• Egger: “I am a patient man. . .I will find the money.”
• Pinero: There was pressure from “leadership”
• Guoguet: We have got to “set priorities”

There were a lot of quotable responses to citizens who lined up to ask questions of the 12 of 17 candidates that attended the Chamber political forum on Monday, April 27. None of the incumbents running for office attended the forum. Also, all mayoral candidates were there except Sen. Ezell Lee. Although there were only about 80 persons attending the event, the question segment went on for about one-and-a-half  hours. Here’s a small sample:

Question to Wayne Gouguet, candidate Precinct 5: Would you help us to understand how you would go about the financial oversight of the city?

Gouguet: “I think what we have seen over the past eight years is the instability in the position of city clerk and city manager. I think they have gotten a pretty good city clerk now. She’s doing a good job. I think the city council needs to be more adept at keeping up with whether we are or are not within budget. I believe there are going to have to be some priorities that have to be set. This year we increased taxes by $500,000 to meet the budget in 09. We can’t keep raising taxes. We are going to have to set priorities. There is going to be some hard decisions. We’ve got a lot of debt out there. There is more debt we have coming up in about 2 years that we will have to start paying for. A lot of debt is gradually coming up, and I think there is going to be some hard decisions in the years to come. We will have to get some economic development in here to help.”

Question to Pinero, mayoral candidate: You worked as city manager for a time. Please tell us in plain English what went on to cause us to lose a lot of money in the utility fund?

Pinero: “The No. 1 issue we had in losing dollars was the excessive turnover in city clerks and city managers. About the time you would get a qualified city clerk and they would get the grasp of the budget or where the problems were created, that person received such pressure when it was time to fix them, from the leadership, quite frankly, the people moved on. ..Sometimes to fix a problem you are going to have to lose some votes, but I think in the aggregate you actually gain votes by taking a leadership stance to fix it and taking the pressure off the employees.”

Question to Egger: What would you do to fix the financial problems of the city?

Egger: “I am a patient man. I will find the money. I will find out what happened. . . They (incumbents running for office) should be here. You know they make about $300 per hour while they set over there. Even if they don’t come to the meetings, they still get paid. . .I have lived in Picayune 41 years, and I have never seen our city in the shape it is in now. Our streets are falling apart; our sewer system is collapsing; and no one seems to know what to do about it. Where is all our money that we got from Katrina? There were grants, funds that were forgiven; it’s hard to get anything out of the city over there. ”

I personally was interested in the comment by Pinero about the pressure placed on employees by what he termed “the leadership,” which, I reckon he means by council members.

I think we all, including the current council, need a little briefing here on how the city manager-council form of government is supposed to work. There actually is not supposed to be any interaction between council members and city employees as relates to employee jobs and city business. 

The way the council-city manager form of government is set up is supposed to take as much pressure like that, called political pressure, out of our city government. Our current form of government was voted in here during the early 1950s when a political dispute between powerful business interests at the time tore the city apart financially and caused the resignation of a mayor.

It works if the council stays out of the employees’ work and business. The council is supposed under our system to be like a board of directors. If they have a problem, they have to work with and through the city manager, who operates like a chief executive. He hires and fires and runs the everyday operations of the city. He is like the Chief Executive. The City Clerk is like the chief financial officer for a corporation.

If the council is not satisfied with the conduct and management of the city by the city manager, all it takes is four of the six votes on the council to fire him and get someone else. The council is supposed to set broad general policy and consult with the city manager to see that that policy is carried out. Nothing else. If they did only what they were prescribed to do by policy, they might seem to be overpaid. I think the councilmen make $1,200 per month and the mayor $1,600.  I have no problem with their pay, however, since they are called on to make the hard decision.

This mingling of councilmen in the business of the employees trying to do their job in the city is not supposed to be. If a councilman has a problem, he should go directly to the city manager, not an employee, thus overriding the very executive hired to solve these problems.

