District 54 State Rep. Alex Monsour has qualified as a Republican for the South Ward Alderman’s seat held by Willis Thompson.
Monsour filed his qualifying papers Wednesday at the City Clerk’s Office. Thompson qualified for re-election on the first day of qualifying Jan. 3.
The deadline for qualifying for the municipal elections is March 3. The party primary elections are May 2, with the runoff elections, if needed, are May 16. The general election is June 6.
Alderman is a full-time position and has a salary of $74,550 a year. The mayor and aldermen will each receive a 5 percent raise July 2018.
“For many years we have talked about the potential that our great city has. It is time we stop talking about it and actually make it happen,” Monsour said in a written statement announcing his qualifying.
“I will take my case to the voters over the next months and let them hear my ideas on how we can take Vicksburg to the next level,” he continued. “More importantly, I will ask the citizens what their expectations are for the city of Vicksburg.
“I would like to thank the voters of Warren County for allowing me to serve as their state representative over the last 10 years. Now it is time to take my experience and knowledge and bring it home to the city of Vicksburg.”
Monsour announced his plan to run for South Ward alderman Jan. 31.
Saying during his announcement the Legislature had changed legislation to help cities, he added, “I just feel I can come back home and be on the municipal board and contribute with my knowledge and my access to the capitol and making Vicksburg what it should be at a faster pace.
“I looked at several facets; I looked at public safety, I looked at the infrastructure, I looked at the quality of life with things for families to do here, and I just think we’ve moved in a slow pace and we need to move forward instead of looking all around us and seeing everybody do what they can.”
He said one of his main goals as alderman would be to ensure “that we move economic development forward to where we produce jobs here so that people will be able make a living wage and this will be a place where their children can come back to for opportunities.”
He pointed out several proposed projects coming in the future and affecting the city — the $18 million project to connect the east and west sides of South Frontage Road, the potential of 2,500 to 5,000 jobs from the Continental Tire plant near Clinton, the city’s sports complex and the waterpark for South Frontage Road.
“That’s going to require somebody who’s going to be diligent and working on all these facets to make our community what it can be,” he said.
Monsour was first elected to the Legislature in 2008. He is the second local legislator in the past four years to announce he is running for city office.
Mayor George Flaggs Jr., who represented District 55, ran for Mayor in 2013. He retired the day before he took office.