Jackson Free Press

Web Exclusive

Before the holidays, Council President Ben Allen set out a number of goals he said City Council would pursue in January, with the hope of making substantial progress by February. Where do things stand now?

Has there been any development in the resolution of City Attorney O'Reilly-Evans' contract?

Yes. We got an opinion from the AG yesterday concerning the entire matter and other issues involving it, and we've sent that opinion to our (council's) attorneys for review. I expect to have a meeting within 10 days with them.

Do you think it's something the city attorney will be happy with?

It's a pretty voluminous response, and it is written in legalese. I can't comment on it because (it needs a little translation). I need to wait to hear what our attorneys say before I speak on it.

Completing the city's Web site—has there been any work on that over the last few weeks?

Yes, but we're not pleased at all with what is transpiring. City staff and our policy analyst, Sara Bentley, had a meeting last week to go over the shortcomings in this system. I feel like we have wasted $25,000 on the original person, on the original contract. Where we are, right now, is ridiculous.

How long ago was that contract made?

That contract is over a year old. This young man, we have told him very simply: Go to the city of Mobile (Alabama) and look at their Web site. That is what we want. But what we've gotten is trash—it's just simplistic. It's no better than what we had before. This will be back on the agenda in two weeks, to see what the follow-up has been with the city staff meeting and where the people that are taking the project from this point forward.

Tell me about development on the confirmation of Interim Fire Chief Todd Chandler. Is the council still waiting for the mayor to bring him up for a confirmation after more than a year?

Here was what we've been waiting on over this: There has been a lawsuit filed, and appealed to the Supreme Court, by the city of Hattiesburg on this same kind of issue. We've had contact with those within the Supreme Court and been informed that this case will not be on a fast track and that we're wasting our time waiting on them. … My fear is that if we file for a writ of mandamus (to force the mayor to bring up Chandler for a vote) it's going to go the same long, drawn-out route as the case in Hattiesburg. Am I making sense?

(Ed. Note: Last May, three Hattiesburg City Council members—Carroll Kim Bradley, C. E. "Red" Bailey and Carter Carroll—filed a suit in Forrest County Circuit Court asking the judge to order Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree to submit Police Chief David Wynn, Chief Administrative Officer Beverly Commodore and other department heads before the council for confirmation. The Hattiesburg council approved a resolution and got an opinion from AG Jim Hood saying enough time has passed since DuPree was inaugurated. DuPree still has not submitted the names of his appointees for confirmation.)

But here's the deal: Every time it seems we're going to get a commitment from the mayor something pops up and the process is derailed, such as (Mayor Melton's Ridgeway Street indictment). Now we got Frank, who's gotten real sick—and the reason I said the indictment the first time is some of the smart-asses on the (JFP) blog over there didn't understand what I was talking about (laughs). What I was talking about was we (the council) had an arrangement and a deal with Frank, and it collapsed when this indictment came up. Chandler flew way down on the mayor's list of stuff to worry about after that.

But this is not a dead issue. Depending on how this thing goes with the mayor over the course of the next few weeks, but hopefully we'll have an issue where we can bring this forward. Now we're also getting legal advice on this issue. Here's why: There are some members of the council who are eager to go ahead and file this writ of mandamus, hoping that the city of Jackson piggybacks on the city of Hattiesburg, which will light a fire under the Supreme Court to fast track this thing. The reason we feel like it's important is not because of Todd Chandler. Todd Chandler just happens to be there. But this has got to be cleared in case law for the benefit of the state of Mississippi. There are people in cities all over the state who are going through this same gray area that we are.

One thing of note: it does not take a vote from the city council to file a writ of mandamus. One council person can file for this writ, and I've told every one of the council people to file for it if they want to. It doesn't take a 4-3 vote.

Has anybody come to any kind of agreement on the Airport Parkway vs LeFleur Lakes Project?

We've agreed to a series of meetings, if they are necessary. I say 'if they are necessary' because right now, the Airport Parkway has not been funded. The Appropriations are not there and it's not going to happen until that appropriation happens.

We had a real impetus in getting this thing resolved. We set up an ad hoc committee to help us wade through hearings that will be held throughout February. On it, you've got Bud Robinson, former chairman of AmSouth Bank, JSU President Ronald Mason Jr.; we've invited Fred Banks to be a member, Tim Medly, Ellen Leek, Judge Robert Gibbs and Dr. Bill Cooley. They are disinterested parties with absolutely no ties whatsoever to either side of this issue. And we'll be asking for community input if we have to go through these hearings.

And any day now, the Army Corps of Engineers' (environmental impact) report could be turned in to the levee board, the Rankin/Hinds Flood Control District. We thought, at one time, that we had a gun at our head to act on this, but since that time we've had a change in Congress, we've had all congressional appropriations earmarks erased, so nothing's going to happen on this Airport Parkway.

What about the designers who said they had completed about 95 percent of the planning? Won't they get mad if the council pulls support after all their work?

Well, we don't want to make anybody mad, but what we would be killing is nothing because no money has been appropriated.

What of the misdemeanor jail?

We got three or four proposals. Right now some of the supervisors and some people around the city are having meetings about funding the current Hinds County detention center to add the additional 132 beds, authorized by the supervisors four years ago. What held that up was (prisoners' rights attorney) Ron Welch required the recreation area be enlarged. The bunks, the blankets, the toothbrushes and everything was purchased, except the funding to increase the recreation area and the funding to increase the staffing was never allotted.

The supervisors are having a special meeting Monday Morning at 9 a.m. to vote on enlarging that facility based on them being able to work out reasonable fund sharing with the city of Jackson.

Now we've also got the possibility, which Chief Anderson is interested in pursuing, in converting the maximum-security detention center. We toured it not too long ago. The facility holds 82 cells. There were only 24 juveniles there at the time. The facility will accommodate two people per cell, so you have the capability out there to have 164 adults. Now the problem is that adults cannot be within sight or sound of kids. They would take some construction, plus (the route from) the adult wing to the recreational center would have to be changed. The other possibility is that there are jail companies that will come in and bring a pre-fabricated jail for a city and rent them to you for a specified length of time.

They brought one by city council for all of us to see.

