One of the true joys of serving as mayor is the opportunity I have to meet with, not only other local elected leaders from across this nation and share the successes of Southaven with them, but my daily conversations with our residents about how we can improve our great city. The ability to share ideas, see what others are doing to better their communities and continue to work to improve our city truly enjoyable. Our residents are Southaven’s greatest asset and many of our greatest success stories, such as Snowden Grove Park’s Field of Dreams, have been citizen driven. The input provided by our residents allows Southaven, year after year, to lead the way in innovative municipal governance.
Recently the Southaven Board of Aldermen adopted a resolution my office drafted which makes it more difficult for our local property taxes to be increased. In order to raise taxes, there must now be a “supermajority” vote by the Board of Aldermen. A supermajority is two-thirds of the board, which would mean five out of our seven aldermen must vote for a tax increase for there to be one. This measure will ensure that there must be near unanimity among our aldermen prior to any bonds being issued that would result in a property tax increase. This policy falls in line with our conservative budgetary practices that have led to our strong financial standing, our increasing budget surpluses and rainy day fund balances.
We have also adopted the policies and procedures to place red light traffic cameras at various high-traffic intersections throughout Southaven. This is simply a life-safety measure which I am convinced will make traveling within our city limits safer. These lights will be able to take photographs of red light runners and our law enforcement will follow up with the proper fines and citations. I am proud that Southaven took the lead on this issue and became the first city in Mississippi to implement this technology.
One very important issue facing not only Southaven, but also our nation is that of illegal immigration. My office has written a draft ordinance that would enable our city to deter the hiring and housing of illegal immigrants by businesses and proprietors. As a city, we do not have the power to deport; however, there may be tools available for our code enforcement, working along side our law enforcement, to ensure that businesses and proprietors are in full compliance with our nation’s immigration laws. Illegal immigration is a very serious issue. A country must be able to secure its own borders and the City of Southaven stands ready to address this issue in a proactive way, rather than sit back and be reactive to this ever-increasing problem. Our intent is clearly not to punish those here legally; rather we will investigate situations where the legality of a worker or a tenant is in question. Upon passage of our ordinance, the City of Southaven will hold those who either employ illegal aliens or provide residency to them accountable for their actions. The City of Southaven will not be a safe-haven for illegal aliens.
The City of Southaven continues to grow and our local economy continues to thrive. I look forward to working with the Southaven Board of Aldermen and our residents in addressing these issues, and others, as we continue to work together on behalf of our entire community.
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