Community leaders to give military base lobbyist a chance
By By William F. West / community editor
Dec. 7, 2002
An alliance of Mississippi cities that have military bases is taking a wait-and-see approach toward the firm the state recently hired to lobby against possible base closures.
The Mississippi Military Communities Council met behind closed doors Friday in Jackson. The council decided to attend a Mississippi Development Authority meeting to hear what the new firm will offer.
Council Chairman Jim McIngvale of Pascagoula said the council has been invited to a 9 a.m. Tuesday presentation by Jefferson Governmental Relations of Washington at MDA offices in Jackson.
Jefferson Governmental Relations took over the lobbying job after Gov. Ronnie Musgrove fired Barry Rhoads last month. Rhoads is a Washington attorney and lobbyist who helped Mississippi fight military base closures in the 1990s.
Musgrove replaced him with Wilson Golden, another Washington attorney and lobbyist who also serves as a vice president of Jefferson Governmental Relations.
Golden, originally from Greenville, is well-known in Mississippi political circles for his ties to the state and national Democratic Party.
McIngvale said the Mississippi Military Communities Council plans to meet after the Tuesday MDA briefing, either later that afternoon or on Wednesday, to discuss what to do next.
The council was created under the administration of Gov. Kirk Fordice to keep Mississippi's military bases open. The next round of federal base realignments and closures, known as BRAC, will be in 2005.
The MDA said military installations currently employ about 35,000 people in Mississippi, representing a payroll of $1.2 billion.
McIngvale said he'll take the blame about not disclosing the whereabouts of Friday's meeting. He said the council asked someone if they could borrow a conference room and they said OK.
Rhoads' firing has shocked and angered many in Meridian and East Mississippi. McIngvale said the Mississippi Military Communities Council likely will meet with Musgrove "at some point in time."