I realize it is very tempting and hard to resist getting involved in the day-to-day operations of the city if you are a councilman, but according to our form of government, that type of behavior is proscribed. If voters and the council here don’t like it that way, they can change the form of government we use, and elect a mayor to run the city.

There has been criticism about the city manager-council form of government, critics saying our form of government removes the decision maker, the city manager, away from the people. He is not elected; he is appointed by the council.

I really don’t know what form is the best. I think any form will work properly if people are honest, trustworthy and cooperative in their efforts to better our city, its people and government.

• He says he is being “kept in the dark” about important information he needs to plan and complete projects in his north Picayune district.

Precinct 1 Councilman Larry Watkins, who is in a tough race for that seat with Jeff Lossett, has charged this week that he is being intentionally not informed of some matters pertaining to planned improvements in his district.

Watkins said he voted no in the Monday, April 27, council meeting on a citywide $295,000 paving project, that was equally divided among the five precincts. He said one reason for his negative vote was because a project of lighting Hwy. 43 North has lain dormant for months even though the money is there. He said he also voted no because the action Monday rescinded a March 24 council resolution that had already determined how the money should be divided.

The project called for installing street lights along Hwy. 43 North between Hwy. 11 and  I-59. The section of 43 North is a main entrance to north Picayune and is very dark at night. Watkins said because the project was not done, he now faces a conflict of spending his money on roads or the lighting project.

In the most recent resolution adopted Monday, each district will get $59,000 for overlay and repair of streets.

The funds come from bond money the council has held since 2004-2005 fiscal year. It originally amounted to about $600,000 but over the years has dwindled down to about a $305,000 remaining balance, Watkins said.

Watkins said that there had been money in the state aid fund to do the project right now and “that it was kept hidden from me.”

He said a spokesman at Mississippi Power, which would have installed the lights, said MPC had been told by a city official that the project would not be done. The MPC official would not name the city official who told the MPC official it would not be done, Watkins said.

That came after the council had unanimously in a previous meeting voted to do the project, Watkins added.

“I am charging that I was intentionally kept in the dark on the project,” he said. “I want the people in my district to know what is going on in city hall when it comes to improvements in their area. It was going on before I got there, and it is still going on.”

“It seems to me that they think north Picayune is just here to pay taxes. They are not spending money in this district as they should. Look at a map,” he further charged.

“They have money right now that could be used on this project that they voted to do,” he said.

One report said that the council in last Monday’s meeting voted 4-1, with the mayor not casting a vote, to do the overlay project with bond monies that would take in all precincts, with the money being evenly divided about $59,000 to each district. Total funding is $295,000 in bond monies for the paving project.  However, exactly what happened is, as usual, confusing.

Watkins said he understood the vote was 4-2, with him and Precinct 3 Councilwoman Anna Turnage voting no, too. “And for the vote to be 4-2, that means the mayor had to vote for the project also,” said Watkins. It takes four votes, a majority, to pass any policy or directives outlined by the council. If four votes can be arrived at among councilmen, sometimes the mayor does not have to vote, or can cast the deciding vote.

The council prompted criticism when it set the Monday, April 27, recessed meeting to discuss the overlay project at 6 p.m. because it conflicted with a Chamber-sponsored political forum in conjunction with the upcoming city elections in May.

Critics charged it was a cover so incumbent candidates wouldn’t have to attend the forum, but city officials said they had no choice but to go with the scheduled meeting because a delay could result in a loss of funds. Councilmen Leaverne Guy and Donald L. Parker, who both are seeking re-election, showed up at the Chamber forum, shaking hands, after the forum ended at about 8:30 p.m. Watkins, also running, did not show up, although he had previously said he was going to try and make the council and the chamber meetings.

We called Turnage about her vote on the  paving project, and she so far has not returned our call.

The question remains: why would one, maybe two councilmen, vote no on a quarter-million dollar paving project for the city when streets are in such need of repair and overlay? 

