Former Vicksburg police officer Troy Kimble has qualified for North Ward Alderman.

According to information from the city clerk’s office, Kimble qualified for the seat as an independent, meaning he will not be on the ballot until the June 6 general election.

He becomes the third candidate to qualify for the seat. Incumbent North Ward Alderman Michael Mayfield and deputy city clerk John Carroll qualified for the seat in January. The deadline for qualifying is 5 p.m. March 3. The party primaries are May 2. A runoff election, if needed, will be May 16. The new Board of Mayor and Aldermen will be sworn in in July.

The offices of mayor and North and South Ward aldermen are full-time positions. The mayor’s salary is $93,450, and the aldermen earn $74,550. The mayor and aldermen’s salaries are set by city ordinance and will increase by 5 percent July 1, 2018.

Kimble resigned from the police department after a 15-year career as an officer to run for the North Ward seat.

“I’m running for the things that need to be done in the ward,” he said at the time. “There’s a good job done, but I think we can do a better job.”

Kimble said some of the issues he sees in the North Ward race are progress and equality in the ward. “What I mean by equality in the North Ward, there are some standards that are acceptable in one side of the ward that are not acceptable in the other. We want to make sure we give everybody the same quality of life,” he said.

Also, Kimble said, he hasn’t seen evidence showing progression in the ward, and the concerns of the citizens “I don’t feel, have been completely met.”

“I just want to be a conduit for those constituents to city government, not my personal belief, not my personal benefits, but to making the right decisions that benefit the entire area,” he said.

“I was born and raised in Vicksburg, and I’m a product of the North Ward. I’m a product of the Fuzzy Johnson Baseball League and all the programs that were in place. I grew up in Vicksburg. I moved away and I came back for personal reasons. I decided to stay.”

Other people, he said, have moved from he city and not returned.

“Our population hasn’t grown; we’re stagnant in population, and I have two young daughters I’m raising, and I want them to be able, for their future and the future of other kids growing up in that ward to be able to say, ‘Hey, I have something I’m proud of; I have something I can look forward to in the future, a productive future for me.

He said he plans to run a campaign that will stay away from personal attacks.

“There’s not going to be any mudslinging,” he said. “I believe in honor and integrity, and I’m not taking anything away from the other candidates. I plan to take the high road on everything. I’ll allow my actual service and what I’ve done and my integrity to stand for all to see.”