Transcript of Melton Interview About Firefighters

Verbatim interview with Frank Melton conducted by JFP Managing Editor Brian Johnson on Tuesday, Aug. 15. Any use of of quotes from this interview without express attribution to the Jackson Free Press will be considered a copyright violation.
____

Brian Johnson: The Clarion-Ledger quotes you as saying that employees ought to be able to talk about issues that concern them—

Frank Melton: That is correct, and I feel very strongly about that.

BJ: OK. Then they had a quote later that you felt disrespected that they didn’t go through the chain of command.

FM: That is correct.

BJ: Can you explain—

FM: Absolutely. I want people to say whatever they want to say, with one covenant, and that is that it has to be the truth. The problem that I have here is that someone was very dishonest at the beginning of that story, when they said that they had tried to set up meetings with me. That is absolutely not true. I’ve not gotten a single call from any of them that have any concerns. When I was first elected, there was another young lady over the union. Her name is Chaundra. You can get her last name from the Fire Department—they’ll verify this for you. She set up a series of meetings with me. I met with them three times, two times downstairs and one time upstairs at City Hall. Every time she called, I responded. Since she’s no longer the president of the union, I’ve never gotten a single call from this individual. And the problem that I have is that I want them to talk to you and I want them to feel free to talk to you, but they haven’t said anything to the chief, they haven’t said anything to me or anybody on my staff. And that’s just wrong.

We might disagree, publicly, but at least I have the right to know what the issues are. They just circumvented the chief, circumvented me, and went straight to you. At this point, they are on administrative leave. That’s the decision that the chief has made, and I’m going to follow through on that. What they’ve done is wrong. This has been a systemic problem for a number of years. Either they’re going to straighten their act out or they’re not going to be firemen anymore.

BJ: And the systemic problem is griping to the—

FM: Yes sir, they want to decide who’s going to be fire chief, and last time I checked I think that’s my decision. I’m not going to put up with that. It’s politics, pure politics. My thinking—and I could be wrong—but my very strong thinking is that the taxpayers pay them to fight fires, not to start them. That’s kind of where my heart is. I made the statement at the State of the City that I wasn’t going to have anybody say anything negative about the city, and that includes city employees.

BJ: So you definitely are behind them being suspended. You’re supporting Chandler in that decision?

FM: Absolutely. I’m probably going to terminate them. What they’ve done is wrong. I don’t mind them talking to you anytime they want to talk to you, but I want to make sure that they tell you the truth.

BJ: Do you think that things they told the media including us are not factually correct then?

FM: Well, we do have a shortage of firefighters, and I’ve already admitted that. We’re going to work on that and we’re going to deal with that. The problem that I have—and I’m sure you can appreciate this—is that I’m learning it from the media, and not from them coming to me and saying, ‘Frank, this is what we need to deal with.’ And the other thing on the supplies—you know, I’m in Kroger a few months ago with some officers—we were just in there talking with some of the fire officials—and I found out then that they’re having to buy their own food. They’ve always had to do that, and I think that’s wrong. But again, nobody has said anything to me. It has nothing to do with Chief Chandler. This is the way they’ve always operated. I don’t care if it’s somebody who works in public works, that works in the gutter—if they have something that they need to tell me, I want them to come to us.

BJ: What do you think about them going to City Council and speaking to Mr. Allen about their issues?

FM: I’ve asked Mr. Allen to help me. He’s been there a lot longer than I have, and it’s the right thing to do; he understands the issue a lot better than I do. One of the things that I’m trying to do is reach out and get some help. I have full confidence that Ben will help me make the right decision, and that’s what he’s there for.

Recent Immigration Stories

Israel and Max Makoka Are Coming Home After ICE Arrests Galvanized Their Mississippi Community

Opinion | ‘Less Lethal’ Crowd-Control Weapons Still Cause Harm

Max and Israel Makoka Were Waiting for a Hancock High School Bus. ICE Took the Brothers Instead.

Bill Requiring Mississippi Agencies to Comply With ICE Moves Closer to Approval

The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.