Monday’s decision overrode a resolution adopted on March 24, dividing up bond and federal funds among the districts amounting to about $1 million. The March 24 resolution had a stipulation in it that reduced some district’s allocation for paving funds by the amount of federal Economic Recovery Project funds they have received.

That stipulation would have drastically reduced a few precincts future monies. Precinct 4 Councilman Leaverne Guy protested and lobbied against the March 24 resolution since the stipulation would have reduced his paving funds and he said he was not present at the March 24 meeting. The council then decided to call up the issue again even though it had been adopted by a 4-vote majority already on March 24. It takes 4 votes to adopt a resolution. 

The council then on Monday without any explanation voted a new division of the funds and left out the stipulation. Turnage and Watkins voted no, saying they stood on the original March 24 decision on splitting the funds and the stipulation.

Following is a breakdown of the roads proposed to be paved in the project and the costs:

Watkins’ Precinct 1 — Carleen Court $18,000; Fishhook Lane $23,000; Eagle Court $18,000.

Parker’s Prencinct 2 — Palm Street $16,000; 2nd Street $43,000.

Turnage’s Precinct 3 — Evangeline Drive $59,000.

Guy’s Precinct 4 — Betsy Drive $44,000; Rosa Street striping $15,000.

Bounds Precinct 5 — 2nd Street $19,500; 3rd Street $19,500; Rester Street $15,000; and Alley behind Magnolia Coffeehouse $5,000.

(Developing; more to come)

• Daniels is widely respected in state circles
• City’s budget amounts to about $9.6 million a year
• She says 2007-2008 audit should be in on time in Sept.

The new Picayune City Clerk said in an interview with “At-Large” that the city is in line to meet its budget projections for the current fiscal year, 2008-2009. The city runs a budget that totals about $9.6 million a year.

Priscilla Daniels, who has served as city clerk here since October, said that she also believes that the 2007-2008 city audit will be delivered on time in September.

If that is done, it will be the first time in several years that the audit will be delivered on time. The last available audit for the city for 2006-2007 came in seven to eight months late.

Daniels, who came out of retirement to take the Picayune job, worked for 25 years for the city of Petal, Miss. She retired in 2001 and was noted in state circles for keeping one of the best set of city books in Mississippi. 

She once headed the state city clerk’s association, and a state auditor in Jackson, who knows her, told “At-Large,” “If she can’t get the books straightened out, then probably nobody can.”

Says Daniels, “I am not saying that we don’t have some problems, but we are in line for meeting our budget this year. We are half way through this year’s budget and we are where we are supposed to be.”

Under state law, the city clerk is responsible for keeping track of city finances. That’s just one of a clerk’s many duties. But the main job is keeping track of the money.

“I often tell people that the city clerk’s job is the second oldest profession,” Daniels said, jokingly. “As far back as you can go, even to the caveman, someone has been recording what the political leaders do.”

She said the general fund 2008-2009 budget is $9.6 million. The revenue to support the budget comes from the following sources: 20 percent from ad valorem taxes (mostly property), 47 percent from the state sales tax rebate, and the remaining 33 percent from court fines and fees charged for privilege licenses, franchise fees and varous state and federal grants.

She said that a person owning an average residential property valued at $100,000 in the City of Picayune paid in 2009 for 2008 property taxes the following: 

• 22.66 mills, or $226.60 to the General Fund
• 3.92 mills, or $39.00 to debt service
• 2.00 mills, or $20 to library
• 0.25 mills, or $2.50 to fire protection

That comes to a grand total of 28.83 mills, or $288.30 to the city general fund. School taxes are 56.14 mills or $561.40 to the school fund. A mill is one-tenth of a penny.

Here’s how the money is spent:

• Beginning cash balance, $895,448 or 8 percent
• Council and Administration, $1.4 million or 15 percent
• Community Development and Retirement Development, $140,445, or 1 percent
• Zoning and planning and code enforcement, $165,158, or 2 percent
• Police dept., $2.8 million, or 30 percent
• Fire dept., $2.2 million, or 23 percent
• Streets, $1.4 million, or 16 percent
• Court, $168,024, or 2 percent
• Transfer to Long Term Debt, $282,000, or 3 percent

She said recreation and development is funded by the special one cent sales tax on prepared food in the city.

