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Johnson's Back!
"I, Harvey Johnson, Jr, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully ... discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God."
The JFP Interview: Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon
Ward 7 Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon has been a familiar face on the Jackson City Council since the days of Duran Duran. Barrett-Simon's demeanor in an interview is cautious if not timid, which is not the attitude you might expect from a council member who has maintained her seat through so many elections. While other council members make vociferous speeches, Barrett-Simon works with quiet, steady resolve to get the city's business done. In the last few months, however, Barrett-Simon has become increasingly vocal about a number of issues. She led the fight to have City Council investigate Mayor Frank Melton, an effort that was superceded by the criminal indictments against him. She has expressed concern about the shrinking Jackson police department, the contract of City Attorney Sarah O'Reilly-Evans and Melton's penchant for firing people without adequate due process.
Shaking The Image
Jackson Public Schools may have decaying buildings, overcrowding and infrastructure concerns, but architecture and aesthetics are nothing compared to the mental image the system has to battle daily.
2006 JFP Interview: Peterson Makes Her Case
<b>The JFP Interview with Faye Peterson</b>
Hinds County District Attorney Faye Peterson is nothing if not confident. It's a stalwart, rocky kind of demeanor that probably helps get her through her day in her office on the top floor of the Hinds County Courthouse.
Crossing The Aisles
<b>The JFP Interview with Chuck Espy</b>
State Rep. Chuck Espy comes from a long line of politicos. His father is former Clarksdale Mayor Henry Espy, and the Espy family has had dibs on the Second Congressional seat for many years. In 1987, Espy's uncle, Mike Espy, was the first African American sent to Congress from Mississippi since Reconstruction, before President Clinton later appointed him as the first black Secretary of Agriculture in 1993. Chuck's father, Henry, ran in the 1993 special election to fill Mike's vacated seat, but Thompson beat him.
What The Tuck!?!
In November 2002, Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck, a long-time Democrat, shook a few corners of the Mississippi political underground by announcing that she would now be called Republican Lt. Gov. Amy Tuck. "I feel that the Republican Party is more in line with my conservative philosophies," Tuck said in a statement. Nick Walters, state director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development Authority, told The Clarion-Ledger in 2002 that Tuck "has essentially been governing as a Republican, and her switch would only serve to make her conservative stands compatible with her political party."
Will More Cops Help?
Leslie McLemore is anxious to see the police chief's plan for fighting crime. This isn't the first time the council has been impatient. The same council—or at least four of them—kept the heat on former JPD Chief Robert Moore until he produced his Five Points Plan months after coming to the department. The council is getting jumpy after nearly two years waiting for a plan this time, however, and what the chief has offered so far centers around the construction of a misdemeanor jail and a focus on retaining officers by paying them better—even as the mayor has not presented a plan to pay them more.
Tale of Two Dems: Bennie vs. Chuck
On June 6, the Democratic primaries in the 2nd Congressional District will be up for grabs. Three candidates are facing off in the race, including political whack-a-mole Dorothy "Dot" Benford, who pops up every election cycle. But the two most significant personalities battling for the chair are state Rep. Chuck Espy and the Democratic incumbent Bennie Thompson.
Fantasy Island
Developers are cheering and environmentalists are jeering as the Lefleur Lakes ("Two Lakes") project gains momentum, helped along by political support from men like Mayor Frank Melton and Gov. Haley Barbour, who seem poised to rubberstamp the development despite concerns from residents and environmentalists.
Sneak Attacks
Jacksonians first caught a glimpse of the kind of mayor they had elected less than a week after Melton won the primary. WAPT sent reporter Greg Flynn to the YMCA on Farish Street, where Melton volunteered, to get Melton's thoughts on how he felt about his win and where he planned to take the city.
Jumping For Jackson
Jackson, like other cities and towns throughout the state, is submitting a list of requests for the state Legislature to consider in order to help Jackson balance tumbling revenues and the 40 percent of the city that is non-taxable property.
