Frank Melton

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Frank Melton

Term of office:
2005 –
City	Jackson
State	Mississippi
Country	USA
Preceded by	Harvey Johnson, Jr.
Born

Frank Melton (born 1950) is current mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, having been inaugurated on 4 July 2005, defeating the city's first black mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr.. Melton won with over 80% of the vote. Melton, a Democrat, quickly swept into action after his inauguration to achieve his stated goals of ridding Jackson of black-on-black drug related crime, improving economic development, and improving city infrastructure. Since Melton became mayor, projects totaling over $1.6 Billion have been started or been bid in the city, creating at least 4500 jobs in the city.

Melton has taken a hands on approach to attacking drug crimes in the city, often going along with Police Chief Anderson on routine drug sweeps and drug raids. Many are pleased to see him take this hands-on and vocal approach to addressing the city's problems, as noted in a report by Little Rock television station KATV. A very vocal portion of the population in the city has taken offense to the mayor's less-than-subtle political style. In April of 2006, Melton challenged Hinds County DA Faye Peterson's ability to get a conviction against Albert "Batman" Donnellson, notorious leader of the Wood Street Player's Gang. Soon afterwards, Faye Peterson began investigating the mayor's hands on approach to crime, especially his habit of carrying a sidearm and wearing a police-like mayor's badge. Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood was asked to look into these allegations, concluding on June 1 that "The Mayor Broke No Laws" (The Clarion-Ledger, June 1). Faye Peterson disagreed and continued her own investigation. In late July 2006, the head of ACLU racial profiling division arrived in Jackson to address reports of racial profiling related to Melton and Chief Anderson's drug searches and raids. Mayor Melton continued his crusade, demolishing abandoned properties and encouraging the police to continue their efforts against drug crimes.

In September of 2006, Mayor Melton, with several Jackson Police Department detectives and a group of youths Melton had been counseling, raided a house at which five drug arrests have been made in the last two years, arresting the resident, Mr. Welch on several drug-related charges. The house was damaged during the raid, with one wall and several windows destroyed. No warrant was issued for the raid, nor was the owner of the duplex notified of any intention to conduct the raid. Faye Peterson brought charges relating to the raid against Melton before a jury, and Melton was indicted on September 15, 2006. Many have called the charges politically motivated, and several civil-rights leaders have come to the defense of Melton--most notably Charles Evers, older brother of civil rights hero and martyr Medgar Evers, and Stephanie Parker-Weaver-former, daughter of the first openly-known interracial couple in Jackson, MS — encouraging him to stay in office despite the chargers.

Contents 1 Background/Previous Occupations 2 Social work 3 Controversy 4 Sources 5 External links

[edit] Background/Previous Occupations

Melton is a of Tyler, Texas, where he maintains a dual residency. His wife, Dr. Ellen Redd Melton, a pediatrician, lives in their home there, and his two biological children live in Texas. (Melton drew fire because he had not moved his homestead exemption from Texas to Mississippi when he ran for mayor). From 1984 to 2002, Melton served as head of WLBT-TV 3, a local channel and NBC affiliate that came under majority-black ownership after a diverse community group fought its racist practices in the 1960s. Melton ran the station for years, but later sold it to a majority-white company. Melton later served as the head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics for 14 months, as appointed by former Mississippi Governor Ronnie Musgrove in December, 2002, but left when Gov. Haley Barbour when he took office in January 2004. Gov. Melton was has also served in numerous other fields, including serving as the director of the Criminal Justice Task Force, as appointed by Kirk Fordice, former governor of Mississippi; the Mississippi Department of Human Services; and has been appointed by the Texas legislature to Texas Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation.

[edit] Social work

Melton has worked also as a member of the board of directors for United Way and the Jackson Chamber of Commerce, and works as a voluntary instructor at Jackson State University. Melton has also given numerous speeches in the inner-city high schools, and city universities. Melton serves on the national board of directors for the Broadcast Music Industry (BMI) in New York, where he is Chairman of the BMI Performing Rights Committee, which is responsible for executing the contracts for writers and producers of music. He also serves on the Liberty Broadcasting board of directors; the Wave board of directors, the Community Broadcast Group, and the NBC Affiliates board of directors. Melton also spent time in jail for 20 years.

[edit] Controversy

April 2006 - Melton was criticized for having potentially broken a law when pulling over four school buses on the busy US I-220 bypass in Jackson, Mississippi for individual hugs. [1]

July 19, 2006 - Jackson Mayor Frank Melton received criticism from advocates for the homeless when he used the city’s emergency order to enforce a 10 p.m. curfew for the city’s homeless population. According to Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless in Washington, the curfew is the first of its kind in the nation. He also said that it effectively amounts to a modern Jim Crow law. [2]

July 26, 2006 - Frank Melton raises security concerns with US House of Representative, and senior Homeland Security Committee Democrat, Bennie Thompson (MS) when Melton applied for, and was issued, a United States Capitol Police badge and identification card. The card allowed Melton, armed, to bypass security in Federal Buildings, congressional offices and Congress. Wilson Livingood, sergeant-at-arms for the U. S. House, stated in the report to Thompson dated Aug. 17 that Melton showed a Jackson Police Department credential to Capitol police. Rep. Bennie Thompson told a Jackson newspaper that Melton shouldn't pretend to be a law enforcement officer when he is not one.^{[citation needed]}

August 26, 2006 - Melton was accused by local residents of taking it upon himself to destroy a house on Ridgeway Street in Jackson from which drugs were allegedly being sold. Though accused, Melton denied having a sledgehammer in his hand, also claiming that the residence was in disrepair prior to the raid. [3] The event has since been referred to as the Ridgeway Incident in the press.

August 30, 2006 - Guests of Jackson Mayor Frank Melton allegedly beat and kicked a handcuffed man outside the Upper Level Bar and Grill early Sunday morning. The victim, Tonari Moore, is the son of club owner Sandra Moore Johnson who, last month, filed for a restraining order against Melton for his “police state tactics” against her and her business. Melton said to WLBT of the group that beat Moore, "The young men who allegedly attacked Moore were helping me clean up the Virden Addition neighborhood earlier that day." According to a JacksonFreePress.com reporter present, "the young men watched movies in the back of the van while an armed Melton searched for Vidal Sullivan." Area neighbors say the juveniles seldom attend school. [4]

September 15, 2006 - Frank Melton and two other police officers were indicted for illegally wrecking the duplex on Ridgeway Street in Jackson. Melton was also indicted on an illegal concealed weapons charge after reportedly carrying a sidearm into a college, school, and church. The charges included malicious mischief, house burglary, conspiracy and directing a minor to commit malicious mischief. If convicted, Melton would have to resign and could face up to 50 years in prison.[5] Melton pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for carrying a weapon into a church and a park, and no contest to a reduced charge on what had been a felony count involving a gun onto the grounds of the Mississippi College School of Law. Mississippi state law could have forced Melton from office for a felony conviction and up to three years in prison. Prosecutors decided to reduce the felony to a misdemeanor of carrying a concealed weapon in exchange for pleas. Melton was given a six-month suspended sentence on each count, plus one year probation, and was fined $1,500. After all this, Frank Melton realizes his mistakes and has admitted that he is an "idiot".

[edit] Sources

[edit] External links

• Report on Melton's crime-fighting efforts from KATV

Preceded by: Harvey Johnson, Jr.

Mayor of Jackson, MS 2005–present

Succeeded by: incumbent