Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn’s visit to Greenwood on Monday will be a good opportunity for people to bring up important issues, Mayor Carolyn McAdams says.
Gunn, a Republican, will be in the City Council room from 1 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. as part of “Mississippi Solutions — an Ideas Tour,” billed as a nonpartisan series of meetings.
The public may attend at no charge. McAdams said citizens, business owners and others who wish to talk to Gunn on any matter needn’t sign up in advance.
Ideas may also be submitted at Gunn’s website, www.philipgunn.org, on Facebook at @PhilipGunnMS and on Twitter at @PhilipGunnMS.
“I have to commend Speaker Gunn for doing this,” the mayor said.
The mayor said she plans to bring up the issue of a local option tax to help fund downtown development and other projects.
“It’s not a tax on the residents; it’s on the people who visit,” McAdams said.
In addition, the mayor said, some business owners have talked with her about an Internet sales tax. She said she also expects Gunn to bring up some of his own talking points.
According to Gunn’s office, in a statement issued Friday, ideas on health care, education reform and other topics have been coming into his office in Jackson.
“We are pleased with the response we have had so far to Mississippi Solutions,” he said.
In prepared remarks, he said the purpose of his tour is to “incorporate Mississippians’ voices into the solutions we lawmakers work on each session.”
The tour starts at 9 a.m. Monday at the state Capitol in Jackson.
Following Greenwood, Gunn is scheduld to head to Hernando.
Tuesday’s scheduled locations include Tupelo (9 a.m.), Columbus (1:30 p.m.), and Meridian (5 p.m.).
On Thursday, the tour will move on to Hattiesburg (9 a.m.) and Biloxi (1:30 p.m.).
It concludes on Friday with a meeting in Brookhaven at 10 a.m.
State Rep. Bobby Howell, R-Kilmichael, who represents a portion of North Greenwood, said Gunn’s outreach efforts bodes well for the Legislature as it moves ahead.
“I think it’s a great idea. In all the time I’ve been there, they, the House leadership, haven’t been proactive with the public,” Howell said.
Howell said he plans to attend Monday’s meeting.
“Philip wants to know what’’s on the minds of the people. We don’t always have to be at odds,” he said.
- Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@
gwcommonwealth.com.
