Jackson Free Press

If you're looking for weirdness, Jackson, Miss, is your place. Where else can you find a mayor who can destroy private property with a jury's blessing? Here in Jackson, we don't piddle about with exhaustive searches for a decent police chief—we just snap up the county sheriff to do the job. Need some legal troubles? Try some of our state's most successful lawyers—we've got plenty.

Here's the year in review:

Jan. 5. The city of Jackson files a motion to reverse Judge William Singletary's decision to allow the residents of Byram to incorporate, arguing that the city will be landlocked and unable to grow if Byram completes the circle of municipalities surrounding Jackson.

Jan. 8. Issues regarding the administration's secrecy come to a boil during a Jackson City Council meeting when the public works deputy city attorney advises the council to go into executive session over something as trivial as re-negotiating a contract for equipment rental.

Jan. 9. Attorney General Jim Hood says he would be willing to settle a multi-million dollar lawsuit he filed against insurance companies State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Farm Bureau and USAA if the companies would come to the table and negotiate. Hood filed a civil suit Sept. 2005 on behalf of policyholders saying they'd been bilked out of hurricane compensation by companies' fine print.

Jan. 22. Jackson Mayor Frank Melton announces he will have heart surgery in Tyler, Texas, to treat congestive heart failure. Days after getting his chest cracked open, reporters see Melton walking about normally behind the gates of his north Jackson home. He soon shows the scars on WLBT to quell rumors.

Feb. 1. City Council bickers over Melton's decision to appoint city Chief Administrative Officer Robert Walker to temporarily oversee the city while Melton allegedly runs off to surgery. Council members say Melton skirted the law in appointing a non-elected person to fill his space.

Feb. 8. Fresh out of surgery and looking for trouble, Melton proposes forming a new city division so he can move henchman Charles Melvin to the city's department of parks. Melton initially proposes replacing City Parks Director Ramie Ford with Melvin, but council outrage pushes the mayor to propose the new division, to give Ford a new home so Melvin can move into Ramie's old spot.

Feb. 8. An infuriated council considers pulling funding for the city legal department after Melton orders city lawyers to withhold legal advice to the council on Melton's hair-brained decision to form a new city division. "If they work just for the mayor, then let him pay them," Councilman Marshand Crisler says.

Feb. 11. Melton and 20 members of the Jackson Police Department storm the Upper Level Club and close it as a potential fire hazard. This late-night venture will later prove to be a violation of Melton's bond and probation terms for gun violations and the alleged destruction of a home on Ridgeway Street.

Feb. 19. City Council reveals its impatience over former Police Chief Shirlene Anderson's inability to present a crime plan for the city. Anderson expresses confusion, saying she'd expected to present a plan on a proposed misdemeanor jail.

March 1. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denies several motions, including a motion to dismiss all charges, from lawyers representing James Ford Seale, the 71-year-old Klansman held in federal custody for his role in the 1964 murders of Charles Moore and Henry Dee.

March 1. Melton hastily checks himself into St. Dominic's Hospital at the same time that Circuit Court Judge Tomie Green issues a warrant for his arrest for numerous probation violations, including participating in the Feb. 10 raid of the Upper Level Club.

March 8. Mississippi Supreme Court vacates the arrest warrant for Melton and removes Judge Green from supervising his probation. After hiding out in St. Dominic's for days, Melton only spends one night in Hinds County Jail.

March 19. City Parks Director Ramie Ford finally abandons the city and takes a job with the state weeks after Melton arbitrarily shuffles the accomplished director off to a bogus division.

March 20. The Senate fails to revive a bill that would have lowered the state's tax on groceries and raised the state's tax on tobacco products to $1 a pack. Legislators say former tobacco lobbyist Gov. Haley Barbour instructed Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Robertson to kill the bill in his committee.

March 22. U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate denies a motion from James Ford Seale's attorneys to recuse himself and U.S. Magistrate Judge Linda Anderson from the Moore/Dee murder case.

March 27. The U.S. Marshal Fugitive Task Force arrests Evans Welch, the occupant of a Ridgeway home destroyed by Melton in front of witnesses. Welch's arrest has no connection to the Melton Ridgeway incident.