She said the utility dept. operates on a budget of $4.9 million funded entirely by the fees and payments for water and gas. The utility dept. is required to be self-supporting and stands separately from the general fund.

There is supposed not to be any transfers from the general fund to the utility fund because that would mean that taxpayers who do not purchase gas from the city are subsidizing those who do.

But that has not been the case in recent years, when interfund transfers took place to make up for deficits in the utility dept. Some say losses were in the millions of dollars.

At one time under former City Manager Jack Reed during the 1950s and 1960s, the utility fund was used to support the general fund, but that was when two large industrial users pumped large sums of money into the gas dept. That is no longer the case, prompting some to suggest that Picayune should get rid of or sell the gas unit to a private company.

When the utility fund was helping support the general fund, Picayune was known statewide to have one of the lowest property tax rates in the state, but that is no longer the case.

Daniels said that a program to collect delinquent utility bills is being implemented and that the utility bill will be redesigned so that it will be more understandable to utility customers.

She said the city’s whole financial system, like a bank, is based on “trust.” She added, “You have to have confidence that people will do their prescribed jobs and do them to the best of their ability. Then if everyone works together and cooperates, things work out.”

Daniels worked at Petal as city clerk when Petal experienced explosive growth, as the city of Hattiesburg exploded in growth and fueled Petal’s economy, too. 

After retiring in 2001, she and her husband moved to Ocean Springs, Miss., to be near her ill mother. Then Katrina wiped them out.  In January she took her last treatment for an illness that had caused her retirement, and she says “the hand of God was in that.”

City Manager Harvey Miller hired her.

Daniels said almost 50 percent of the city’s general fund budget is supported by a state rebate of a portion of the 7 percent city sales tax businesses charge here on each retail sale.

She said the current budget needs on average about $377,000 in sales tax rebate money from the state to meet its budget. So far this year through March the city rebate has averaged that.

The largest one-month sales tax rebate check from the state occurred in February 2006 and was for $592,614, and reflected all the spending generated by Katrina rebuilding and the influx of refugees.

The latest settlement for March was $349,000 and February’s settlement was for $415,680.95.

“And we are flush with money right now because property tax monies are flowing in,” she said.

In addition to all this, Coast Electric and Mississippi Power are assessed a three percent tax on all their collections.

In the latest audit for 2006-2007 showed a balance in the utility fund of over $300,000. She said there has been a problem with collection of fines in the court system, but a plan has been implemented to solve that problem and collection of delinquent fines are way up.

“So, so far, we are holding our own,” she said.

Following are sales tax rebate amounts from the state for the fiscal year 2008-2009 through March:

October, $392,239.85; November, $381,296.07; December, $366,867.89; January, $358,769.07; February, $415,680.95; March, $349,000.

(developing, more to come)

By JOHN DAVID FARRELL

At-Large Correspondent

About 150 persons attended the Pearl River Patriots meeting on Friday night, April 24, at 6 at the Church of the Way Gymnasium at the entrance to Hide-A-Lake.

Eric Norman, who emceed the gathering, said the group’s founder was ill and unable to attend.

“I hope you all realize the financial situation we are in, and we all are going along for the ride,” he said. Norman said he wanted the public to know that “we are not just a bunch of conspiracy nuts.” He added, “We are deeply concerned about the direction of our country.”

He presented a video developed by “Truth and Equity.com” showing how money is created inside the banking system. “The Federal Reserve is owned by the member banks,” he said.

Organizers also passed out information sheets seeking volunteers to man the proposed committees. Patriots are still attempting to organize after getting started in connection with the April 15 Tea Party here.

The local Tea Party was held in connection with thousands held all over America.

Patriots is more connected with Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project rather than the Tea Party movement, Norman said. Beck is a conservative radio talk show host and Fox News commentator.