Has Anderson come around yet with that crime plan or a recruitment strategy?

No, but we are on that. Our plate is so full that we are meeting all day, every single day. People get mad at us, but it ain't that (the council is) sitting on our butts. It's just that we're putting a finger in a dike and another finger in a dike. The chief is focused on this jail issue. The recruitment issue is something that we're all focused on, but recruitment is a function of money. Police officers right now make less money than I do working part-time at the City Council.

Yes, we do want her crime plan, but the problem we've got is that the mayor is sick. How do you put it? That doesn't read well. But how do you put pressure on her if she works for (Melton), but it's been one different issue after another with him.

You're saying the mayor needs to be a willing party in this?

Yes, and I think he will eventually be a willing party. What we want to do is if the chief doesn't come up with a plan, then (the council) need(s) to come up with one—kind of like how the governor comes forth with a budget for the legislature to either adopt or ignore.

Have you guys got that kind of time on your hands?

Well, everything is a function of the budget. We can come out with all types of recruitment plans we want to, but they can't be implemented for nine months because we've already got the budget set. We've got a window here on this recruitment thing with regards to COP grants and other type things.

The county is not going to be able to fully fund 132 beds up there by themselves. They don't have the money. They're going to come to us and say, 'We can pay this, can you guys pay that much?' We're going to look at the budget, and we'll get with Rick Hill, the finance guy, and say, 'Rick, we've budgeted for 500 cops, we've got 430 on the budget, can we squeeze the salaries of 30 people, a $100,000 to help the county fund this jail?' But if you have a drastic change in police pay or recruitment, or bonuses, it has to be done during the budget process.

As far as the crime plan … the public demands a crime plan. My ward is getting slaughtered with crime.

Is the council still pursuing relaxing the residency requirements for police officers trying to get jobs with the city?

We're pursuing that. We'd like for public safety employees not to be required to live within Hinds County. They could live 30 miles outside the county. We're pushing for this because we're in a crisis. We cannot get enough policemen. If we relax this rule it will last for a two-year period and then sunset. But right now, we can't even get enough officers to apply.

Do a majority of council members agree with this?

I don't know if a majority of councilors agree with it, but I would think they would.

Is there anything the press hasn't been talking about that it needs to?

Yeah, we got a big meeting on Monday dealing with the upgrading of the Metrocenter. If we're able to do it, it'll be a bold step. It'll guarantee some major tenants out at the Metrocenter.
This will be controversial, but we're going to have to pretty much deplete our Community Development Block Grants façade grants for a year—about $250,000 is our portion—to upgrade that whole area out there and get it to where some major manufacturers will come in.

What of the other potential benefactors of the CDBG façade money for that year?

Well, we're talking about 800 or 900 jobs out at the Metrocenter. We're going to lose it if we don't do something. It'll become like the Mall of Memphis—a state of the art building that got bulldozed last year. We don't want that.

This story has been corrected since it was first posted.

Previous Comments

ID

91147

Comment

Okay, I like what it sounds like they're about to do with the Metro--with the King Edward and Farish Street renovations on the way, this is probably the next logical thing to do. I don't think that officers should need to be Jackson residents unless and until we have an easy surplus. But I don't understand why they shelled out $25,000 for a web site (I've designed a few for free; maybe I'm in the wrong line of work!), and I don't think the City Council should be doing the crime plan by default just because the mayor doesn't consider it a priority, and the misdemeanor jail is still a cheesy idea because misdemeanor jails are generally glorified debtors' prisons (we already imprison 2.4 million people in this country; the answer to our crime problem is not "Let's round up everybody who hasn't paid their parking tickets and get them off the streets!"). Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-31T14:46:35-06:00

ID

91148

Comment

"I don't think that officers should need to be Jackson residents unless and until we have an easy surplus. " Ditto, but I think Allen has given us plenty of time to do that with his proposal of two years. If we raise their salary to be hire than the surrounding communities they'll move in after the two years to make sure they keep their job. I love the idea with Metrocenter, but $250,000 is alot of money. I only hope and wonder if there will be matching money from a public or private entity. We need a misdemeanor jail, but I think what would do us more justice in this country would be sentencing requiring work hours whether they are hard labor or some sort of community service.

Author

optimisticaboutNewJackCity

Date

2007-01-31T17:26:34-06:00

ID

91149

Comment

To make sure everyone knows.... I do care about prisoner rehabilitation and I believe that this should be a big part of our justice system also especially when it deals with drug addicts and the uneducated unemployed.

Author

optimisticaboutNewJackCity

Date

2007-01-31T17:29:42-06:00

ID

91150

Comment

Tom, for $25,000, the city's site should be bustling with information and have a far more modern look. As it is, if it's reflecting the current work paid for, it's about a $250 job. High school students can design better. The page contains NO meta data (a standard for all pages), zero style sheets (another standard these days), was created in FrontPage (a sure sign it's not a professional developer or even a freelance newbie), no ALT tags (for blind browsers), no DocType... I could go on. If the work of the $25,000 contract is what's live and visible, the city should demand it's money back. It should also look into if the site is compliant with government standards.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-01-31T18:17:07-06:00

ID

91151

Comment

"That contract is over a year old. This young man, we have told him very simply: Go to the city of Mobile (Alabama) and look at their Web site. That is what we want." - Allen Let's set our goals a little higher! The code behind Mobile's site is still poor and does not degrade easily. It's also not very compliant and accessible. As a government entity, the city's site should be accessible via mobile, modern and old browsers, and browsers for those with impaired sight. Should be priority!

Author

kaust

Date

2007-01-31T18:26:15-06:00

ID

91152

Comment

I am embarrassed to read this. Every time it seems we’re going to get a commitment from the mayor something pops up and the process is derailed, such as (Mayor Melton’s Ridgeway Street indictment). Now we got Frank, who’s gotten real sick—and the reason I said the indictment the first time is some of the smart-asses on the (JFP) blog over there didn’t understand what I was talking about (laughs). What I was talking about was we (the council) had an arrangement and a deal with Frank, and it collapsed when this indictment came up. Chandler flew way down on the mayor’s list of stuff to worry about after that. An arrangement? A deal? Is this a local government or the mafia? It's that darn houses fault that we can't do our jobs. And the bloggers! ;-)

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-01-31T19:02:25-06:00

ID

91153

Comment

If we don't understand, it's because someone in Government isn't communicating that often, or clearly. ...and the Chief still has no plan to fight crime; but we now know she's Frank's Girl. Gotcha.

