

Date

2006-02-24T21:39:54-06:00

ID

65358

Comment

"That doesn't sound right to me. Can someone doublecheck this? US Census Count for Jackson: 2000--184,256 (-12,381 from 1990) 1990--196,637 (-6,258 from 1980) 1980--202,895" -------- If you go back to 1976, we had 206,648 population immediately after the annexation of a large portion of South Jackson land.

Author

realtime

Date

2006-02-24T22:00:15-06:00

ID

65359

Comment

And another thing . . . Melton is most certainly spending a lot of money on relocation of people out of apartments, etc. It will really be sad if the voters do not understand what is really going on. Please remember, I voted for this man. Right now, I wish we could ask for a recall. I predict the City will be in bankruptcy or lose its Charter before all of this is over.

Author

realtime

Date

2006-02-24T22:10:45-06:00

ID

65360

Comment

Hello all. I would like to add a little here. I am sure the Ben Allen would agree that this is not the first time that the budget has been in a crunch. On the JFD we see cut backs every year. Last year we ran short or trucks due to the overtime budget being depleted, Not that I agree at all with having to do so. Yes this should bring concern to all firefighters. Its better that a layoff though. This adminstration started with a budget that was created by the last adminstration. What about all the LARGE raises that Harvey Johnson gave to many of his cronies before leaving office, Did we all forget about that? I guess if Melton hid behind the scenes and let someone make the decisions for him ( as Johnson did ) then he would not be judged the way he is. Not that I agree with everything that the Mayor does, I think he is putting forth a great effort to get things done for this city. I am sure if we all give him time things will change for the better.

Author

firefighter

Date

2006-02-25T12:18:33-06:00

ID

65361

Comment

firefighter, I think it's pretty unassailable that the budget was in good shape when the last mayor left office. And we had a large reserve. Our understanding is that the reserve is about shot already under this mayor. You should tell us about the "great effort" he is doing to get things done. Let's talk in detail. Maybe you're privy to some things that the general public is, and we'd love to hear about them. I'm not quite getting your point about Johnson hiding and letting someone else make decisions for him. I haven't seen evidence that that is true. You sound a bit like you're trying to take the heat off Mr. Melton by trying to blame his predecessor for the current problems. That doesn't do any of us a whole lot of good. We've got to deal with what's on our plate today -- and if the last mayor left the budget in good shape, and it's shot, the responsibility for that lies with the current administration. Hell, they are not even responsible enough to just tell the public what various people make. They constantly act like they have something to hide. They should put all the salaries out front and then stand up like adults and justify them instead of all these juvenile cat-and-mouse games they play. It is squarely their fault that they are losing the public trust so quickly.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-25T13:03:12-06:00

ID

65362

Comment

Firefighter, you sound just like a blogger that was recently banned because of unjustifiable comments and personal agendas. That blogger only spoke on issues concerning fire and police, and it was always defending Melton and putting a bad rap on Johnson. Please forgive me if I'm wrong, but your comments seem so familar. The previous administration gave raises that did not raise eyebrows as this administration is doing. I personally would like to focus on the present. We all have questions about the bugdet that we are dealing with now. This mayor has spent, and spent, and spent with nothing to show for it except a lot of unhappy people, especially city employees. I cannot remember when a mayor put us in such bad shape so quickly. Frank has only been in office since July, and we are already talking about layoffs, a second round of budget cuts, etc. I fail to see how he "putting forth a great effort" as you say. Please expound. We all are looking for anything positive.

Author

lance

Date

2006-02-25T21:24:16-06:00

ID

65363

Comment

Ladies and Gentlemen: I can't believe you would attack the relatively mild comments of "firefighter." He is correct in stating that this is not the first time the budget has been in a crunch. Just because the budget was "balanced" doesn't mean the former mayor didn't spend too money on payroll, pet projects, etc. A budget for the future assumes an amount of revenue. How do you know whether sales tax revenue and property tax revenue has continued as the budget assumed it would. The only way to really analize this would be to look at last years actual expenditures and this year's budget. Having the budget balanced last July doesn't mean any mayor would not have had to made reductions in key areas. In other words, Johnson himself could have been planning to cut back on spending after the election. I do not believe the current mayor is completely to blame for the budget shortage; although he has made some dubious personnel decisions in terms of salaries. I guess I just assumed this blog was trying to be balanced and it often seems to me no one is looking at the complete picture or trying to look at all of the facts.

