Jackson Jambalaya

I am supporting Robert Johnson to become Mayor of Jackson. I am not basing my vote on who has the best chance of winning or who I don't want to see Mayor but who I actually think is the best choice for Jackson to make. That choice is Robert Johnson.

Jackson is at a crossroads. Crime is at levels last seen in the early 1990's as in 2008, there were 75 homicides, the fifth-highest on record. JPD is in shambles. The last thing Jackson needs is the same crime that drove out so many fifteen years ago to do the same to those now trying to make a difference. Jackson faces seemingly endless competition from the suburbs while its tax base declines. One term of Frank destroyed morale and wrecked city government. After years of decline, Jackson does have a glimmer of hope with the renaissance of Downtown and Fondren, a glimmer that can spread to the rest of the city. Our future is at a crucial point right now and its imperative this time we get it right at the ballot box. We can't afford leaders for whom the Mayor's office will be a first full-time job or simply a job-training program. We need someone serious. Someone who doesn't pander or worry about polls. Someone who knows how to listen to everyone yet has the backbone to make decisions when needed. Jackson requires not just someone who claims to be an expert on everything but who also knows what he doesn't know. Such a person will be more inclined to seek the advice and counsel of true experts for the betterment of us all. Jackson does not need a planner or manager sitting in that chair but an actual leader. Leadership learned through experience and skill.

There are many candidates seeking to end the Melton disaster. Harvey thinks the Mayor's office is something he is entitled to as he still doesn't realize why so many people voted against him. Harvey served his two terms, which is enough for any mayor. No one should think of being Mayor as a career. Jackson needs change and fresh thinking, not old leaders from the past who've had their day and were rejected. Horhn is a good man with a good platform but has never actually run anything of substance, much less a city with a budget over $300 million. Crisler has never been anything but a street level cop, has never even actually run a department, yet somehow he is supposed to be qualified to understand running a capital city. The same Char-loving shysters who say being a cop makes him qualified to be Mayor would never allow a paralegal to be the managing partner at Phelps Dunbar. Can one imagine Jeff Goode allowing a busboy or waiter to operate all of his restaurants because he's "been in the restaurant business" for years? Please. Then there is Melton. Crime. Wrecked budgets. The constant lying. No arrests for drug sales for a whole year. The drinking. A JPD that has become even more of a joke with Chiefs such as Tyronne Lewis pimping their jobs out at every chance while they are rewarded for it. Frank needs to be thrown out of office as soon as possible.

Robert Johnson is a leader. While other candidate talk about their plans to fight crime, plans based on nothing but studies and ideas, Robert Johnson is uniquely qualified to lead Jackson in crafting a comprehensive crime plan based on actual experience. Johnson has always led from the front and doesn't need a consultant or mentor to tell him when or how to lead. One can look at Jackson's crime statistics for the last twenty years and see by the drop in crime when Johnson was Chief. Johnson ran the Mississippi Department of Corrections (with a budget comparable to Jackson's.). The two who performed best in the debates were the Brothers Johnson: Robert and Havey. Robert Johnson will put an end to a JPD run by pimps and rejects who can't get a job anywhere else. A Robert Johnson administration will make fighting crime a serious priority that will help all Jacksonians, not just those in a particular area or friends of the right politician.

While Johnson understands crime-fighting, he also understands how important economic development is to Jackson's future. Johnson sees the surrounding communities as neighbors and potential partners, not competitors. He knows how important the current projects are and how important a partnership with Jackson's business community is to our future. However, stopping crime is economic development as businesses will go where customers are and customers aren't going where they are in danger. Businesses and customers expect action and support from the city, not plans, excuses, or a Mayor telling them their problems are a "perception". Johnson is a straight-shooter who doesn't always tell someone what he wants to hear or allow himself to be "managed" by others. He'll stand up to business interests who seek to rip-off Jackson or politicians who try to kill business projects just to make themselves look good at our expense

Robert Johnson is not the best talker. He's not smoooove. He doesn't give the best speech. Begging others for money is not his forte. Being a lapdog so the press will like him as never been his style. He doesn't have 20 talking points that have been drilled into his brain for years with little other thought behind them as do other candidates. He's not even the best candidate.

He's just the best man for the job.