Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Words like attitude and perception came up many times Tuesday

while local leaders discussed the Natchez-Adams County community.

&uot;You have to have the attitude that everybody in the community

is a partner,&uot; said Rep. Phillip West, D-Natchez.

Other community members, including Walter Brown, echoed similar

comments.

&uot;You have got to be positive about this,&uot; said the

city attorney. &uot;That’s one weakness we’ve got.&uot;

The meeting was facilitated by the Mississippi Development

Authority to formulate a strategic plan for progress in the Natchez-Adams

County area

A group of about 30 people attended the meeting at Copiah-Lincoln

Community College in Natchez to discuss the area’s strengths and

opportunities for improvement.

Some of the strenghts mentioned included such items as history,

a low crime rate, natural resources and industrial benefits such

as the community’s port and airport.

Much of the poor attitude that may exist in the area is closely

linked to economy, said Alderman David Massey.

&uot;If people have economic opportunities their attitudes

will change,&uot; he said.

What Natchez should do to improve its economy was also discussed.

Natchez Mayor F.L. &uot;Hank&uot; Smith said he understood

that being prepared and having proper infrastructure are two of

the most important items when attracting industry.

&uot;I look at where we are on a local basis (and) I personally

don’t think we are where we need to be on either of those two

points,&uot; Smith said.

Local resident and developer Henry Watts said Natchez needed

to change so it could grow.

&uot;I don’t believe in leaving Natchez,&uot; he said. &uot;I

believe in changing what’s wrong with it. We need to identify

what’s wrong with Natchez and make it better.&uot;

At the end of the meeting, the participants divided themselves

into five groups to select priorities for the five building blocks

of a community – workforce development, business development,

physical infrastructure, social infrastructure and tourism.

The groups are to come up with the top priorities for their

categories and meet again in June to discuss their suggestions

and develop a mission statement.

Adams County Supervisor Lynwood Easterling realized Monday

the urgency of what was being discussed.

He is now halfway or at halftime in his first term.

The group had been asked Monday to think of things they could

accomplish in the next two years or in Easterling’s case the second-half

of his first term.

&uot;Right now my coach would be chewing me out because we

haven’t done very much in this first half,&uot; Easterling said.

Smith said he looked at Tuesday’s meeting as a step in the

right direction.

&uot;I think having a variety of opinions and a variety of

input is what we need,&uot; he said.

Chuck Nelms Jr., manager of the southwest field office of the

Mississippi Development Authority, said nothing but positive can

come out of the meeting but &uot;it’s only as strong as the follow-up

and the commitment is to do what we’ve talked about here.&uot;

The local community held a similar meeting in 1997 but did

not move forward in implementing any of its goals, he said.