April 2. Department of Administration Director Rick Hill tells the Jackson City Council that the city is facing a $4.3 million shortfall due to lost revenue and cost overruns, such as overtime in the police and fire departments.

April 9. The Jackson City Council rejects Todd Chandler as chief of the Jackson Fire Department. Melton, who appointed Chandler about a year ago, says Chandler will remain interim fire chief after the council's rejection.

April 16. The Hinds County Board of Supervisors authorizes the design of a $12.9 million parking garage proposed by Supervisor Doug Anderson and designed by his son-in-law's architectural firm, M3A Architects. Anderson explains that William McElroy is no longer his son-in-law.

April 23. Council members tell the Jackson Free Press that Melton's Chief of Staff Marcus Ward threatened Jackson School Board member Jonathan Larkin's re-appointment to the board if Larkin does not approve a JPS bond project bid for a company supported by Melton.

April 26. A Hinds County jury acquits Melton and his two bodyguards, Michael Recio and Marcus Wright, of all 11 charges they collectively faced for demolishing a Ridgeway Street duplex. None of the defendants deny destroying the building during trial.

May 3. The Jackson Free Press reports that crime soared in 2006 under Melton, based upon monthly Uniform Crime Reports.

May 7. City Council refuses to confirm Charles Melvin as Parks and Recreation director, saying he could not answer the most basic questions about the department.

May 11. Melton submits a memorandum to council members requesting they withdraw JPS board member Jonathan Larkin for re-appointment, weeks after the city chief of staff allegedly threatened to pull Larkin's re-appointment if he did not vote for a particular bond manager in the $150 million bond project.

May 14. Melton announces a demolition blitz in the Farish Street area, vowing to remove pallet-recycling company A-1 Pallet by the end of the year. A-1 Pallet Company later files a restraining order against the city to prevent arbitrary demolition similar to the mayor's fine work on Ridgeway Street.

May 22. City CAO Robert Walker informs the council that rejected Parks Director Charles Melvin is still running the department out of the CAO's office, as an assistant CAO.

May 22. Four city council members hold a vote of no confidence for City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans in response to her Feb. 8 refusal to offer legal advice to the council upon the order of the mayor.

June 9. An assailant robs Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon and her husband with a sawed-off shotgun at their Belhaven home.

June 11. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood announces he is suing State Farm for violating terms spelled out in a Jan. 23 settlement agreement.

June 14. A federal jury convicts reputed Klansman James Ford Seale of kidnapping and conspiracy in the 1964 deaths of two black teenagers in southwest Mississippi.

June 22. City Council President Ben Allen retires from the council citing health reasons, prompting a special election for Ward 1.

July 2. Council votes to confirm Assistant Chief Vernon Hughes as the new fire chief.

July 7. Jackson Advocate Publisher Charles Tisdale, 80, dies of respiratory failure.

July 11. The Southern Poverty Law Center alleges abuse of teen girls at Columbia Training School in a lawsuit filed in federal court.

July 31. The Jackson City Council approves an ordinance change that would waive building, construction and connection fees to certain developments in the city's Central Business District. The ordinance is designed to encourage development, but could potentially cost the city hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Aug. 7 None of the three candidates in the race for Hinds County district attorney captures enough votes to win the election, resulting in a run-off election between incumbent Faye Peterson and Democratic challenger Robert Smith.

Aug. 21. Sheriff Malcolm McMillin endorses Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson over challenger Robert Smith on the basis of Melton's connection with Smith. "If Frank Melton is in support of a candidate, I'm against them," McMillin says.

Aug. 27. The council votes against a plan to re-finance the city's debt to fill budget holes, saying the re-financing would cost the city almost $7 million in higher interest rates.

Aug. 28. Democratic challenger Robert Smith wins the run-off against incumbent Faye Peterson for Hinds County district attorney.

Aug. 29. Mississippi Supreme Court finally decides to appoint a special judge to assist Hinds County with its case backlog, dating back to Ed Peters' tenure, less than 24 hours after District Attorney-elect Robert Smith wins the Hinds County run-off.

