Jackson Jambalaya

(Click on chart to enlarge)

One of the main arguments you hear in support of John Ditto is that his father served two terms as Mayor of Jackson. The major issue facing Jackson right now is the crime epidemic. However, if one is supposed to support Mr. Ditto because of his father's service, one must ask what exactly was Mayor Kane Ditto's record on fighting crime? The above chart (click on chart to enlarge) is a compilation of crime statistics since 1981. Mayor Ditto's term was from 1989 to 1997 when he was defeated by Harvey Johnson.

As shown in the chart, crime skyrocketed under Mayor Ditto's watch, including the highest number of homicides ever recorded in Jackson in a single year and then decreased during Mayor Johnson's term.

Homicides went from 40 reported cases in 1989 to 91 in 1994, never falling below 60 a year until after his term was completed. Auto theft shot up from 1,080 reported cases in 1989 to 4,952 in 1994. After 1992, the number of reported cases of auto theft was at a minimum of 3200 was at least 3,269 a year. Before Mayor Ditto's term, there was never more than a thousand reported cases of auto theft in a single year. Larceny, along with other categories, skyrocketed as well and stayed at a high level for the remainder of his term. There was some improvement in crime during at the end of his term, which coincided with the service of Police Chief Robert Johnson. If one looks at the chart more closely, one can see that crime decreased steadily under the Johnson administration.

Mayor Ditto's record also consisted of hiring incompetent police chiefs such as David Walker and Jimmy Wilson along with endless turmoil in the JPD. The City Council, led by Credell Calhoun (recently seen trying to get his nephew, the JSU shooter, off the hook), Kenneth "I didn't know I owned crackhouses" Stokes, and Louis Armstrong (last seen taking bribes from strip club owners and being involved with the man who firebombed The Jackson Advocate while toking up with his son on tape) became a weekly circus disgracing the City of Jackson while Mayor Ditto sat meekly in chambers watching the circus (at least Melton walks out when he has had enough even though he is usually wrong.).

Mayor Ditto was a fairly weak mayor as crime exploded under his watch. Jackson is facing some very serious problems. The last thing I want is the expertise that brought us nearly 100 homicides a year and Jimmy Wilson.

Having said that, I do not know John Ditto and have only met him once. I thought he was nice as well as being very intelligent. He might be perfectly qualified to sit on the City Council. I am usually not one to count someone's parents or relatives against him when I enter the voting booth. I am also not going to vote for someone because I hope he might just be like his relative. There are too many problems facing Jackson right now. We need to elect leaders on their merits, not on a false hope based on who their parents are.