The Patriots website is Pearl River Patriots.com. They outline their plans on that website. Norman did not say when the next meeting would be held.

• All 4 incumbent candidates skip forum to attend conflicting council meeting held at same time
• Egger says he’ll find the money; adds its the worst government he has seen in 41 years;
•  Pinero says he will take no salary, give it to the fire and police depts.

About 80 persons attended the Chamber forum in the high school auditorium on Monday night, April 27,  and 12 of the 17 candidates seeking a city council seat showed up at the forum. In the meantime the city council met at the same time at city hall in a meeting that conflicted directly with the forum.

The council has told the press that they had to meet to decide how to split up funds among five districts for paving projects. However other candidates charged the meeting was set to give the incumbents running for office cover or an excuse for not attending the forum.

Councilman Leaverne Guy and Councilman Donald L. Parker appeared at the forum shortly after it ended about 8:30 p.m. It began at 6 p.m. Both Guy and Parker are running for re-election. They had come from the council meeting that had just adjourned.

The candidates were seated on stage. Attending in the mayor’s race were Frank Egger, Ed Pinero and Mark Thorman. Mayoral candidate State Senator Ezell Lee was absent. 

In the councilmanic races, in Precinct 1, attending was Jeff Lossett. Incumbent Larry Watkins, who had signed up to attend the forum, was at the council meeting and did not show up at the forum.

In Precinct 2, present were Lynn Bogan Bumpers, Kimberly R. Chapman and Robert Jefferson.  Parker was not present. He was at the council meeting. However, he appeared at the auditorium shortly after the forum ended.

In Precinct 3, Todd Lane was present, but incumbent Anna Bales Turnage was at the council meeting and absent from the forum.

In Precinct 4, Larry E. Breland attended, and Guy was at the council meeting and showed up shortly after the forum ended.

In Precinct 5, all three candidates, all Republicans, were present — Howard Alexander, Wayne Gouguet and Jeff Harrington.

Each candidate was given three minutes to introduce himself, and then the candidates fielded questions from the audience. Questions from the audience had to be directed to a specific candidate.

Lossett said he decided to run after praying about it. “We as a city, now is the time we can make a difference. We can pick a new mayor and new city council members,” he said. “They (the voters) can take the city in a new direction.”

He pointed to management of city finances as an issue. “If we have to go outside city government to get help to make a budget then that’s what we need to do,” he added. He said well-qualified people should be named to the school board and as city manager and “then let them do their job.” He also pointed to the need for more openness in the way the council handles city business.

Bumpers said she had tried and failed to be elected four years ago but “I am not going to give up.” She said she wanted to work with all types of people to make Picayune a better place in which to live, and she pointed to youth and senior citizens as a great concern to her. “I will fight for all the precincts, not just precinct 2,” she said.

Chapman said, “This is a time when our city needs to revitalize itself.” She said she wants to work with the youth and elderly. She said the young people are leaving Picayune to make careers in other cities. She said she would make sure there is open communication between everyone in her district.  ”We need to role up our sleeves in district 2 and get to work, and it can be done,” she added.

Jefferson said he was better known as “Mr. J.” He added, “We got a puzzle, and let’s put this puzzle together.” He said he is emphasizing help for the senior citizens. Their needs have been neglected for a long time, he added. “We need to step up to the plate,” he said. “Our senior citizens need our help now.” He called for his district to work and “pull together.”

Lane said we have problems in the utility dept., drainage dept.  ”We have ineffective government as evidenced by tonight,” he said, referring to the fact that no incumbents running for office were in attendance.  Lane said he did not need the income from the job, and added he was running because “Picayune needs some new leadership in a desperate way.”

Breland said that he had been urged to run by friends but had refused. However, he said he prayed about it “and it changed my mind.” He added, “I am not going to say anything negative about my opponent but we all know there are things in the city that need to be changed.” He said one of the main issues is the city’s financial problems, and added, “City officials should be accountable for the financial affairs of the city.” He said safety of residents, especially the elderly, was also a great concern. “I did not realize that there are some senior citizens who are afraid to go into their houses at night,” he said. 