Sept. 6. JPS Superintendent Earl Watkins announces Poindexter Elementary School's climb to Level 5 status.

Sept. 11. George Bell III turns himself in to police for allegedly raping and then beating his girlfriend Heather Spencer to death with a flashlight in his mother's house.

Sept. 14. JPS settles former Chastain Middle School Principal Michael Ellis' sexual harassment lawsuit against Superintendent Earl Watkins. A document obtained by The Clarion-Ledger says the district pays Michael and Rachel Ellis $350,000 on Sept. 27. The board maintains Watkins' innocence.

Sept. 17. Henry Phillips allegedly shoots Jackson resident Doris Shavers in the head in front of her daughter, killing her. The shooting happens moments after Jackson police neglect to remove Phillips' guns after two disturbance calls from Shavers' family.

Sept. 21. After months of battle, the city zoning committee approves a zone change that will allow the development of Livingston Village, a $75 million mixed use neighborhood near the Jackson Medical Mall.

Oct. 2. The City Council votes to raid $3 million from the city's $7 million budget reserve fund to fix a lingering hole in the 2007 budget.

Oct. 4. Melton promotes bodyguard Michael Recio to assistant chief, despite Recio's certification only as a patrol officer. Members of the local police union are outraged.

Oct. 15. The Jackson City Council blocks a pay raise for Recio that Melton would have financed through a budget transfer from the city's drug-forfeiture fund.

Oct. 29. Former Parchman inmate Cedric Willis announces that he is suing the city of Jackson, JPD and four police officers—former and current—for $36 million, alleging he was wrongfully arrested and prosecuted, and that Jackson police officers conducted an improper investigation.

Nov. 1. The city of Jackson racks up its first $266,000 monthly deficit as a result of Melton's refusal to follow through with his own fee increases. Melton submits, but then ignores, a proposed 5 percent sewer-fee increase and a 10 percent water-fee increase.

Nov. 7. State elections sweep Republicans into all but one statewide office, but bolster the number of progressive and pro-education legislators in both the House and Senate.

Nov. 13 Jackson State University Student Latasha Norman comes up missing. Her car is still on campus.

Nov. 14. Melton announces he is removing Police Chief Shirlene Anderson from office.

Nov. 16. Melton appoints Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin as police chief, months after McMillin vocally opposed the mayor's tampering with the Hinds County Sheriff's race.

Nov. 26. George Bell III pleads not guilty in Jackson Municipal Court for the rape and murder of Heather Spencer.

Nov. 26. U.S. Sen. Trent Lott announces he is resigning from office by the end of the year, apparently trying to duck out before a new Congressional rule kicks in barring senators from becoming lobbyists for years after their final term.

Nov. 28. Sen. Lott's brother-in-law, attorney Dickie Scruggs, is indicted with other attorneys for trying to bribe a judge.

Nov. 29. Police recover the body of Latasha Norman after her boyfriend Stanley Cole leads police to the body.

Dec. 1. A Fondren antiques dealer miraculously survives a shooting during a robbery. The assailant's bullet, aimed at business owner Donnie Register's head, bounces off his wedding ring, instead doing damage to his neck and ear.

Dec. 7. Police nab suspect Michael Allen in the Donnie Register shooting.

Dec. 10. The Jackson City Council confirms McMillin as the city's new chief of police. It is the first time Jackson's history that a county sheriff has held the city police chief's office while still acting as sheriff.

Dec. 18. District 71 Republican Rep. John Reeves loses to Democratic challenger Adrienne Wooten for the second time after the Hinds County Election committee schedules a re-vote due to election problems in November.

Previous Comments

ID

82158

Comment

Wow, reading that recap made my head spin. May 2008 be a good one...

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-12-26T21:00:12-06:00

ID

82159

Comment

Mine too, L.W. In fact, I had forgotten about a few of the items. As for 2008, can it be any worse than '07? Oops! I forgot. Melton will still be in office. {Lord, give us strength!}

Author

Kacy

Date

2007-12-26T22:51:44-06:00