What's In A Gang?
The brutality of gang life makes for popular entertainment on movie screens across America. Riddling a wall or restaurant with bullet holes from automatic gunfire kicks the pulse into overdrive.
Legislative Agenda
With coastal construction driving healthy tax revenues, you might expect smooth sailing for this year's legislative session. After all, tight budgets mean tough choices, and tough choices mean bare-knuckle fights among legislators. However, the House remains at odds with Gov. Haley Barbour and the Senate, and 2007 is a statewide election year. In other words, even though they have more money to distribute than in years past, we can expect some scrapping among legislators as they position themselves for the elections.
Full Throttle: The JFP Interview with Rep. John Reeves
Rep. John Reeves, R-Hinds, is a growing presence in the Jackson community. The 49-year-old father of five is a South Jackson resident who vows to stay in his community, despite the flight of many of his white friends and neighbors. He is well into his sixth term as a member of the State House of Representatives. The Jackson Free Press spied Reeves at community meetings all over the city at least three times in the last two months. He isn't afraid to field questions or demands from frustrated city residents and has yet to shrink from a fight within sight of the JFP.
A Gentleman, And A Partisan
<b>The JFP Interview with Rep. Bennie Thompson</b>
Rep. Bennie Thompson is nothing if not partisan. He enters most political debates with pre-conceived notions on conservatism and liberalism. He also holds strong views on Democrats and Republicans and makes no bones about his opinion that conservatives achieve popularity by selling lies—especially during the campaign season.
Jesus Rode A Donkey: THE JFP Interview With John Arthur Eaves
Photos by Roy Adkins
Attorney John Arthur Eaves, 40, is the polar opposite of his Republican opponent, Gov. Haley Barbour. Barbour is a faithful follower of smaller-government philosophy, isn't afraid to boot Mississippians off state Medicaid and has been willing to short-change the so-called "artificial" Mississippi Adequate Education Program in the name of budget austerity. Eaves, on the other hand, thinks the state is failing to provide for the health of thousands and is shooting itself in the foot by short-funding education. Barbour has lobbied for tobacco companies for years, while Eaves, a Jackson trial lawyer, has vociferously attacked those same companies in the courtroom. Barbour is a happy comrade of President George Bush, who has stumped for Barbour on the campaign and vice versa, while Eaves criticizes the Bush administration for all its malfunctions and corruption.
A Gift From God
It's class time at the Hinds County Detention Center, and Sheriff Malcolm McMillin is taking a reporter to see how it works. The county holding facility is one very lengthy drive down Highway 18, just across the street from the exit that leads hundreds of young people to Hinds County Community College every morning. There is, perhaps, irony in the location. Some young lives not destined for one direction often take the other.
Melton's Honeymoon, Part IV: Getting What We're Paying For?
When Frank Melton first became Jackson's mayor, he walked into a virtual black forest of uncertainty. The city had been facing a steady flight of residents to bedroom communities for decades, followed by the departure of many businesses looking to keep their target customers within convenient reach, costing the city of Jackson thousands of dollars in property taxes and sales taxes.
Melton's Honeymoon, Part III: Crime and Punishment, Melton Style
Frank Melton carried the May 2 mayoral primary in part because of a surly, take-no-prisoners attitude on crime. Melton used his 14-month tenure as head of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics to forge a local image as a hard-nosed delivery system for justice, despite being involuntarily relieved of his MBN duties by incoming Gov. Haley Barbour due to low drug arrest numbers.
Melton's Honeymoon, Part V: Seven Degrees of Separation
Like any governmental body that has to share power, the Jackson City Council is a forum of individuals who can rarely accomplish goals without forming some kind of alliance on issues. A new round of elections, like the one last June, almost always ushers in a new volley of hand-shaking and knot-tying between personalities. Often the personalities share political ideology; sometimes the similarities shared are barely visible.