HOW WILL TV EXEC DO AS NARC CHIEF?

Being willing to work for free should help.

One thing about Gov. Ronnie Musgrove. He comes up with a surprise every now
and then. Like Wednesday when he named Jackson television station executive
Frank Melton as the new director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics.

There's no question that Melton, whose commentaries are often seen on WLBT
Channel 3, is against drugs and committed to making Mississippi a better
and safer place.

He personally works with underprivileged children, advocating a tough love
that appeals to rank-and-file Mississippians. He is charismatic and
obviously has leadership qualities.

But he has no law enforcement experience. Nor is he attuned to working
within the bureaucracy of state government.

One advantage to putting Melton in the job, assuming that he receives
Senate confirmation, is that he's willing to work for free. The previous
Narcotics Bureau director, Don Strange, resigned in part over his
continuing frustrations with the amount of funding his agency received from
the Legislature. The $60,000 salary that Melton is forgoing could go toward
hiring another agent or two.

We won't predict how Melton will handle his new role. Actually doing a job,
though, is more difficult than pontificating on how it should be done.

We'll soon see. It should be interesting.