Loviza cites poor management at City Hall|[3/18/05]

Published 12:00 am Friday, March 18, 2005

Former Mayor Joe Loviza says poor management at City Hall has led to high turnover in municipal government, something he says he will fix if re-elected.

Loviza also told about 20 members of the Port City Kiwanis Club Thursday that he would double the number of police patrols on the streets and has a plan to use the vacant and dilapidated Carr Central Junior High School building for a vo-tech training center.

Those items were among a 20-point plan, copies of which he handed out, but topping that list is “dignify and support” the city’s work force.

Email newsletter signup

Sign up for The Vicksburg Post's free newsletters

Check which newsletters you would like to receive
  • Vicksburg News: Sent daily at 5 am
  • Vicksburg Sports: Sent daily at 10 am
  • Vicksburg Living: Sent on 15th of each month

“We’ve lost 18 city department heads in the last three years, and that tells me there’s something wrong with upper management,” Loviza said.

Loviza, 65, is making his fourth bid for the office he held from 1993 to 1997. He is running as an independent candidate and will skip the May 3 primary election to face the winner of the Democratic nomination; the only Republican in that race, Shirley Newman Smollen, 69, and the incumbent, Mayor Laurence Leyens, 40, who is also running as an independent.

Seeking the Democratic nomination are former Warren County District 2 Supervisor John Ferguson, 63; Eric Rawlings, 42, who ran unsuccessfully for the nomination four years ago; Warren County District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, 44; and first-time office seeker John Shorter, 38, a contractor with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Loviza also criticized the city’s use of reserve funds, about $3 million in the past two years, and appointments to the Vicksburg-Warren Community Alliance.

“I support the Alliance, think it’s a good thing, but we need more local people on it and not people from out of town,” Loviza said. “We need people on it who actually know the community and not just guess work.”

The mayor’s position now pays $73,500.

Also on the May 3 primary ballot will be races in the North and South wards for the Democratic party nomination. In the North Ward, incumbent Gertrude Young, 49, is being challenged for the nomination by Warren County District 2 Supervisor Michael Mayfield, 47, and Rodney Dillamar, 45, a convenience store owner.

Independent candidates in that race are city employee Vickie Bailey, 36, and construction worker Tommie Rawlings, 41. The only Republican in that race is Carl Yelverton, 58, a security guard at a casino.

Seeking the Democratic nomination in the South Ward are former Vicksburg police officer DaVon Grey, 46, and local hair dresser Pam Johnson, 39. The winner there will challenge incumbent Sid Beauman, 57, a Republican seeking his second term.

Aldermen are paid $58,000

Election winners take office July 1 to start four-year terms.