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Coast mayors face new challenges

By: Mary Perez

The economy may be the Katrina that challenges South Mississippi’s five new mayors who take office Monday, bringing more life knowledge than government experience to their jobs.

The last crop of new mayors that took office in 2005 had just six weeks to settle in before Hurricane Katrina devastated their cities and added responsibilities they never could have seen coming.

This time the major hurdle is already in sight and the mayors will immediately take on the budget for the next year.

Robbie Maxwell

“The big thing is the economy nationwide is affecting everyone, especially on this level,” said Gulfport Mayor-elect George Schloegel.

The cities will be doing some belt tightening this year, when tax revenues are down and development projects are on hold until the economy improves. The mayors will face laying off staff, budget cuts or increasing taxes.

“I know there’s some hard decisions to be made,” said Tommy Fortenberry, mayor-elect of Gautier. He and the other mayors said communication is going to be key, between both the mayor and council, and the elected officials and residents.

What Gautier needs most is to become respected again, Fortenberry said. “It’s time for the fighting to stop.” Instead of the residents waiting to see if the new mayor and council stumble, he hopes they’ll work with the city.

The tension that existed between the councils and mayors in several cities will hopefully end, the new mayors said.

“We’re communicating,” Schloegel said of the new officials and the city staff. He’s impressed with the professionalism of the employees. “The transition is my transition because the city already had a good team in place.”

Les Fillingame, the new mayor of Bay St. Louis, plans to revamp the city workshops to regularly engage the staff and Robbie Maxwell, the new mayor of Pascagoula, said he’ll make working within the city his first priority.

It’s been a busy month between the general election and the swearing in ceremonies for the new mayors.

“Retirement was short,” quipped Schloegel, who traded the Hancock Bank tower for City Hall. Since he won the election, “I’m extremely busy,” he said while hurrying from one meeting to the next. “I’m having a good time.”

Aneice Liddell said there’s too much time between the primaries and taking office. The new Moss Point mayor has the most government experience of the five, having served as an alderman. “I think I’m up to the challenge,” she said.

The other new mayors bring business and law enforcement experience to their jobs.

If a major hurricane hits again, Fillingame has the most disaster experience of the new mayors. He’s served as the recovery coordinator for Bay St. Louis since Katrina and thinks that experience can help the city recover faster. A big problem is there’s still no supermarket in town, and he said, “there’s some things that we can do to make that happen.”

Every city is still rebuilding from the storm and the new mayors in many cases will be completing the vision of the former mayors and councils.

“There’s a lot going on in Pascagoula,” said Pascagoula’s Maxwell. The city has over 100 projects, from filling potholes to his favorite, building a new waterfront tourist attraction.

The property along the riverfront is paid for and now he said the city needs to select the best developer. “We’ve got to be right,” he said. “I believe we’ll change Pascagoula forever.”

Fortenberry said there is little he can do by himself as mayor of Gautier, but pulling together with the council and the residents, “there are bright days ahead for Gautier.” He wants to form economic development committees and eventually a Gautier chamber of commerce.

“That brings pride in our city,” he said.

As the Coast’s biggest city, Gulfport also has the biggest projects. The downtown and port are being rebuilt and Schloegel will focus on industrial and retail development and building housing downtown to support the new businesses.

A priority in Moss Point is getting the government out of the trailers that have housed the city offices since Katrina. “That would show people we’re moving forward,” said Liddell. She wants to communicate better with the public and clean up the city. “Organize and prioritize. We’re going to get it done,” she said, systematically digging out the culverts and enforcing ordinances to get residents to clean their yards.

The mayors ran for the job, not for the title, and also because of the love they have for their cities, said Fortenberry.

“I didn’t need mayor on the front of my name. I wanted to bring brighter days and positive change to the city.”

Posted at www.sunherald.com on July 4, 2009

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