Melder's Musings

For my Texas readers, Frank Melton is a sometimes-Texan, sometimes-Mississippian (sort of like me) running for the Democratic nomination to be mayor of Jackson, Mississippi.

For all readers, here's some information you're not seeing on other blogs.

First, the rumors:

According to solid Democrats (which Melton is not) who attended his fundraiser, a number of young Republicans were in attendance. While at that fundraiser, Melton reportedly told the crowd that he wants two terms, and will groom his successor while in office. Melton also said that he's not worried about drug dealers trying to kill him. He said he's worried about the people who get the city contracts unfairly killing him, because he is going to put a stop to city hall awarding city contracts to cronies.

Now, the facts:

Staffers for Mayor Harvey Johnson (whom Melton is trying to unseat) refute the cronie contract claim. They say the issue was raised at meetings, and the list of people awarded city contracts was made available. That list has over one hundred names on it.

Melton told Democratic state officials that he filed his homestead exemption in Mississippi. Some reports say he even waved a piece of paper while exclaiming, "Here's the proof!" As we now know, his homestead exemption is filed in Texas. To be exact, it's in Tyler, Texas, the same city in which his former company, TV-3, Inc., had a station.

In a recent interview on WAPT, Melton was asked why he didn't attend a Mississippi Democratic Club forum. Melton told WAPT he couldn't attend because of a previous commitment, and because it was being hosted by one of the mayor's former employees. When Melton's former station, WLBT, when asked why he didn't attend the forum, Melton said it was because he didn't find out about the event until after the fact.

According to the club's officers, none of this is true. Melton's campaign told the club he had a ribbon cutting at 9:00 a.m. and that he would have to be at Tougaloo College by 11:00 a.m. That in mind, the club set the forum at a time to accommodate his schedule. The club also maintains they were the host of the event, not any singular former employee of Johnson.

On another matter regarding the forum, one of the moderators was Othor Cain, a member of the club's steering committee. Frank Melton's campaign, Carolyn Redd specifically, told club members Cain was publicly for Johnson, and therefore Melton would not attend if Othor Cain was moderating. When that happened, Cain immediately offered to step aside, leaving a Madison County resident as the sole moderator. Carolyn Redd was informed of this change (another accommodation made for Melton) and said he was reconsidering. Melton still refused to attend.

Club members say they wanted all Democratic candidates available to answer questions. They wanted to perform a public service in keeping with their mission to promote good government. Club members say they had been in contact with Melton's campaign, exchanging numerous phone calls and e-mail for almost 3 weeks prior to the candidates' forum. Most importantly, there are many members of the Mississippi Democratic Club who are (or at least were) supporting Frank Melton.

In a recent newspaper article, Melton was asked about his lack of participation in Mississippi elections. Melton replied, "because of the nature of my position in the media, it would have been unethical for me to support one candidate over the other. I wanted to be impartial and chose to vote in other places."

Melton followed that up by saying he voted in his hometown of Houston, Texas. Records do not support Melton's claims. Jennifer Ballard of the Harris County Clerk's Office in Houston said there is no record of Melton ever being a registered voter there.