The names of the members of the long-discussed advisory panel on downtown issues to the Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen have been announced, and the 15 picked by Mayor Paul Winfield are set to meet for the first time today.

Under the label Downtown Partners, the board members are slated to attend a four-hour meeting at The Bazsinsky House to begin looking at ways to better blend retail, residential and entertainment interests in downtown Vicksburg.

“I’m charging the Downtown Partners with establishing a clear vision for the future of downtown,” said Winfield, who first pledged in October to form the board and said then that he hoped to have it in place by the start of 2010. “All of the Downtown Partners are stockholders, and they’re all interconnected — whether they like it or not. I expect them to work together and improve downtown.” 

Winfield said he believes the board will meet monthly, but added they will likely decide on a schedule for themselves today. As meetings progress, the mayor said he hopes Downtown Partners will look at ways to improve downtown zoning and other ordinances, as well as the branding of downtown. Eventually, he would like the board to visit other similar cities in the South that have shown successful downtown growth.

Aside from the Downtown Partners members, the board will also have a moderator and a handful of “observers,” including the mayor, Police Chief Walter Armstrong, City Attorney Lee Davis Thames Jr., Chief of Staff Kenya Burks and Buildings and Inspections Director Victor Gray-Lewis.

“If they ask me my opinion, I’ll give it to them — but mostly I’ll be there to observe and listen,” Winfield said.

Winfield said Ben Allen will act as a moderator during Downtown Partners meetings. A Vicksburg native, Allen is a former president of the Jackson City Council and current president of Downtown Jackson Partners, which was founded in 1996 to establish a business district in the capital city and could be described as a loose model for the local Downtown Partners board.

“I’m really elated that our board will be able to benefit from his expertise and knowledge,” Winfield said of Allen. “Along with moderating, he’s going to talk to them about what’s going on in other communities as it relates to successful downtown development.” 

The mayor also extended an invitation to both North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and South Ward Alderman Sid Beauman to act as observers of Downtown Partners. Mayfield said he will not be able to attend the meeting today, but hopes to sit down with the board in the future to gauge its scope and focus. Conversely, Beauman said he will not be at the meeting today and does not expect to have much involvement with the board in the future.

“Like I’ve said before, I don’t see the need in it,” said Beauman, noting the Vicksburg Main Street Program has been working on downtown development for 25 years. “I also had a few people who had asked me to be considered for board, and I forwarded their names along but none of them were put on the board.”

Winfield said he tried to get as many interested stakeholders involved in Downtown Partners as possible, but maintained demand was high and the original list of possible members had to be trimmed down considerably.

“Recognizing that everybody could not be on the board, I made sure we got a diverse group of people who represent the residential, commercial, retail and entertainment components downtown,” he said.

The idea for Downtown Partners emerged last fall following multiple rounds of heated public hearings concerning the expansion of a Washington Street eatery that fractured residents, business owners and prospective developers downtown. The public hearings lasted for hours and frequently turned into shouting matches that saw decades-old charges of racism among downtown merchants get dredged up. The mayor said he doesn’t expect those kinds of sparks to fly at the Downtown Partners meetings.

“What happened last fall was all perpetuated by rumors, a lack of trust, innuendo and false accusations,” Winfield said. “What we’re trying to do here is open up the dialogue and lines of communication, so we can have a constructive conversation about where we are downtown and where we can improve and grow.”

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Contact Steve Sanoski at ssanoski@vicksburgpost.com

Downtown Partners

The members of the downtown advisory board are:

• H.C. Porter — artist and owner of H.C. Porter Gallery on Washington Street.

• Ronnie Sanders — manager of Duff’s Tavern & Grille on Washington Street.

• Mark Doyle — musician and nephew of Bobby Doyle, owner of Burger Village on Washington Street.

• Larry Gawronski — executive director of VenuWorks, contracted manager of the Vicksburg Convention Center and Auditorium.

• Karen Davis — owner of Tresses On The Terrace beauty salon on Crawford Street.

• David Day — radio host and owner of The Klondyke on North Washington Street.

• Andrew Dawson — co-owner of The Bazsinsky House on Monroe Street.

• Steven Marcus — owner of Marcus Furniture on Washington Street.

• Remy Massey — Realtor and downtown resident.

• Tillman Whitley — curator of The Jacqueline House African-American Museum on Main Street.

• Larry Prentiss — owner of LD’s Kitchen restaurants on Levee Street and Halls Ferry Road.

• Harry Sharp — owner of The Duff Green Mansion and chairman of the Vicksburg Main Street Program.

• Blake Teller — attorney.

• Alice Hebler — owner of Paper Plus on Washington Street.

• Steven Tzotzolas — owner of F&G Beverages of Washington Street.