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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
Note that any opinions expressed in legacy Jackson Free Press stories do not reflect a position of the Mississippi Free Press or necessarily of its staff and board members.

Rommel Benjamin wrote a great truth-telling column in “Race Still Matters” (Vol. 11, Issue 46).

—Ray Carter

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Channel 3 had the third mayoral debate but told my camp since I don’t have a title before my first name that I’m not invited. Let me remind Jackson voters who the other candidates are in this mayoral race – high priced attorneys and smooth talking politicians. These people are master communicators and experts on the delivery of sound bites. And if you listen to them long enough, you might actually start believing their eloquently play of word. And forget that these are the same people who have been running Jackson for year, had opportunities to do most of the things that they are promising now but only contributed to Jackson’s woes. These high priced attorneys and smooth talking politicians didn’t just mess up one mall, but two. The words “Office” or “Medical” should never come after the word Mall. Malls are for shopping and hospitals are for medical treatment. The two should never be combined – Jackson Medical Mall. They allowed Metro Center developer David Watkins to take over half a million dollars in funds allocated for the Metro Center project to build a new police station in Meridian. They have botched Farish Street, wasting over 6 million tax payers’ dollars in their attempt to transform Jackson’s historic Farish Street into an entertainment district. Developers, John Elkington in 2008 and David Watkins (the same thief of the Metro Center) earlier this fall, each hit dead ends and have given us nothing but debt and excuses. Now the project lies in litigation. They are also credited for running businesses like MCI WorldCom and now Sam’s Club (two of the biggest boost to our tax base) out of town because of their inability to negotiate. The main businesses they have attracted to our city are payday loan and liquor stores. They make doing business here harder than it should be. They even threaten to fine my business, a none profit community center offering afterschool services, training and seminars, social activities for the elderly, and event rental to the public, over a few yard signs posted in our front yard. They have not been faithful over the few things assigned to them why should we, the voters make any of them a ruler of many. Under my leadership as mayor, we will complete Farish Street. I will also develop Lake Hico into a tourist and recreation spot for Jackson citizens to enjoy. After assisting Jackson businesses in marketing, we will have a shop Jackson Day once a quarter in different parts of our Capital City. We will attract new businesses into our city. It’s time for our city to move forward and reach the economic prowess of our neighboring cities. These cities are not our enemies and what they have done to achieve their level of success – Jackson under my leadership we will do it also. I will invest back into the people who have invested so much in our city – starting with pay raises for city employees. Albert Wilson, candidate for Mayor


Dear Mr. Wilson, I don’t live in your Ward, but, I attended debates when you were running for the Council. I must be honest, I am a supporter of former Mayor Harvey Johnson, Jr. I have followed him for each of his terms in office and I also lived through the disappointment when this community elected Frank Melton and he was out of office for 4 years. If you read the blogs, you will find several wherein I have supported your right to be a part of the Mayoral debates.

Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.