NATCHEZ &045; About 200 black elected and appointed leaders from across the state will be sharing ideas at Natchez Convention Center today and Friday.

The convention is the first of its kind, but is something organizer Andrew Smith wants to continue.

&uot;The hope is that this will create a network among those persons,&uot; said Smith, president of Small Town and Rural Communities Planning Associates, Inc. &uot;They will discuss critical issues that affect the state of Mississippi.&uot;

The convention will include sessions on education, healthcare, economic development and the legislature. Presenters will be black leaders directly involved in each of the topics.

Participants in the convention include mayors, supervisors, school board members, city and chancery clerks and others. Members of the Mississippi Conference of Black Mayors, the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, the Mississippi Minority Supervisors Association and the Mississippi Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials will be in attendance.

Smith said black leaders who live miles apart face similar issues and he is hoping the convention will form ties that help them to work collectively in the future.

He said he hopes to hold the conference in a city with strong black leadership each year.

Eddie Jean Carr, the newly elected chancery clerk of Hinds County, said she was excited about the convention.

&uot;We have a variety of ideas and I hope we can learn from each other,&uot; Carr said. &uot;We have the same concerns and I hope we can meet and share them.&uot;

Lawrence Butler, the mayor of Bolton for 23 years, said he’d been to similar events before but was looking forward meeting more state leaders.

&uot;Gathering information and seeing how things are going in other areas is the main thing,&uot; he said.