Harvey’s Running For Mayor, Again
File Photo
February 2, 2009
Former Jackson mayor Harvey Johnson announced his candidacy for mayor on Saturday. Speaking in front of the Jackson Convention Complex, Johnson pointed to achievements from his two mayoral terms.
“It was five years ago that we all stood together, in an act of self-determination and hope, and sent a message that we could bring new jobs to Jackson,” Johnson said, referring to the citywide referendum that financed the Convention Complex.
Johnson pledged to recruit more police officers, reinstate the Crime Prevention Unit, fully staff the city’s fire department and grants development department and establish a JPD Victims Rights Office.
Speaking to reporters after his announcement, Johnson did not say how he planned to fund his promised improvements.
“We’ll have to develop the financing mechanisms to do that,” he said. “First of all, we have to look at enhancing our revenue, but not on the backs of our taxpayers.”
Johnson also promised to use the City Stat system to bring “a new level of transparency and accountability” to Jackson’s municipal government. The former mayor acknowledged that his own administration needed some improvement in that respect.
“One of the things that we did not take seriously enough is this notion of accountability,” Johnson said. “Not just my accountability, but up and down the line. I think that citizens are looking for city workers—not just elected officials, not just department heads, but all the people that they’re paying the salaries for—to be accountable.”
During his campaign, Johnson will emphasize his past success in bringing development to the city.
“We’re going to make sure, without bragging and without boasting, that people understand that a lot of the seeds that are coming to fruition now were planted in my administration,” Johnson said.
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