Jackson Free Press

A May 30 council discussion item dealt directly with the living situation of Mary Johnson.

"If we don't take care of this soon, the situation will just linger and draw attention," said Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon. "We need to take care of this quickly. It's been going on too long as it is."

Johnson, 68, says she agreed in January to let the city tear down her dilapidated home on Rose Street in West Jackson, only after Mayor Melton personally promised that he would help her build a new one.

Since that time, Johnson has been living across the street in an apartment offered by West Jackson CDC, which charges her $500 a month. She said she couldn't afford even that amount on her fixed retirement income, and has managed to keep her apartment only through the generosity of others.

Independent contractor Dennis Warren initially worked with Melton in tearing down Johnson's house, but has since broken ties with Melton, saying the mayor has not stuck to his part of the deal.

Melton, after denying that he had made Johnson that promise, later said he would pay her rent and build her home, but only if she severed ties with Warren.

Quality of Life Director Goldia Revies said Warren's reputation in the contracting field made businesses leery of donating supplies and labor.

"Because of information that has reached us regarding his reputation, they've stated that they cannot get involved in a project where this person is already reputed for things not acceptable in the construction industry," Revies said.

Warren was convicted of false pretense, a felony, almost 10 years ago, and an Attala County Circuit Court Judge ruled against Warren in a suit for walking out on a contract after getting paid.

Warren has been working with Johnson to rebuild her home since January, however, and has so far managed to build Johnson a foundation from donated supplies, despite not being a licensed contractor.

"All we need is about $15,000," Warren said. "I've already got the supplies. Look, at this point, all we want is for the mayor to get out of the way and quit bringing us bad press. We'd have more donors, but they're getting run off by the bad things he's saying about me."

Revies said donors would not be interested in working on the project so long as Warren is involved.

When asked why donors could not work around or supersede Warren to build the house anyway, Revies could not answer, and she would not give names of prospective donors who refused to work with Warren.

"We're still trying to talk and come to some kind of agreement, so we would rather not (name them). I would rather not reveal those at this moment, but we hope to get some closure of this in the next 10 days," Revies said.

Council President Marshand Crisler said if the city indicated it would build Johnson a new house, then the city needed to be a better steward of its commitments.

"We need to come to some sort of resolution, but right now all we have is a lot of finger pointing going on," Crisler said.