Author

realtime

Date

2006-02-27T16:46:22-06:00

ID

65364

Comment

realtime, I think "attack" is a strong word here. I think "challenge" is more like it. The truth is, firefighter came on here with accusations about the former administration that sound like attempts to deflect criticism from the current administration -- which is the one with the severe budget problems, it seems. People here are happy to look at all of the facts, but they need to be actually presented. Don't confuse facts with accusations.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-27T17:02:49-06:00

ID

65365

Comment

OK, here's a combination "Better late than never" and "Bad journalism alert": The Clarion-Ledger finally noticed today what Adam told all y'all about last week: that the city is making across-the-board cuts, including to fire and police, because the budget is in such a mess. The Ledge finally followed up with a short piece: City of Jackson finance officials are working with department heads to reduce their current budgets. Mayor Frank Melton has ordered each department to cut its budget by 5 percent, except for police, which is to cut its budget by 2.5 percent. “When I was elected in July, I inherited a $6 million shortfall,” Melton said. “So I’m making up for that with cut backs.” Read that last quote again. Did The Clarion-Ledger see fit to friggin' factcheck that quote about the "$6 million shortfall"? Have they not taught their reporters that you even factcheck what is in quotes? (Apparently not; examples of this grave error in journalism abounds in that paper; they even did it to me once when they quoted Mr. Melton saying that my story about his troubles with Jimmy Wilson, and the allegations against him, came from the mayor's camp -- when, in fact, it came straight from Mr. Melton's mouth. At least they ran my letter saying they were wrong, but no correction, of course. But, I digress.) But we will factcheck this on behalf of the Ledge, including getting a quote from the past administration, which they should have at least tried to do. I tell you, though: I am getting damn tired of doing this newspapers' job for them.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-28T14:11:38-06:00

ID

65366

Comment

Oh, and we'll Truthwatch this one, just to pile on about how bad that paper is.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-02-28T14:12:09-06:00

ID

65367

Comment

Now, WLBT is on the budget problem. Finally. Kind of. Mayor Frank Melton wants all departments to cut city spending. This will include overtime pay, employee travel, eliminate vacant positions, and limit the number of cars employees take home. Right now, Jackson is facing a $6 million shortfall. To offset the cut, the city plans to increase permit and license fees.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-03-01T19:18:11-06:00

ID

65368

Comment

Just saw that the Associated Press followed our story on the budget mess on March 1. Interesting that they don't address what condition to budget was in when Mr. Melton took office. Gotta love all this balanced journalism. An excerpt: Jackson Mayor Frank Melton has ordered every city department to cut its budget by 5 percent this fiscal year. Last month, Melton told department heads to eliminate overtime, decrease the number of take-home vehicles and employee travel, leave vacant positions unfilled and reduce usage of city cell phones and pagers. Melton ordered the police department to cut 2.5 percent off its budget. "I'm tightening everything down," he said. The city faces a $6 million shortfall, which includes increases in the cost of utilities, fuel and employee health insurance. The city also is looking to raise revenue through increasing service, permit and license fees. City Council President Marshand Crisler said if Melton realized there was a shortfall, he should have addressed it in September.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2006-03-03T17:43:53-06:00

ID

65369

Comment

Last month, Melton told department heads to eliminate overtime, decrease the number of take-home vehicles and employee travel, leave vacant positions unfilled and reduce usage of city cell phones and pagers. This is so sad. I truly feel sorry for city employees. It seems like the administration expects them to work twice as hard at half the capacity. How can you expect them to function with limited resources and have someone breathing down your neck at the same time? The city already had kinks to work out to begin with, and this will only make it worse. The morale downtown must be plummeting by now. I expect to see an increase in resignations and therapy sessions after this. I'm not just saying this. Similar circumstances have happened to me, and the stress nearly killed me. City employees, you have my sympathy...

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-03-04T02:04:37-06:00

ID

65370

Comment

Oh, just thought about something. Whatever happened to the unionization of the city employees? Has the CWA had anything to say about all this?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-03-04T02:06:30-06:00