Author

Ironghost

Date

2007-01-31T19:35:38-06:00

ID

91154

Comment

Lol, I still get a chuckle off the fact that their "brilliant" web designer after nearly two years still has Harvey Johnson's name and likeness on the page explaining how to file for building/land development permits.

Author

Jeff Lucas

Date

2007-01-31T20:19:42-06:00

ID

91155

Comment

Knol, well said. If the city paid $25,000 for that piece of junk, they really should demand a refund--and I think we as taxpayers are entitled to know how the decision was made to contract with the person who designed that web site. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-01-31T21:20:27-06:00

ID

91156

Comment

Kim Wade had the guys onhis show who run the company that was supposed to redesign the website. Talked a big game. I think that other papers did a story too? I thought the company was Red Laser Tech?

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-01-31T21:49:30-06:00

ID

91157

Comment

Ta Da! I knew some paper had written a story about the website.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-01-31T21:57:53-06:00

ID

91158

Comment

screw all dat, when can I pay my water bill online? yeesh.

Author

Kingfish

Date

2007-01-31T22:17:34-06:00

ID

91159

Comment

THIS STORY IS FALSE !!!! 1. The site displayed is NOT the site designed by redlaser has NOT be displayed by city officials for whatever reason. The website that is being shown was created by CITY IT STAFF, NOT REDLASER. Someone downtown wishes to discredit Redlaser by showing work done by CITY STAFF. That website was NOT the website Redlaser designed 2. The website has NOT been in development for 2 years. It was awarded by the MELTON administration, if you can add that is not 2 years. The website production began in May 2006 and ended in November 2006. Everything beyond that point was extra information that the City wanted beyond the scope of the project, free work delivered by Redlaser. 4. Ben Allen is either IGNORANT or a LIAR. I opt for LIAR because he is a KNOWN advocate of a Redlaser competitor. 5. The racist hate mail, unwarranted racist hate mail sent to Redlaser is a direct reflection of Jackson's False printing press, Jackson's uniformed government officials, and the ignorance of many nazi flag carrying Jackson citizens who cant wait to use the "N" word. This is truly sad.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T10:13:37-06:00

ID

91160

Comment

and no, I did not skip 3, I deleted it

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T10:14:29-06:00

ID

91161

Comment

Well, if for $25,000 the citizens cannot even get a preview of the webpage then something is amiss. If for $25,000 Redlaser cannot at least update and provide a bit of dialog that a new webpage is coming on the existing page, then we are wasting money. All I know is that you can create a damn good site for far less than $25,000. Let's face it, Redlaser is not delivering the goods. If you got a page to post so we can review it, please do so. But, to call the councilman a liar without letting the readers "see" the product we paid for does nothing for your emotional argument. I'm going with the City on this one...

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T10:22:49-06:00

ID

91162

Comment

A demo of Redlaser's work for the city can be found at www.cityofjacksonms.org Its sad that it came to this ignorance. People should think, research, and then write or respond. The press should have done thier research first before writing a false story.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T10:24:38-06:00

ID

91163

Comment

Is this the webpage that Relaser was beginning to design?

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T10:26:13-06:00

ID

91164

Comment

Pike, 1. The amount stated of $25,000 was not true, it was a generalization. 2. A demo was was available in July, 2006 A demo is available at www.cityofjacksonms.org

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T10:29:06-06:00

ID

91165

Comment

NO coj-mbed.com is a 3 to 4 year old database of Minority Vendors, it is NOT the city's website.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T10:30:24-06:00

ID

91166

Comment

Well, that is a much better page then the one we have. However, it has some bad grammatical errors (i.e the mayors bio), and is quite biased. In the "History of Jackson" page they boast about how in the 80's Jackson went to a mayor-council form of government. Then the next paragraph skips ahead to 2005 where "Jackson voters overwhelmingly elected Frank Melton as Mayor in his first bid to elective office." WOW! I missed the part where the citizens elected it's "first black mayor" Harvey Johnson. Regardless of your like or dislike for him, that is a big part of Jackson's history. Much more so then the "second black mayor" Frank Melton. However, if you are an employee Redlaser, then the City should pull your contract for publicly lashing out at our City leaders on a public forum. Just how I see it. It's been almost a year since the contract was let, and this is all we got to show for it. In fact, the more I read it the more errors and plain marketing/editorial oversight I find. I think this mirrors the type of work we are getting out of the Melton administration, and some of the council.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T10:43:35-06:00

ID

91167

Comment

Its sad that it came to this ignorance. People should think, research, and then write or respond. The press should have done their research first before writing a false story. If you don't tell the press what you are doing, they cannot write about it. Typical Meltonian tactics. Over promise, over hype, under deliver - blame others! That darn house!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T10:47:44-06:00

ID

91168

Comment

I missed the part in Frank's bio where he was "first mayor indicted by a grand jury in Hinds co.!" Also, no mention that he came from TX and still owns his main home there. Even the mentioning of his family doesn't say they live in TX. Anyone want to do a fact check on Meltons bio page? Word is he flat out lied on his resume during the election, and it was unchallenged by the clarion ledger reporter.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T10:53:05-06:00

ID

91169

Comment

dmj, I'm not sure you're doing a great job making your case. Instead of blaming everyone and his brother (you start your post with THIS STORY IS FALSE, but the story only has one four-line answer from a Ben Allen that is even about the website), then why don't you *tell us* what's going on with the site and what your side of the story is? Or, better yet, call Adam and let him interview you. 601.362.6121 and listen for his extension number. The demo looks nice, even if I disagree with linking to a coupon site for the "entertainment" listings...oh...and the Jackson Free Press would look very nice there on the "News and Media" page, seeing as how we're the city's largest weekly. Slide us under Newspapers...thank you. So, that brings us to the question...why hasn't the city moved forward on this? What's the hold-up?

