The Missing Piece

Mayor Willie Herenton's real estate deal was the latest questionable Herenton action to come to light. Seems that one of the Mayor's office staff, Tonia Jackson, got a hefty ($20,000) raise last summer and bought a house from the Mayor the day after Christmas. The obvious question was: Did the raise make the transaction possible? Did the Mayor profit handsomely or did Jackson get a sweet-heart deal?

Another question was: Why did he do it? That answer may have come to light over the weekend. On the Andrew Clark radio show Saturday afternoon, Thaddeus Matthews (another talk show host, currently without a show) called in to say that there was a romantic relationship between the Mayor and Ms. Jackson. The Mayor has been seen squiring Ms. Jackson around town.

Now it all makes sense, doesn't it? It's a shame that the central unifying facet of the story was left to the rumor mill. You and I don't usually have access to that sort of thing. Kudos to Clark and Matthews for getting it out into the public.