Alexander said we have a crime and drug problem in the county and city and added, “Cyrstal meth is epidemic in this county.” He said we need to make an effort to protect our young people and give them a “safe haven” in which to operate. He said after he and his wife graduated from college they chose to move back to Picayune because they felt it was the best place to rear a family. He said traffic congestion and the financial mismanagement of the city are also issues in the race.

Gouguet said he chose to run because he was not satisfied with the direction “the council has gone.” He said transparency, openness, was a concern for him, and added he felt too many decision are being made behind closed doors. Secondly, is the stability of the city workforce. He said over the last eight years the city has gone through five city managers and eight city clerks. “We must get politics out of city hall,” he said. Next, he said the city’s debt is a concern. Over eight years the city’s debt has gone from about $2 to over $11 million. He said the council is currently working on a contract that will add another $2 million to city debt. He said although taxes have gone up “we don’t see any improvement in our infrastructure and roads.” He added, “We must restore the trust between the taxpayers and city hall.”

Harrington said he chose to run to try and do something for the young people and the handicapped. He said also that the city needs to prepare for economic growth. “I seen stores close on Main Street after being open for just a while,” he said. He said he sees the growth moving toward Picayune from the south because he works in New Orleans, and added, “We need to be ready for it.”

Egger, in what is one of the more blunt comments of the night, said, “I am Frank Egger, and I have lived in Picayune for 41 years, and I have never seen our city in the shape it is in now.” He added, “Our streets are falling apart; our sewer system is collapsing; and no one seems to know what to do about it.”  He continued: “Where is all our money we got from Katrina. It’s hard to get anything (information) out of the city over here, and I have really, really tried.” He said he was arrested one time for being so persistence in demanding answers. He said we need to do more for senior citizens. 

Pinero said he has a plan to solve the city’s financial problems and that the city also has infrastructure problems. And in a jesture seldom seen in politics, Pinero said that if he is elected mayor he will forego a salary and donate it to the police and fire depts. The mayor makes about $1,600 a month. Pinero said the leadership from the mayor’s office was lacking. Pinero is a former college professor and city manager of Picayune.

Thorman said he will work deligently with everyone to get finances on track, to support the police and firemen. “I don’t make many promises but I promise to be very loyal to this town,” he said. He expressed concern for youth and senior citizens. He said he has no conflicts of interest. He said he would be bi-partisan. “We have got to get together and drop this partisan politics that have ate up this country and this town,” he said. “I won’t be behind a desk. You will see me on the streets,” he added.

(developing; more to come)

There has been much comment about former DA Buddy McDonald’s speech at the April 15 Tea Party held in front of the old City Hall on Goodyear Blvd.

McDonald’s speech was anti-tax and he said that we are being threatened by socialism because we have allowed politicians to do it and have not been in their face about it.

McDonald is a Picayune attorney and is the son of the late Claiborne and Edith McDonald. The family owns McDonald Funeral Home.

I will never forget that back in the 1980s, when he was an assistant DA, I was covering for the Item and Democrat the preliminary hearing for  ”Boy” Frierson, who murdered four members of his family in Nicholson.

It was supposed to be a preliminary proceeding and I was not expecting a full-scale defense by court-appointed attorneys for Frierson, and I don’t think McDonald was either.

But the defense paraded psychiatrists and other experts on the stand. It came Buddy’s turn and he literally flew into a staccato presentation, waving his hands and sounding like Perry Mason, pacing back and forth. He looked more like a Baptist preacher than a DA.

I could see that Frierson, sitting at the defense table was growing more and more angry as McDonald landed salvo after salvo. I noticed that Frierson had a wrapped hamburger in front of him that had been brought to him by a deputy.