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2007-02-01T10:55:40-06:00

ID

91170

Comment

Pike, I am a FORMER Redlaser contractor, I left to take a fulltime job elsewhere. I was there until Late 2006. So, I have the right to say whatever I want, especially if the situation is vastly unfair. As an ex contractor, I still get listed email on old projects, therefore I saw the hatemail this morning and was upset by it. Also, jackson controls content i.e. history information, not Redlaser. Maybe they didnt release the website BECAUSE the 200+ pages of content had not been revised. I dont care, thats not my problem. Im only defending who I felt to be the underdog in an unfair dogfight. if you want to contact me or are interested in any information, I will email you. I dont know the entire story, but I know ENOUGH to know that this was a completely unfair issue, and knowing that, and waking up to find race an email box full or racism and ignorance is amazing, I can only imaging what it will be like for them.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T11:01:08-06:00

ID

91171

Comment

Check out the "new version" of crime statistics. Hey, at least they are from last week!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T11:01:53-06:00

ID

91172

Comment

and waking up to find race an email box full or racism and ignorance is amazing, I can only imaging what it will be like for them. I don't know why a bunch of yahoo's would lash out at redlaser; but, they are stupid if so. However, even sadder is that those "racists" are the same dip wads that felt Melton would do a better job in locking up them "thugs."

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T11:12:00-06:00

ID

91173

Comment

While I'm willing to admit the demo site is leaps and bounds above the current site, the code under the hood is still as bad and not geared towards the future of the Internet. It may work in most browsers at the moment but it's not up-to-par with current standards. I'll be anal about it and go further... The new layout is table-based which is a very out-dated, and amateur method for layout development. Tables prevent easy degradation. The ID tags are re-used throughout the code which is sloppy at best. No ALT tags used for images -- MOST IMPORTANTLY THE MAIN NAVIGATION (assume a blind person accesses the site... This means they'd have no way to read the main navigation). Speaking of images, many of the navigational menus are image-based and therefore the words cannot be indexed by search engines. Lots of proposed links in the demo jump to new sites in the current browser without notification of launching a new site (not cool to redirect someone to the Hinds County site without notification). Specific fonts used with no alternatives specified (and within the code rather than a stylesheet). Poorly coded forms with no action declarations. Use of non-SGML characters. Tags opened and closed improperly. Doctype declared within a paragraph tag (probably one of the messiest things I've seen in a page in a long time). Doctype states the page is XHTML 1.0 transitional but doesn't even validate as HTML 4.0. Multiple head tags and body tags declared (sloppy)... Seriously, I could go on. $25,000? For $25,000, the city should have - at the very least - a CSS-based website conforming to the W3C's basic standards (minimum), using a table-less layout (for easy degradation in older browsers, non-compliant browsers, and browsers for the visually impaired), strict XHTML compliance, and 508 compliance (as a government entity).

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T11:21:55-06:00

ID

91174

Comment

djm, I just wanted you to know I am not lashing out at you per say. I think it is well blogged that the lack of a good city website is one of my pet peeves. I think that it was shameful of Melton's administration to make some half-assed updates of the mayor; and then, not even update or delete the news page! Whether we have a page in production or not, the current webpage is what visitors to our City see. I am very happy to see a much better version is almost ready. It really is an improvement. I think the Melton administration needs to really edit what is being put out on the website. This website is not for King Melton, it is for Jackson.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T11:28:11-06:00

ID

91175

Comment

hey dmj, I think a lot of us would like to learn about your story...please take Todd's offer of an interview seriously. GEtting hate mail when you don't deserve it must be awful & I'm sorry. Surely you can see the point of view of taxpayers who paid for a new site and then it's still not up there.

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-02-01T11:34:39-06:00

ID

91176

Comment

Another peeve of mine: linking to PDFs when the content could be HTML. No point in forcing someone to launch a new application to view content that could be presented inline. Archaic and intrusive. Below an example of some of the code... This is basically a text link to Amtrak with a small image (an arrow) beside it... Now, most of you bloggers know how to make a URL and should know this is a ridiculous amount of code to create a link that's green. You'll probably note many redudant tags and font declarations... I'll also note that the designer applied the font Tahoma to a LINEBREAK (which makes no sense).

Jackson By Train
Come ride the rails to the

This is hardly the work of a professional designer or a $25,000 website IMHO.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T11:38:48-06:00

ID

91177

Comment

Knol, it is very helpful of you to make such an analysis. This kind of citizen watching of taxpayer money is CRUCIAL if ya ask me. And by a pro such as yourself, as average person may have no idea of kind of quality issues at hand. thanks

Author

Izzy

Date

2007-02-01T11:41:37-06:00

ID

91178

Comment

Knol I dont know what is going on now, but last I check there was a formatting-to-style conversion post-cms, as the cms was completely rewritten to accommodate the city. It is my understanding that the final product would reflect pure css and tabeless design in all areas except cms driven content. The navigation is not image based, its css. Highlight it with your mouse and you will see this. Now, I know nothing of their compliance, but I do know that THAT demo was available months ago and doesn't even ping to Redlaser's development server.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T11:42:49-06:00

ID

91179

Comment

iTodd, what is your email address

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T11:45:15-06:00

ID

91180

Comment

That crime plan answer is a bunch of bulcrap. I now believe choosing Allen as president was a fix and great mistake. Hell, almost anybody can write a crime plan of some sort and kind, but Frank and Shirlene are apparently too inept to do it. I'm starting to beleive the city council is too. If not, why haven't they already done it and passed it on to Frank and Shirlene for comments, changes and implementation since Frank and Shirlene seem so obviously clueless. And to try to avoid following the law on who should run the city in Frank's absence blows my mind. How can anyone be satisfied with these performances. Crisler isn't the spineless and greedy wanna-be chief on this counsel. It's others.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-01T12:19:54-06:00

ID

91181

Comment

Knol: Wouldn't you guess that the site was prototyped in a GUI tool of some kind? All those font tags -- I'm also seeing a lot of non-breaking spaces in weird places, etc. -- suggest something that as done in FrontPage or Dreamweaver and then cleaned up somewhat. dmj: todd at jacksonfreepress dot com

