Vicksburg-Warren County Chamber of Commerce members and others attending the chamber’s monthly luncheon Wednesday will have an opportunity to hear the city’s and the county’s top officials provide insight into their offices.

Mayor George Flaggs Jr. and Board of Supervisors president Richard George will answer a series of questions submitted anonymously in advance by chamber members about their duties and about city and county issues.

“We thought it (the program) would be a good idea; we always try to give our chamber members and the public the opportunity to hear from our elected officials,” said Lurline Simmons, chamber membership recruitment and services coordinator.

“We were planning to do it later in the year, but because that would be right around election time, May and June, we decided to move it up to March so that it wouldn’t be any kind of election-based event.”

And while Flaggs is running for re-election, she said, neither official will address re-election-type topics. “They’re talking about the office,” she said.

“What we’ve asked them to discuss is their offices — what is their primary focus, if there’s a vision for the future of the office and for the city (or county); not their leadership of it, but as an overall picture,” Simmons said.

“A lot of folks don’t realize the limitations between the two; the things they can and they can’t do. For us, Warren County being one of the largest counties in the state, we have only one city, and that’s very uncommon.”

“If one was listening to their presentation on what each of their offices can do and the limitations they might have, you might form in your mind someone you might want to be in that office; who would come with certain skill sets, but it is not election-based,” Simmons said.

She said the response to the chamber’s call for questions has been good, adding the questions were sent to Flaggs and George to allow them time to study the questions and prepare their responses.

The format will begin with both men responding to the questions and making a statement at the end.

“The idea is that we wanted to get our members to have a voice in front of the mayor and Mr. Richard George, and if there were certain topics that were repeated, they could make sure they could address them when they make their presentation,” Simmons said.