All of a sudden, he leaped from his chair, unwrapped the hamburger and slung it across the room at McDonald, who ducked, much like President Bush when the shoe was slung at him. The deputies immediately swarmed all over Frierson and drug him from the courtroom.

We headlined the story in the Democrat that week: “DA assaulted with hamburger.”

That’s a true story.

Those wanting to see McDonald’s speech can do so by going to http://www.youtube.com/watch?V=DiPEeUNcT64.

We need to find some office and run this guy again for public office. His head and heart are in the right place, with us.

On Tuesday, April 21, Granville Stockstill and his wife, Judy, went before the Picayune City Council to complain about the continuing of what Judy told the council was overbuilding of duplex and apartment complexes in the old section of Roseland Park Community where she and Granville have lived for 30 years.

Her concern, she said, was that as the apartments and duplexes deteriorate and change hands over the coming years it will lower the value of the single family homes in the area, which is bounded by Carroll Street, Adcox, Hwy. 43 North and Hwy. 11.

One needs only take a drive around that circle to see what Judy is talking about. Apartments and duplexes line the streets. There currently are about 15 under construction in that area.

Council woman Anna Turnage’s district takes some of that area and she told one official that she would like a count on how many vacancies there are citywide. She did not make clear exactly why she wanted that information.

The council also tabled a request from Kent Whitfield that a piece of property he owns in the area be sub-divided into two pieces. It was not clear whether Whitfield plans to build a duplex or single family structure, but he was noticeably perturbed by the council’s action of not approving his request. The council tabled it.

He repeatedly told the council that his property meets all requirements for an R2 residential zoning, which his property is zoned. Whitfield said he had 17 people call him looking for an apartment. He owns other rental property in that same area, but all his rentals are full, he said.

The issue was highlighted when Judy turned to Whitfield during the meeting and asked him, “Would you want to be surrounded by apartments and duplexes in the neighborhood in which you live?”

Whitfield replied, “I would live in any house, duplex or apartments I build. In fact, me and my family have lived in them in the past.” Whitfield is a CPA, based in Picayune.

As usual, government policy is pushing the massive construction going on in Roseland Park. There is a state subsidy program that allows developers to receive money up front in constructing the new buildings.

It will be interesting to see the results of Turnage’s survey on demand for rentals. In the meatime, construction continues, the council ponders, the Stockstills worry about the value of their property and Whitfield waits for his approval.

After the meeting, Granville replied, “It’s a losing battle for us.”

Whitfield on Wednesday, April 29, said he was withdrawing his request that his lots in the area be split. “We have gotten an extension on the project and it is not necessary we have a decision on it right now, he said.

MITCHELL AND BOUNDS’ DECISION NOT TO RUN WILL ASSURE AT LEAST TWO NEW CANDIDATES WILL GET ON THE COUNCIL

Following is a list of the candidates for the upcoming Picayune city elections.  The First Primary is May 5, Second Primary May 19 and General Election June 2.

In the race for mayor are Frank Egger (D), Ezell Lee (D), Ed Pinero (R) and Mark Thorman (D). Current mayor, Greg Mitchell, is not seeking re-election.

In the races for councilman are:

Precinct 1: Jeff Lossett (R) and Larry Elliot Watkins (R). Watkins is the incumbent.

Precinct 2: Lynn Bogan Bumpers (Ind), Kimberly R. Chapman (D), Robert Jefferson (D) and Donald L. Parker (D). Parker is the incumbent.

Precinct 3: Jason Todd Lane (R) and Anna Bales Turnage (R). Turnage is the incumbent.

Precinct 4: Larry E. Breland Sr. (D) and Leavern Guy (D). Guy is the incumbent.

Precinct 5: Howard Alexander (R), Wayne Gouguet (R) and Jeff Harrington (R). Incumbent Jerry Bounds is not seeking re-election.

At the polls, you will declare in what primary you want to vote, either Republican or Democrat. However, what primary you vote in for the First Primary determines what premary you have to vote in in the Second Primary. In the General Election, you can vote for whomever you want to.