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PAGE 10-THE MERCER CLUSTER-MAY 21.1982
Gubernatorial Race
Buck Melton
Mercerian In The Race
Buckner F. (“Buck") Melton was born
October 24, 1923 in Arlington, Georgia.
His father was Henry Martin Melton, a
respected Baptist minister. His mother,
Mary Layman Melton, was a native of
Louisville, Kentucky. Melton attended
grade schools in Arlington, Norman Park
and Moultrie. He graduated from
Moultrie High School.
Melton began his college education at
Norman College and subsequently ob
tained an AB Degree from Mercer
University. He is also a 1949 graduate
of the Walter F. George School of Law at
Mercer.
Mr. Melton joined the United States
Navy in 1942 and two years later
graduated from Midshipman School at
Northwestern University in Chicago. He
served in the Pacific and Far East.
Shortly after leaving the service,
Melton began practicing law in Macon in
a one-room office in the Washington
Block Building. However, the Navy
recalled him fpr two more years of active
duty during the Korean War (1951-
1962). After retiring as a Lieutenant
Commander, Mr. Melton returned to
Macon to continue his legal career and to
begin a family with his wife Tommie.
Today, the Meltons have tWo children.
Buck Jr. is a student at Mercer
University and Leigh, a 1977 graudate of
the University of Georgia, is now living
with her husband, Charles Singleton, in
Madison. Wisconsin.
From 1959 to 1963, Mr. Melton was
the City Attorney for Macon. He has also
served as a lawyer for other governmen
tal units, such as the Middle Georgia
Coliseum Authority. Ho currently serves
as counsel to the Macon-Bibb County
Urban Development Authority and the
Macon-Bibb County Industrial Authori
ty. He is a member of numerous
organizations and has served as Presi
dent of the Macon Bar Association and
President of the Greater Macon Cham
ber of Commerce, of which he is now a
Director.
Melton, The Mayor
On November 4, 1976, Buck Melton
was overwhelmingly elected Mayor of
Macon, winning 41 of 42 city precincts.
Upon assuming office on December 10,
1975, Melton resigned from his success
ful law firm previously known as Melton,
McKenna & House. The resignation waa
not required under the Macon city
charter but Mr. Melton felt it was
appropriate.
Melton’s service as Mayor of Macon
has been characterized as progressive
and stable. During his term, significant
new industry located in Macon and the
city experienced a substantial reduction
in unemployment. The city’s deficit was
replaced by a $2 million reserve, the
number of city employees was reduced
by 100 and ad valorem taxes were
reduced significantly. These accomplish
ments were made in large part because
the Mayor’s expertise in economic
development and effective management
and administrative abilities.
Mr. Melton did not seek re-election as
Mayor of Macon, deciding to return to
private law practice in December, 1979,
instead. He is now a partner in the
Macon firm of Sell & Melton. Melton also
serves as a Busbee appointee on the
State Board of Industry and Trade, as a
director of the Greater Macon Chamber
of Commerce, as a member of the Board
of Visitors of Georgia College, as
Chairman of the Advisory Council of the
Hay House, as a member of the
Executive Committee of Forward Ma
con, and as a Trustee of the Mercer
Medical School.
Mr. and Mrs. Melton and their son,
Buckner, Jr., reside in Macon. The
Meltons attend St. Paul's Episcopal
Church in Macon.
Melton,
The Candidate
Buck Melton has been a leading
citizen of Macon, Georgia for the past 35
years. As a successful lawyer and
businessman, he has proven himself
many times as a qualified leader. He ia ’
the only gubernatorial candidate who
has had the executive experience of
managing a large governmental entity.
And because of the increased burdens
put on the state by the new Federalism
program, that kind of experience is an
absolute requirement for the next
Governor of Georgia.
When he was Mayor of Macon, one of
Georgia’s largest cities, Melton achieved
goals that many .large city mayors envy.
Some of these accomplishments were :
- managroent of one of the most
effective police departments in the state;
- replacement of the city’s deficit with
a $2 million reserve;
• recruitment of new industry to
Macon, resulting in a broader economic
base and substantial reduction in dty
unemployment;
- substantial reduction in tip number
of city employees;
• development of dty financial pro
gram that provided for; 1 ) improved dty
programs, 2 ) better compensation for
dty employees, and 3 ) municipal
solvency.
Melton’s leadership in the fields of
urban development, economic develop
ment. health care and other munidpal
activities have resulted in numerous
awards. Among them are:
- the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award
from Mercer University;
- the Motie Wiggins Award, the
highest hor.br awarded by the Georgia
Munidpal Association;
- a Special Award from Georgia Trust
for Historical Preservation.
Buck Melton is a logical choice for
Governor, as his political history has
shown. H* has the experience and the
know-how to do the job, and to do it well.
That fact is quickly spreading through
the state as the people from “Tybee
Island to Rabun Gap’’ meet the man and
learn that his sincerity is matched only
by his enthusiasm.
As the Spring Quarter draws to a
dose, many students will be lining up at
the Mercer Bookstore to sell back their
used books. The used books will be sold
to the buyer in the front of the store «pd,
as history shows, the student will lerfve
the store with a general feeling that he or
she had been ripped-off. “How can the
bookstore pay me only a fraction of what
I originally paid (for the book) then turn
around and put it back on the shelf for
much more?’' This was a question raised
by many students on campus, so SGA
decided to look into it.
The manager of the bookstore, Rodney
Smith, was most helpful in providing
information concerning the store’s gen
eral operating procedure and, primarily,
the used book program. According to
Smith, at the end of each quarter, a
“buyer” is sent from a used book
distributing company out of Atlanta, the
Georgia Book Company. This buyer (the
one thw student deals with at the front of
company at current wholesale prices,
then redistributes them out of Atlanta to
other bookstores for half the retail price
per book.
The question now arises concerning
our bookstore's involvement in this
“buy-back-book” process. When the
buyer arrives, Smith requests a certain
number of the books the buyer takes in,
for which Smith pays half the retail fee of
each book. For example, Smith requests
ten Business Law books. The first ten
students selling Bus. Law books will
receive half the retail price of the same
book, new. Smith, in turn, pays the
buyer half retail to put the books back on
the shelf as used books. Now, every
other Bus. Law book the buyer takes in,
outside the. first ten requested, will
bought back at wholesale prices, as
previously mentioned, and taken to
Atlanta.
A question may now come up
Conwuiedon Page-It - • *
Buck Melton
Used Books At The Mercer
Bookstore: Not A Rip-Off
the store) buys the used books for his