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2007-02-01T12:39:49-06:00

ID

91182

Comment

Actually, dmj, you're half right. The nav is text-oriented... Buried within a table. Unfortunately, there are other images throughout the page that are misleading such as "home tab" which has nothing to do with the homepage. Also, it's table-based utilizing the background parameter not CSS.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T12:41:52-06:00

ID

91183

Comment

Todd, yes... Looks like the bulk of their client work is done using Adobe/Macromedia Suite. One site's I followed was pretty much designed in Fireworks -- a graphics program with the ability to output HTML. Not a $25,000 job... Just saying. Someone banked and it wasn't the city.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T12:44:35-06:00

ID

91184

Comment

Adobe has the largest install base in the world, and coupled with Macromedia is considered the standard for web development software. I dont understand your last statement, can you clarify? Once again, I have said a million times that the amount is not accurate. Secondly, how much would YOU charge the city of jackson for a 200+ page website, customized content management software, and months of dedicated man-hours? Much judgment is being passed here.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T13:14:08-06:00

ID

91185

Comment

DMJ, you can't just say that the amount is inaccurate without telling us what the correct amount was--there is no confidentiality here because all city contracts are public record. So if Mr. Allen is lying, to use your term, about the $25,000, what is the correct figure? Can you corroborate your counter-claim?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-02-01T13:40:43-06:00

ID

91186

Comment

As an update regarding the Chief's Crime Plan.....Since this interview, which occured during the Christmas holidays, we have been advised that Chief Anderson will be briefing the Council with her ideas. The first hearing is scheduled for Monday, February 5 in the "Quality of Life" committee chaired by Leslie McLemore. The meeting will be in the Council chambers at 2 P.M.

Author

Ben Allen

Date

2007-02-01T13:45:29-06:00

ID

91187

Comment

Its not a counter-claim, Brian. Don't contradict yourself, if it is public record feel free to pull it up for yourself...or is an interview considered public record for Jackson Citizens. Public record = look it up for yourself. That's the problem with the whole situation, information without fact, opinion without confirmation. I invite you to find this "public information" yourself. Surely, just believe what I tell you is a part of the problem, wouldn't you agree?

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T13:53:32-06:00

ID

91188

Comment

**Surely, just believing what I tell you is a part of the problem, wouldn't you agree?**

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T13:54:52-06:00

ID

91189

Comment

I want to quote Mr. Ben Allen before I leave, and this is my last post ------- "I feel like we have wasted $25,000 on the original person, on the original contract." Ben Allen ------- Why did Mr. Allen refer to redlaser as the "original" contractor. For God sakes, he says it TWICE. The man wanted the contract to go to another group, an acquaintance of his.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T14:08:05-06:00

ID

91190

Comment

dmj, I can't quote what I'd charge without knowing the full scope of the project but you better believe my site would have been hand coded, table-less, mobile and text-based browser accessible, passed 508 compliancy standards (a standard for government-oriented sites) and validated under current W3C standards because of the public's need to access this info. I'm curious... If part of the contract was for a CMS, why did Red Laser have to create 200+ pages and spend countless man hours? A good CMS (whether open source or custom built) should only require a database, one dynamic page (ASP/PHP/ASP.NET), a template with layout variables, a style sheet to control formatting and varying layouts, and a modified htaccess file (assuming PHP). Sounds like way too much development spent on Red Laser's end and way too much time/money wasted by the city. A CMS is to empower the client to create and manage their own content and WYSIWYG editors are a dime a dozen. If Red Laser was manually loading that content, the city wasted money somewhere since paid staff should have been reviewing, editing, and creating their own content since they are the ones knowledgeable of the data.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T14:39:32-06:00

ID

91191

Comment

Ben Allen: "As an update regarding the Chief's Crime Plan.....Since this interview, which occured during the Christmas holidays, we have been advised that Chief Anderson will be briefing the Council with her ideas. The first hearing is scheduled for Monday, February 5 in the "Quality of Life" committee chaired by Leslie McLemore. The meeting will be in the Council chambers at 2 P.M." Is this "new crime plan" going to be signed by her or by the previous chief of police? I thought the Mayor has stated that he's not going to release the "crime plan" because he doesn't want criminals to know what the "crime plan" is. lc

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-02-01T14:40:37-06:00

ID

91192

Comment

Why did Mr. Allen refer to redlaser as the "original" contractor. For God sakes, he says it TWICE. The man wanted the contract to go to another group, an acquaintance of his. First, unless I missed something, Allen didn't refer to redlaser at all. The only way that he referred to the contractor is as the "original" contractor. You're making a pretty bold accusations about his motives. Second, why not just state for the record what the amount of the contract was? That way you're helping to correct the record here in a public forum, instead of just splaying criticism in whatever direction you can get it to stick. Please note the irony of saying: Much judgment is being passed here. when you're doing a bit of the "judgment passing" yourself. Call Brian or Adam. (I got your e-mail, and I'll forward it, but I'm not a reporter, and I'm home sick!) Tell them your side of the story. But, heck, if you work in web development you're going to have to be open to some geek criticism. This site is a spaghetti of tables and CSS vs. older font codes, but part of that is my laziness are part of that is that it's been on the same platform for over four years now. A brand new, from-the-ground system should probably go ahead and validate as a least HTML 4.0 if not good XHTML.

Author

Todd Stauffer

Date

2007-02-01T14:47:20-06:00

ID

91193

Comment

criticism is fine. You guys wanted a demo and proof of work, I gave it. If THIS is about criticism, fine. But what was happening here earlier was not criticism, it was slander. Redlaser has been in business for 5 years, and I know for a fact that their portfolio has not updated in at least 2 years. I have seen pure-css driven websites there. By the way, If you can provide me with 200 pages of hand-coded table-less cms and css, sub-tree data driven content with full compliance, and group collaboration integration with a small budget...AND make make the first wave of information available for modification through a data entry team, I will hire you today and you can be my web developer...lol.

