Morial

The U.S. Census Bureau named National Urban League President Marc Morial chairmain of the Census Advisory Committee.

“Marc has extraordinary experience in working with national organizations and advocating on behalf of diverse communities,” said Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke, who tapped Morial for the position Thursday, effective immediately.  “His expertise will help to ensure a complete and accurate count during the 2010 Census.”

Morial’s responsibilities include providing advice on the design and implementation of the Census.

“I am honored by the opportunity to chair the 2010 Census Advisory Committee which is tasked with advising Commerce Secretary Gary Locke,” Morial said.

Morial, has served as the National League’s president since 2003. Prior to his work with the organization, he carried out two terms as mayor of New Orleans from 1994 to 2002. He will still reside over the Urban League will serving out his chairmanship.

President Barack Obama boosted aid to the Census Bureau with the passage of his $787 billion stimulus plan. Under the plan the bureau received $1 billion to ramp up outreach efforts in minority communities and increase staffing at local census offices.

Renita Burns

Indicted Mississippi Mayor Dies Days After Primary Defeat

Melton

Frank Melton, the indicted mayor of Jackson, Mississippi, died early Thursday after suffering cardiac arrest. His death came less than two days after he lost his bid for a second term in office.

City spokeswoman Goldia Revies told reporters Melton died peacefully  with his wife by his side at a local hospital, where he was taken by ambulance from his home Tuesday night. He had a history of serious heart ailments.

Melton had been discovered unconscious in his home just moments after polls closed in the Democratic primary in which he finished third, according to results. He faced opposition from 15 candidates. Wednesday, the Jackson City Council elected its own president, Dr. Leslie B. McLemore, as acting mayor in an emergency session.

The controversial 60-year-old mayor had his share of legal woes. At the time of his death, he and a former bodyguard had faced a trial beginning next week on federal civil rights charges stemming from a vigilante-style raid on a suspected crack house. Melton called his sledgehammer demolition of the property an “administrative mistake.” It would have been the third time in three years he’d face charges stemming from the 2006 incident. A judge declared a mistrial in February after a jury failed to reach a verdict and in 2007, Melton was acquitted on state charges stemming from the same incident.

As reported by The New York Times, Melton was known for his “flashy, hands-on approach” to combating crime, carrying a police badge, guns, a bulletproof jacket, and a large stick while patrolling Jackson’s toughest areas, although he was not a certified policeman.

Before the primary, he won a case against The Jackson Municipal Democratic Executive Committee who voted unanimously to remove him from the Democratic Ballot.

He is survived by his wife, Ellen, and two children. A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday, May 12, at noon at Thalia Mara Hall in downtown Jackson.  Melton will be buried in his native Texas.

Janell Hazelwood

Reducing crime, rehabilitating housing, recruiting businesses to the city, and repairing Jackson’s infrastructure are the top concerns for Jackson residents, says Leslie B. McLemore, president of the Jackson City Council, and professor of political science at Jackson State University.

“If you drive the streets of Jackson there are so many potholes, if you avoid one, you hit another,” Hohrn says.

Melton agrees that after two hurricanes and a tornado within the last five years, the streets should have been resurfaced sooner, but the budget did not allocate enough money for it and the large equipment used to remove hurricane debris exacerbated the problem, he says. Now, with $26 million from a bonding program, he is planning to pave all seven wards at the same time.

After winning the mayor’s office on a crime-busters platform, many critics say that Melton, the former director of the bureau of narcotics, has neglected everything except policing neighborhoods with his bodyguards.

“He really wants to be the chief of police. He rides around the city of Jackson with a gangster mentality and that is not appropriate for the city,” says McLemore, who will not endorse any candidate.

In fact, Hinds County Sheriff Malcolm McMillin, who endorses Crisler, says he resigned in April from his dual post as Jackson Police Chief because he could no longer align himself politically with Melton, reports the Clarion Ledger. Crisler also received an endorsement from Nina Holbrook, another top city administrator who resigned rather than support Melton.

Melton, 60, has seen his share of court problems this year. First he won a case against The Jackson Municipal Democratic Executive Committee who voted unanimously to remove him from the Democratic Ballot. In a separate incident, he is currently awaiting a federal retrial scheduled to begin May 11 where he was accused of violating the civil rights of a homeowner and her tenant when he ordered the destruction of their private residence in 2006. Melton called his alleged sledgehammer demolition of the property– which he considered a “crack house”– an “administrative mistake.”

At the time Melton said he was in the process of removing 700 homes from the city that were abandoned and being used for illicit behavior. Melton said that he received permission from the Environmental Protection Agency. “Out of 700, I made a mistake on one,” Melton says. He says he has built some 700 single-family homes in the city.

Although Melton says he has taken an aggressive approach to crime, FBI statistics show that crime in Jackson has increased 238% since 2005.

“His administration has been dysfunctional,” Hohrn says. “He decided to ignore rules that were not to his liking. He wanted to be top cop and play cops and Robbers.”

Melton, who received 80% of the vote when elected in 2005, admits to making some mistakes, but believes he has made a significant difference in the development of Jackson’s downtown by drawing $3 billion worth of development to the city in under 4 years. “I made sure that [construction] started on time and came in under budget,” he says.

Some 38% of likely voters did not know who they preferred to be mayor, but 66% of Jackson residents believe that the city has gotten off on a wrong track, according to separate polls conducted by the Clarion-Ledger over the weekend. Crisler was the favorite with 15.5% of voters, followed by Johnson (14.4%), Melton (11 %) and Horhn (7%).

Hohrn, who has 29 years of combined experience in state government and in the legislature, says that former Mayor Harvey Johnson is just as much to blame for the neglect experienced by the city as anyone else. “It was his lack of leadership and inability to pull the trigger on things that really made the electorate turn their backs on him four years ago.”

A runoff will be held May 19 if one candidate does not receive 50% of the vote. Afterward, the winner will face one Republican and one Independent in the general election on June 2

Jackson, Mississippi Mayoral Candidates

Democrat

Mayor Frank Melton
Former Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr.
Marshand Crisler, 6th ward city councilman
State Sen. John Horhn
Jabari Toins
Eddie Fair, Hinds County tax collector
Robert Johnson, former Jackson police chief
Dorothy “Dot” Benford
Brenda R. Scott, president of the Mississippi Alliance of State Employees
John H. Jones Jr., a telecommunications business owner

Independent

Charlotte Reeves, Jackson business owner
Rick Whitlow, a former sports anchor for WAPT and WJTV
Robert Amos, small business owner and adjunct professor for Jackson State University
David Archie, an independent and community activist and radio talk show host

Republican

George Lambus