Meridian, Lauderdale officials
tracking legislative action

By By William F. West / community editor
Jan. 7, 2003
Meridian Mayor John Robert Smith said he'll be watching this year's legislative session to see what help the city will get with downtown renovations, new projects and Naval Air Station Meridian.
Smith said he particularly wants the state to fund Barry Rhoads, a Washington lobbyist who served as Mississippi's chief consultant against base closures for nearly a decade.
Gov. Ronnie Musgrove fired Rhoads in November.
Proven success
Smith said requests to support Rhoads have been made to both the state House and the state Senate.
The state, through its economic development authority, is backing another consulting firm, Jefferson Governmental Relations, also based in Washington. One of the firm's vice presidents is Holly Springs native Wilson Golden, who has longtime ties to the Democratic Party at the state and national level.
NAS Meridian survived three rounds of Base Realignment and Closure in 1991, 1993 and 1995 but another round is scheduled in 2005.
State arts center,
downtown growth
The mayor said he'll also keep an eye out for state assistance to the proposed Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Center. Smith said the center was a topic of discussion among visiting lawmakers during the city's legislative weekend in October.
He said city officials will work closely with the Mississippi Arts and Entertainment Committee, chaired by singer Paul Ott, hoping to secure funding for environmental engineering studies of the location.
Plans call for building the center on about 175 acres of land off Highway 19 at Bonita Lakes.
Smith said he wants the Legislature to enact historic tax credits to assist with downtown revitalization. He said state credits could be combined with federal tax credits to help make renovations of historic buildings more affordable to private developers.
That, in turn, helps lower the cost for the developer, he said.
Industrial park
Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors President Craig Hitt said he wants to keep the Meridian-Lauderdale County Industrial Park at the forefront of lawmakers' minds.
The park, when completed, will be located off Interstate 20/59 east of the city.