About this Site
Scroll down or see menu to right for candidates running in your district. We're getting lots more comments in, most are posted under individual participants' "pages." Check them out and add your own!
Vote on August 7th!
Click here for a Sun Herald article about this forum
Click here for a link to a Sea Coast Echo story on the live forums held July 30th and 31st
Why is this race so important?
According to one local municipal official:
"The Supervisors decide Hancock zoning - which impacts the quality of life for the entire county - including the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. They decide which recovery grants to apply for and what projects the funds will be spent on. They set the county budget and the property tax millage.
On a state level, the Mississippi Association of Supervisors has been called the most powerful organization in the state, influencing policy, law and state budget expenditures.
At this critical time we need leadership that is proactive and selfless to make extremely significant decisions."
1. Where and when to vote.
2. How to figure out what district you're in.
3. Instructions for absentee voting and registration
You'll also find information on the Supervisors race, listed by district. Participants who answered a list of questions have their own "page." Beneath their bio, there's a link that will take you to that page to read their answers.
This site is interactive, so you can post comments and questions here and the candidates will be able to respond. We screen all comments before allowing them to appear on-line, so no comments or questions that we deem personally negative or accusatory will be posted.
All candidates below were sent a letter, explaining the rules and offering participation in this free non-partisan forum. If they chose to participate, we posted their photograph and a short statement from them.
On May 24th, we e-mailed a list of questions to all the participating candidates. The candidates had four weeks to answer the questions. None of the answers were posted on-line until the deadline had passed, in order to be fair.
After the election, the site will remain active - the winner's info will remain on-line permanently, as a community service.
We gave this system a "dry-run" for the Waveland race in November 2006 and it was met with enthusiasm by candidates and voters alike. It even received national attention. We're also pleased that some other communities across the country are now interested in starting their own similar sites. Using information instead of advertising to make voting decisions is a growing trend.
Click here for a Sun Herald article about this forum
Click here for a link to a Sea Coast Echo story on the live forums held July 30th and 31st
Why is this race so important?
According to one local municipal official:
"The Supervisors decide Hancock zoning - which impacts the quality of life for the entire county - including the cities of Bay St. Louis and Waveland. They decide which recovery grants to apply for and what projects the funds will be spent on. They set the county budget and the property tax millage.
On a state level, the Mississippi Association of Supervisors has been called the most powerful organization in the state, influencing policy, law and state budget expenditures.
At this critical time we need leadership that is proactive and selfless to make extremely significant decisions."
How this Site Works
If you scroll down this main page, you'll find:
1. Where and when to vote.
2. How to figure out what district you're in.
3. Instructions for absentee voting and registration
You'll also find information on the Supervisors race, listed by district. Participants who answered a list of questions have their own "page." Beneath their bio, there's a link that will take you to that page to read their answers.
This site is interactive, so you can post comments and questions here and the candidates will be able to respond. We screen all comments before allowing them to appear on-line, so no comments or questions that we deem personally negative or accusatory will be posted.
How This Site Came Together
All candidates below were sent a letter, explaining the rules and offering participation in this free non-partisan forum. If they chose to participate, we posted their photograph and a short statement from them.
On May 24th, we e-mailed a list of questions to all the participating candidates. The candidates had four weeks to answer the questions. None of the answers were posted on-line until the deadline had passed, in order to be fair.
After the election, the site will remain active - the winner's info will remain on-line permanently, as a community service.
We gave this system a "dry-run" for the Waveland race in November 2006 and it was met with enthusiasm by candidates and voters alike. It even received national attention. We're also pleased that some other communities across the country are now interested in starting their own similar sites. Using information instead of advertising to make voting decisions is a growing trend.
A healthy democracy requires active, informed citizens and candidates who want to serve their communities. Our hope is that this site will make both jobs a little easier.
posted by Ellis Anderson at
10:55 AM
4 Comments:
Hello!
I am linking the Serve Waveland to my sites, but am wondering when the Hancock County and BSL ones will be up and running.
Leslie
By
Leslie, at 10:56 AM
Hi Leslie,
We're working on the Hancock one now (as you can see, we added to it tonight). It'll be materializing over the next three months - hope to have it completely finished by May. We'll start on the BSL site after that. Thanks for the support!
By
Ellis Anderson, at 8:15 PM
I find it very odd that in the times we live in only 1 incumbent chose to answer your questions. Perhaps they feel they don't have to. Maybe this should factor into our decision on whether to vote for them or not.
Canidates for public offices should be open and receptive to their constituents. Has our current board been open and receptive?
Given the fact that codes were not enacted until they were forced down their throats by FEMA and the Governor I would vote no. What we need are elected officials with a backbone. Canidates who will do the right thing no matter who their "buddy" is. Canidates who will put aside their selfserving interests in favor of what is right.
Just a few thoughts.
By
Anonymous, at 5:11 PM
The building codes were not forced down the supervisors throats! Before the storm there were two supervisors that promoted it, one of which stood alone in her efforts for years to enact building codes. During an election building codes was on the ballot as a referendum and was voted down (60/40). Before the storm the supervisors were split 3 to 2 against codes. So to make a blanket statement that “building codes were forced down all the supervisors throats by FEMA” is inaccurate and unfair.
By
Anonymous, at 3:02 PM
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