Leflore County District 3 Supervisor Anjuan Brown has moved into the presidential seat of the North Central Planning and Development District.
Brown, who was chosen in 2012 by his colleagues on the Board of Supervisors to represent the county with the development district, chaired his first meeting as president on Wednesday.
“Thank you for allowing me to serve these next years. I don’t take that lightly,” Brown told the room as outgoing president James A. Neill Jr., a supervisor in Carroll County, passed leadership to Brown.
North Central Planning and Development District is “one of our best-kept secrets,” Brown said after Wednesday’s meeting. The economic development agency serves seven counties: Leflore, Carroll, Attala, Grenada, Holmes, Montgomery and Yalobusha.
Brown said his position as president enables him to better assist Leflore County. “I have more information and knowledge on what route to take with programs needed in our county that serve its needs,” he explained.
Brown has served as vice president for NCPDD for the past two years. After his tenure as president, he will remain in a leadership position as part of the agency’s executive committee.
The executive committee is responsible for acquiring grants and loans for projects in the community. Those can include sewer and water improvement projects and vehicle purchases for first responders. Grant applications can be submitted for home rehabilitation projects as well.
NCPDD is also responsible for community aid programs to help encourage independence in the aging population and assist the elderly and disabled population with Medicaid waivers. In the last three months of 2022 alone, the agency served 3,431 elderly or disabled clients throughout the seven counties it serves.
“A lot of the people don’t know the work that we do, and we’re hoping to bring that to the forefront and let the community know where there is assistance with issues,” Brown said. “We want to publicize what we have to offer.”
He said his new position should not have an adverse affect on his duties as a county supervisor: “It’s really not time-consuming; it’s more meetings and phone calls.”
NCPDD meets quarterly, and Brown said the only adjustment he would need to make is being more involved in what’s going on outside of the quarterly meetings.
Already, he has passed along to James Johnson-Waldington, superintendent of the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District, an opportunity for the district to participate in job skills training and career initiatives.
“I’m here to serve my community, and this is another avenue I can use to be productive,” Brown said.
- Contact Katherine Parker at 662-581-7239 or kparker@gwcommonwealth.com.