Author

dmj

Date

2007-02-01T15:34:26-06:00

ID

91194

Comment

Mr. Allen, I think you are mixed up about which interview this was. It did not occur during the Christmas holidays. This interview was conducted on Thursday, Jan. 25 at 10 a.m. By all means, we welcome updates and look forward to hearing what Chief Anderson has to "say" on Monday, though I would much prefer to be reading her plan. I don't want people to get the impression that this is weeks old, however, because that is incorrect. DMJ, I can and will file a public records request for the contract, but it takes the city a week if not weeks to respond to such a request, even though in a truly open city, I could walk into the clerk's office and leave with the contract the same day. That aside, what's the problem? If you didn't get paid $25,000, what was it?

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-02-01T15:34:41-06:00

ID

91195

Comment

By the way, If you can provide me with 200 pages of hand-coded table-less cms and css, sub-tree data driven content with full compliance, and group collaboration integration with a small budget...AND make make the first wave of information available for modification through a data entry team, I will hire you today and you can be my web developer...lol." -dmj Is that a job offer? First of all, if you're using a CMS, why would you need 200 pages? Second, all of my pages are hand-coded and table-less. They also use a modified CMS, are generally 100% css driven, utilize categories and sub-categories and allow for group collaboration. Small budget? I've done it for free for a non-profit. So, I'm guessing I've got the job, eh?

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T15:58:53-06:00

ID

91196

Comment

But seriously... If the city paid a developer to develop a site based on a CMS and it utilizes over 200 different pages to present content, there's a problem... Especially for $25,000 or even $15,000.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T16:00:39-06:00

ID

91197

Comment

And, for the record, I'm not saying $25,000 for a site is too much... Especially for a city. But, the quality of what I'm seeing and the fact that it's not even off the ground drastically reduces the value from my vantage point as a developer and as a taxed citizen.

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T16:17:15-06:00

ID

91198

Comment

I'm home sick, too, so just catching up. It looks like the Web discussion is pretty well covered without me. But I do have a question for the Councilman: WHY are you posting that an interview that is a week old is a month old??? You know you can't get away with such a thing here. If you said things that you want to clarify, then clarify them. But don't do some B.S. dance about how the interview is a month old when it's not. Such a stunt is beneath you.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T16:23:39-06:00

ID

91199

Comment

I wonder if our council president was overcomed by a comment concerning his crime plan answer being bullcrap. I don't know anything. I'm just guessing!

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-01T16:32:27-06:00

ID

91200

Comment

Just keeps getting better folks: News Story ***snip*** The hiring of Louis Armstrong now means two former Jackson City Council members who were convicted of felony crimes are working for the city. Robert Williams, who had left the city to work on the Gulf Coast, has returned. Williams was convicted in November 1999 of attempting to extort $150,000 from Time Warner Cable. He was hired by the mayor in December 2005 to compile community code violation complaints but left in February 2006 to take a job on the Gulf Coast. ***snip*** This is atrocious. Mr. Allen, what in the heck is going on up there? You have got to be kidding me. A guy that was CONVICTED of attempted extortion is now WORKING for the city? You've got to be kidding me. Is this even legal? Why not just put the wolves in charge of the henhouse?

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-02-01T16:38:15-06:00

ID

91201

Comment

Council members like Mr. Allen and Margaret Barrett-Simon were put through the wringer over the Armstrong case, according to what they've said publicly many times. I too am curious about what they think of this.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-02-01T16:46:15-06:00

ID

91202

Comment

This is simply remarkable. What are they THINKING? This city has gone mad. Mr. Allen, what is the Council going to do to stop the madness? As long as you let it happen as the Council president, you must be held responsible. As you have found ways to make excuses for the mayor, and be the swing vote along with your good friends Mr. Stokes, Mr. Bluntson and Mr. Tillman, the problems of the city have snowballed. What is the answer, Mr. Allen? Tell us please. You got upset with me a while back because I said on the Web site that I did not think it was your time to replace Melton should he have to step down. Now is your chance to prove me wrong. What would a real leader do right now? How do we get a confirmed fire chief? How do we get a crime plan? How do we get rid of a puppet police chief put there to do a rogue mayor's bidding? How do we get a decent Web site posted? How do we have a city not staffed with felon friends of the mayor? This Meltonian experiment has failed, and it has failed miserably. Who's going to lead us out of this mess? The citizens of Jackson are waiting, Councilman. We need courageous leadership, and we need it now.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T16:49:08-06:00

ID

91203

Comment

Mr. Armstrong probably needs a job. He is a great talent. He knows lots of people in the community and is still well-liked. It'll be interesting to see if Mr. Tisdale protest or not. My money is on conjecture he will not protest at this delicate moment in time while his friend is facing charges. Lots of unusual people might get hired before the mayor's cases are concluded.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-01T16:57:25-06:00

ID

91204

Comment

I don't have a problem with him having a job, Ray. But NOT with the city that he caused so much trouble for. I can't imagine Mr. Tisdale questioning a single thing Mr. Melton does. (Has he questioned the appointment of his good friend Leland Speed? Or, are we getting silence on that one?) And your last sentence is very interesting. Maybe history will explain certain people's silence during this mess. There has to be a reason for all of this selling of souls. BTW, Mr. Williams was a paid Melton campaign staffer. We have his business card, and he's in the campaign reports as such.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T17:02:07-06:00

ID

91205

Comment

My bad. I interviewed with the Northside Sun during the holidays. The story is in today's paper. Brian is correct. Adam did our interview when I was in my car on on the way to Dallas. Just got the dates wrong. Sorry. Nothing sinister. Just a goof-up.

