District 41 Senator Lydia Chassaniol was honored this week by the Mississippi Tourism Association as the 2008 MTA Legislative Friend of Tourism recipient for her aggressive support of the industry.
Chassaniol, of Winona, is Chairwoman of the Senate Tourism Committee, and has promoted tourism at every turn, seeking venues all across the state to which Mississippi can draw travelers who can learn some aspect of its unique history and art forms.
Chassaniol’s leadership has been well recognized throughout the state and she continues to push forward, exposing Mississippi’s best to the outside world.
With the qualifying deadline for Mississippi municipal elections approaching, some potential candidates might be interested in knowing what the pay would be to serve in a local government position. Also, citizens might want to know how much department heads and elected officials in their local government earn. And then there are some people who just want to know the range of salaries for aldermen/city council members in local governments around Mississippi.
These and many more answers can be found in the 2008 Municipal Salary and Benefits Survey, which is prepared by the John C. Stennis Institute of Government for the Mississippi Municipal League. Click here for the online report.
Persons interested in running for municipal office will surely want to check out the Municipal Elections 2009 Candidate Qualifying Guide published by the Secretary of State’s Office.
By nature of my day job and general interest in communication techniques I read a lot of e-mails, press releases and blogs by public officials. These communiques range from sanitized, politically correct, meaningless press releases that say nothing to freewritten, meaningless greetings that also say nothing. Somewhere in the middle of the continuum is the personal message from a public official who communicates WHY he or she is doing something, along with some personal information that makes me feel that I know and understand the communicator.
One such person is a state representative from Mississippi named John Mayo. (Click here for his home page.) There are political positions that he and I probably would not agree on, but his communication style and methods make me feel that he knows his job, he cares about his constituents and he is open about his stands on issues. Not only does he tell why he introduced a piece of legislation, he mentions things he is concerned about in his community and he even offers up movie reviews. Public officials who are considering starting a blog would be well-advised to check out his communications. Now for the warning: do not attempt to copy Mayo’s style; be yourself.
Smoking bans in public places may be becoming less controversial as the studies about secondhand smoke come in. CBS News reported today on a study regarding a workplace ban on smoking in Pueblo, Colorado. Reportedly, there was a 41 percent reduction in heart attack hospitalizations three years after a workplace ban went into effect.
I’ve concluded that anyone who smokes is either stupid or addicted to tobacco - and for the record I was stupid for about 15 years of my life. The reason that I say that is that no (non-stupid) person would choose to smoke given the overwhelming evidence of its harmful effects. The only other reason for smoking is that the person is addicted. I know that sounds harsh, but can anyone give a sound reason for smoking? Having said that, as long as smoking is legal and does not harm others, who can argue with another’s “right” to smoke? Certainly not me.
Here’s a list of cities in Mississippi and their smoking ban status:
- Gulfport, May 1, 2008.
- Grenada, May, 2008.
- Corinth, November 2007 Board of Aldermen adopted a public smoking ban that encompasses city-owned facilities, enclosed public places, employment places and some outdoor areas.
- Greenville, banned in all indoor public places, including restaurants and bars
- Greenwood, August 23, 2007 banned in all workplaces, restaurants, and bars.
- Hattiesburg, January 1, 2007 banned in all indoor public places, including bars, restaurants, and city buildings.
- Lucedale, December, 2007, rejected a ban on smoking in all enclosed workplaces
- Oxford, banned in all indoor public places, including bars, restaurants, and city buildings. Smoking is also prohibited in certain outdoor areas.
- Ridgeland, July 20, 2007 banned in all workplaces, restaurants, and bars.
- Starkville, May 20, 2006 banned in all indoor public places, including bars, restaurants, and city buildings. Smoking is also prohibited in certain outdoor areas.
- Tupelo, October 2006 banned in all indoor public places, including restaurants and bars.
Source: Wikipedia list of Smoking Bans in United States.