Former North Ward Alderman Gertrude Young said she will run for mayor in next year’s election, joining Mayor Laurence Leyens and attorney Paul Winfield who have announced the same intentions. Along with mayor, both aldermen spots will be on 2009 ballots.

Young became the first woman to win a seat in Vicksburg government in 1993 when she was elected from the North Ward, defeating longterm Alderman Melvin Redmond, who had become Vicksburg’s first black elected official. Young, who always ran as a Democrat, won two subsequent four-year terms before losing a primary race to current Alderman Michael Mayfield in 2005.

A licensed real estate agent since 1999, Young worked as a registered nurse before entering Vicksburg politics and has also served as a youth minister at Mount Carmel Baptist Church for many years.   

“No one who has come out so far has more experience than me,” said Young. “Nobody has more connections on the state and federal level to help get things done in Vicksburg.”

Young’s campaign slogan is “No One Left Behind,” and she said the biggest problems facing Vicksburg are a lack of affordable housing and family entertainment, as well as lackluster economic development and inefficient code enforcement.    

“During the current administration a lot of people have been left behind,” said Young. “In many instances our young people have been forgotten. Senior citizens are dealing with having their houses torn down by code enforcement that looks like it’s only targeted in certain areas, and it seems as if we’ve forgotten our people in the annexed areas.”  

Leyens announced in May he would seek a third term as mayor. Leyens has said he feels obligated to stay on as mayor for another term to see economic development efforts through that his administration initiated during his first two terms. Leyens, an independent, won his first and only campaign for public office when elected in 2001.

Winfield, attorney for the Warren County Board of Supervisors in addition to his private practice, officially entered the race in June, but has not yet provided specifics on his campaign focus. It would be Winfield’s first try for elective office.

Assuming no other mayoral candidates qualify, if Young and Winfield run as Democrats in the May 5 primary, the winner would advance to face Leyens on June 2 in the general election. If Leyens were to join them by running as a Democrat, there would be a runoff between the top two vote-getters unless one of the three polled more than half the votes cast.

As for a larger field, Warren County District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, who ran for mayor in 2005, said he has made a decision on whether he will enter a city race, but will not announce his decision until after this year’s presidential election on Nov. 4.

Both Mayfield, a Democrat and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman, a Republican, said they intend to run for re-election. No contenders have stepped forward to challenge either of them in those races as of yet.  

Candidates have until March 6 to file paperwork to qualify for candidacy in the election. New four-year terms start July 1.

Of the accomplishments over her 12 years serving with three different mayors and two different South Ward aldermen, Young said those she is most proud of include establishing the Jackson Street Community Center, initiating a curfew for minors and transferring Kings and Waltersville residents from the Culkin Water District to city service.

“I was able to help make a lot of improvements to the North Ward, and really the entire city of Vicksburg, but there’s a lot more that still needs to be done,” she said.

Young said part of her decision to run for mayor stems from her feeling many of the services and programs she helped establish during her three terms as alderman have since gone to the wayside.

An example, she said, can be found at the Kings Empowerment Center, which the city turned over to Triumph Missionary Baptist Church this summer.   

“We saved over 2,000 boys from having to go to prison through a youth program we conducted with the youth court judge there for years,” she said. “We made a lot of progress there, developed a lot of programs that were positive for the community, but that’s all gone now.”

Similarly, Young points to a declining commitment from the city to support first-time homeowner and other affordable housing programs. The city has not funded the first-time homeowner program since last fall, she said, and has not dedicated any funding to it in the proposed budget for next fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

“We also need programs to help people get their credit scores up, which is a big factor in whether they’re approved for a lot of the affordable housing and assistance programs available,” she said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done when it comes to providing affordable housing in Vicksburg.”