Author

Ben Allen

Date

2007-02-01T17:26:59-06:00

ID

91206

Comment

These hiring might turn out to be very good hires for Frank and the city too coincidentally. We need to watch out for any impact they might have toward improvement or survival of either. We little people so far removed from the big show don't get to hear and often don't ever discern the real or hidden meaning or advantage to questionable decisions. If I had to go to war I'd find me as many good soldiers as I can.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-01T17:37:44-06:00

ID

91207

Comment

Fine then, Ben. We were very puzzled by that one. Glad to hear it was a memory lapse. Happens.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T17:40:02-06:00

ID

91208

Comment

Ben, I respect the fact that you're too moderate to engage Donna on the leadership questions she posed above. What I don't respect is the fact that you weren't moderate enough to resist slamming Marshand Crisler. Are you about trying to preserve a via media and steer us between the rocks, or are you just about supporting the decisions of the Melton administration? Because unless you show the same deference to Melton's opponents that you show to Melton, that question answers itself. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-01T17:49:47-06:00

ID

91209

Comment

I agree with Tom. At least publicly, you have slammed Marshand Crisler much harder this past year than you have either the Melton administration or his Council supporters, whom you tend to vote in a bloc with (and one of them is Kenneth Stokes). I just don't get it. One doesn't have to agree with everything Crisler ever says or does to see that he is trying to stand up and say, and do, what is right. We need leaders right now willing to stand up and speak out. It'd be one thing if you were refraining from slamming any of your counterparts on council and in the city. But you're not. You're slamming the ones who are questioning the mayor, while you seem to be doing back flips to keep from fromm criticizing Melton, Bluntson, Stokes, etc. It doesn't make a lick of sense. It comes across as very political—that you see Crisler as a political threat because he has such a wide support base, both black and white. I know you think softpedaling the mayor is a way to hold the city together, but I believe you've been shortsighted on that front since the beginning. With due respect. We need change, Councilman. Start with the police chief, please. We're begging you to lead on a change here. This is ridiculous.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T17:58:24-06:00

ID

91210

Comment

I can't speak for anyone else, Ben, but what I'm trying to figure out is whether you're working to hold the city together by preserving a moderate environment where decisions can be made under Melton, or whether I should just add your name to the long and growing list of people who have completely sold out on their values and decided to support every single decision the Melton administration makes, whether it makes any sense or not. There is a definite Alice in Wonderland dynamic to all of this. In a city where Kenneth Stokes has no problem with police beating up an 18-year-old kid and the mayor letting police get away with it because the (unindicted!) victim is a "damn thug," in a city where Charles Tisdale suddenly becomes part of the Leland Speed Fan Club, in a city where "anti-crime" advocates think an increased crime rate and the total lack of a city law enforcement plan is a sign of progress, it should not surprise me if Ben Allen, too, has lost his mind. But it would be a disappointment. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-01T18:06:59-06:00

ID

91211

Comment

Anyone trying to view the test site from Red Laser will notice that someone with the city has added a password to it. Earlier in the day, we could view the site, but now it is closed off from us. How odd.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-02-01T18:17:33-06:00

ID

91212

Comment

You are all correct about my calling in to Kim's show and challenging Marshand the other day. I was WRONG to do that. I had a long meeting with him today and apologized. We shook hands and he accepted it. Bad thing and bad timing. We are all (on the Council) a little "frazzled" right now. Not an excuse at all. I was wrong and should be called out on it.

Author

Ben Allen

Date

2007-02-01T18:24:36-06:00

ID

91213

Comment

A password? That frackin' figures. Leave it to this city administration to try to stomp out any little bit of sunshine. They might as well hang a sign on the door: "Citizens Not Welcome Here. (Felons excepted.)" No matter. We've already seen it, folks.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T18:44:45-06:00

ID

91214

Comment

If this is leadership.... We need a new definition. And, by the way, I'm thinking of attending the next council meeting to ask the "tough questions."

Author

LawClerk

Date

2007-02-01T18:49:13-06:00

ID

91215

Comment

Ben, you're absolutely right--you were wrong to do that--and I hope that, in addition to whatever has gone on privately as far as you and Marshand Crisler are concerned, you find some way to correct the impression you left regarding his motives. The truth is that he's a young man on the City Council and former president of same, and is an obvious future candidate for mayor, in much the same way that a lieutenant governor or secretary of state might be an obvious future candidate for governor. There's no shame in that; he should be proud of the fact, and the residents of his ward should be proud of what he has accomplished. But suggesting that his (entirely legitimate) criticism of yet another mayoral decree that violates state law in any way reflects any political ambitions he might have is a particularly nasty stain on him and on you, and I don't think it's going to wash out easily. It also contributes to the increasingly chilling atmosphere in this city--where the mayor goes around telling journalists "I will cream you personally" and the president of the City Council calls in on talk shows to smear other members of that body who are willing to stand up and fight. I do not agree with the philosophy that says that it is best to chart a moderate course and keep the trains running on time--that's why I will never be a politician--but I do understand it. But part of the description of "trains running on time," in a liberal democracy (which is still what we live in), is creating an environment where one can still speak truth to power without fear of retribution. We don't live in that kind of environment right now, and it would be nice if, whatever else you may do as council president, you use your position to change that. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-01T18:59:17-06:00

ID

91216

Comment

Well said, Tom. Well said.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T19:05:17-06:00

ID

91217

Comment

May I add that every time I post a criticism of Melton, part of me wonders what other effects that might have on my life. If I report something to the police, will it be given the same respect another citizen's complaint would be given? If I try to book a venue for an event, will I be more likely to be turned down? Hell, my friend Brent Cox was threatened with arrest recently because he made a noise complaint against the city helicopter. How many of the rest of us should be concerned about being retaliated against if we exercise our rights as citizens? This is an administration based around personal loyalty to the mayor, so I think those are legitimate questions. And they're questions that I, as a taxpaying citizen of Jackson, should never, ever have to entertain. Neither should Donna. Neither should Brent. And neither should Marshand Crisler. You don't want a fight with Melton because you want to be the peacemaker? Fine; I can understand that. That's what Mississippians are best at. But peace means peace for everybody. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-01T19:06:53-06:00

ID

91218

Comment

If I may also add: I don't see anything particularly politically astate about going down with the Titanic. Even folks in Allen's ward are now seeing the mistake that electing Melton has been. If this is just about politics, I think you're on the wrong boat, Councilman. And if it's about running the city, we're just not seeing the evidence that the trains are running. It seems the more rope you give the mayor, the more he and his administration hang the city. Get us a new police chief, and we'll talk. Otherwise, I don't see the use in twisting yourself up into a pretzel to stand up for Melton Co. when they're screwing up, which unfortunately is most of the time.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T19:08:31-06:00

