Former Vicksburg Mayor Robert Walker has been tapped by Jackson Mayor-elect Frank Melton as chief administrative officer for Mississippi’s capital city.

“His strengths are my weaknesses and his weaknesses are my strengths. He’s a methodical, day-to-day manager. I’m a leader and a visionary,” Melton said Wednesday in announcing the appointment.

Walker, 61, began his elective career in his hometown after winning the District 3 seat on the Warren County Board of Supervisors followed by a 1988 victory in a six-person special election to become Vicksburg’s first black mayor. He was elected to a full term in 1989 and saw his re-election attempt defeated by Joe Loviza in 1993 before returning to City Hall four years later, defeating Loviza and garnering his biggest-ever elective win.

The Jackson administrator oversees the city’s daily management and is second in command to the mayor. Walker will replace Otha Burton, who announced his retirement in May after more than 20 years with the city.

“Whatever I do, I bring a work ethic to it,” Walker said Wednesday. “I also bring a knowledge about people and the process and I don’t have a big head about who gets the credit.”

Melton is scheduled to take office on July 4 after defeating Republican Rick Whitlow in the general election this month. The former television executive received the Democratic nomination in May after defeating two-term Mayor Harvey Johnson, a childhood friend of Walker’s in Vicksburg.

Jackson’s nine city department heads, including the administrator, are picked by the mayor but must be confirmed and have their salaries set by the seven-member city council.

In Vicksburg, the mayor is the chief executive officer of the city and has one of three votes on the Board of Mayor and Aldermen. When Walker left office, his annual salary was $56,531.

Since his re-election defeat, Walker has been a professor of history at Tougaloo College and Jackson State University.

Walker, the first black to receive a master’s degree at the University of Mississippi, was also the first black to sign on for a teaching assistant’s position there.

Walker is a former assistant secretary of state for elections and a former field secretary for the Mississippi chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

A fifth-generation Vicksburg resident, Walker reportedly said Wednesday that he will move to Jackson if his appointment is confirmed.

Melton also named Sarah O’Reilly-Evans, a Jackson lawyer who worked on Melton’s campaign, to his administration. She’ll replace City Attorney Terry Wallace, Melton said.