ID

91219

Comment

Tom's last post is interesting, too. Just why is everyone so afraid of Melton??? Does he have a lockbox full of dirty pictures somewhere? I'm kidding, but sometimes that makes about as much sense as any other possible rationale. He's been a bad mayor, folks. He needs to be challenged. We need a new police chief. We don't need more felons on the city payroll for the moment. We need council leadership that will speak up and talk back. Otherwise, the mayor is just going to make a fool of you.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T19:11:42-06:00

ID

91220

Comment

Well, the fact that our mayor threatened violence against a reporter, lets police beat up suspects with impunity, carries firearms into cathedrals and colleges and so forth, and (allegedly) ordered the sledgehammer demolition of a home, not to mention the fact that he surrounds himself with heavily armed young men and various ex-felons... All of that doesn't really contribute to an atmosphere where people feel like they can speak their minds. I don't think I'm being histrionic if I say that there is a very real fascist vibe to the Melton administration. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2007-02-01T19:18:37-06:00

ID

91221

Comment

I don't think I'm being histrionic if I say that there is a very real fascist vibe to the Melton administration. That's almost an understatement, Tom. What's remarkable are the people who defend this kind of, er, "leadership," or somehow think that it translates into "crime-fighting." It'd be funny if it weren't such a mess for us right now.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-01T19:26:30-06:00

ID

91222

Comment

"Let the mayor do his job..."

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-02-01T19:50:34-06:00

ID

91223

Comment

For the record, it was McLemore that was initially getting more coverage in the press complaining that Melton wasn't following law. I don't know who spoke up more in chambers; but, McLemore was on the news and in the press more. BTW: It does seem like the car blitz is going well! Good idea!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-01T20:19:03-06:00

ID

91224

Comment

I meant to post earlier about the crime "stats" you linked to Pike, because I don't know whether the public knows what the administration has done on this front. Starting in December, the Jackson Police Department has disbanded ComStat. Instead, they will simply provide lists like the one you posted. I can see no rationale for doing this other than to make it much harder for the press and the public to understand how we are doing on crime. I can see why--politically--they no longer wanted those pesky ComStat numbers showing that crime has surged all over the city. If you ask me, it's a disgrace for them to hide their failure this way.

Author

Brian C Johnson

Date

2007-02-01T20:39:54-06:00

ID

91225

Comment

Wow.......Tom you have said it all! Thanks.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-02-01T21:36:11-06:00

ID

91226

Comment

Brian, are you saying that we wasted MORE money on ComStat?

Author

kaust

Date

2007-02-01T21:47:58-06:00

ID

91227

Comment

Frank Melton has pictures and taped conversation on all of us. And if necessary he will expose them. We would be better off admitting our dalliances. Like the Lord, Frank knows it all. Watch out there, Tom.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-02T10:35:51-06:00

ID

91228

Comment

Don't fret over these comments, Ben. Some of us good citizen of Jackson believe the mayor is doing a very good job right now. Unfortunately, this will change upon his return to duty.

Author

Ray Carter

Date

2007-02-02T10:49:20-06:00

ID

91229

Comment

Since that demo site is now password-protected, I can't look at its actual code, but unless it's built precisely the way Knol outlines above, the city has wasted money if it's paid over zero dollars for it. Code like this is a disgrace:

Jackson By Train
Come ride the rails to the

Whoever wrote that code knows nothing about CSS.

Author

lucdix

Date

2007-02-02T14:01:39-06:00

ID

91230

Comment

You know, since we were conversing with Ben Allen, the truth of the matter is: If Ben Allen, the swing vote on the City Council, would stop voting WITH Melton's councilmen then some of the problems would ease up. Say what you want, actions speak louder than words.

Author

ChrisCavanaugh

Date

2007-02-02T17:27:56-06:00

ID

91231

Comment

"You're doin' a hekuva job Frankie..."

Author

Cliff Cargill

Date

2007-02-02T20:28:10-06:00

ID

91232

Comment

Good Ramsey cartoon today re Melton's penchant to hire convicted felons. Y'all do remember that he walked out of the JAN candidate forum during the campaign because he didn't want to *sit* next to "a convicted felon," right? Hypocrisy at its most grating.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-02-05T11:41:47-06:00

ID

91233

Comment

Exactly!!!! It is the hypocrisy of the situation that makes it worst. People do need second chances. But, Melton and Hickinbottom acted like little children over James Covington - who later had his contract taken away by the City. It was only after the election that the public, and I assume his NJam supporters, found out about his penchant for surrounding himself with felons and wayward youth. We all knew he "helped" troubled teens and mentored them. Yet, not many people expected him to dig up every person who has wronged Jackson (or it's citizens) to work for the City. I include those who enabled Melton over the years too as he dodged child molestation charges in the mid 90's, along with Blunston who was accused of allowing female prisoners to be raped or used for favors.

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-02-05T12:11:56-06:00

ID

91234

Comment

I am a very hopeful of what you can do Mr. Allen. I have emailed you personally several times myself, but after reading many posts in these forums I have come to a conclusion that in many ways you have disappointed me. I'm not one who usually agrees with ladd, but this time must be an exception. I don't like ADHD Melton, nor do I like Lazy-Submissive Anderson. I want to see something done quickly in this city. I don't want to have to wait till this idiot leaves and another adequate mayor gets in. I hope Amy or Marshand will run for mayor next election. I would be fine if we could get Harvey back because I am certain he would have brought in way more economic development under these Gulf Oppritunity Act incentives. I will not stand for a city where the criminals aren't the only ones who openly practice lawlessness without being prosecuted to the full extent. Mr. Melton has broke the law several times. Frank the Clown Meltdown. I hope that the man can't by any means be any more incompetent than he has been.

Author

optimisticaboutNewJackCity

Date

2007-02-05T19:29:28-06:00

ID

91235

Comment

optimistic... I have not received you email (that I know of). My personal email address is: [email][email protected][/email] My cell number is: 601 259 9601 My home phone number is: 601 366 0406 (I am the ONLY Ben Allen in the book.) Give me a call.

Author

Ben Allen

Date

2007-02-05T19:56:47-06:00

ID

91236

Comment

I send it to the councilman's site... you have replied before... Thanks for the new information though....

Author

optimisticaboutNewJackCity

Date

2007-02-06T15:50:48-06:00