NATCHEZ &045; Inexperienced and not knowing what to expect, David Green, then 28, went to Jackson in 1980 to represent Southwest Mississippi in the state Legislature.

&uot;It was a little frightening at first,&uot; he said Monday in a telephone interview as he recalled the election and his first year on the job. &uot;I had never dreamed that a country boy from Southwest Mississippi could do that.&uot;

On Wednesday, his tenure will end, as he retires to begin a new era in his life. Leaving his position in District 96, with constituents in Adams, Amite, Pike and Wilkinson counties, will give him &uot;time to rest for a minute and gather myself,&uot; he said.

Many memories go with him to his rural home about 8 miles from Gloster, including that freshman year, when a large class of new representatives arrived at the capitol.

&uot;I was green as a gourd,&uot; Green said. &uot;I watched the process work, and it was so fast and furious I thought to myself I’ll never be able to do this.&uot;

Speaker of the House Buddy Newman recognized the need for orientation and tutorial among the new representatives, Green said. &uot;Newman began a program of indoctrination for us. Butch Lambert, chairman of Ways and Means, actually gave us classes,&uot; he said.

The instruction helped. Most important, however, was attention to details of how the system worked. &uot;It turned out the key was to be sure to study the rules,&uot; he said.

Green laments the continued economic depression in Southwest Mississippi. Speaking out for his district and trying to get funds to help the area were central to his goals as a legislator.

He recalls the long hours spent on redistricting efforts in 1991 and the difficulty of the process caused by the population shifts away from rural areas.

&uot;It was a period of time during the redistricting process that Mississippi was beginning to lose people right and left, especially in the rural areas. It made it very difficult to redistrict,&uot; Green said. &uot;I remember wondering why we were losing so many people. I soon realized it just comes down to people having to leave to find jobs.&uot;

That migration from rural areas has turned around in some places but not in Southwest Mississippi, he said.

&uot;We’re one of the most economically depressed areas in the state,&uot; he said. &uot;The Legislature never thinks west of I-55 or south of U.S. 84. As a result, we’ve been totally and completely left out of the box. It’s been most frustrating.&uot;

The people in southwestern counties deserve better, he said. &uot;We have productive people but they have not been given the opportunities,&uot; he said. &uot;They could do for Southwest Mississippi what they did for Tunica and for the Gulf Coast and other areas of the state, making sure highways and infrastructure are in place so things can happen.&uot;

Successes may have been few, but he points to several highway projects as some of the good things that have happened in his area of responsibility &045; moving the four-laning of U.S. 61 up on the highway program schedule and getting state routes 24 and 48 put on the program.

Elected in November 1979 by 300 votes, Green had begun his career in public service as a police officer in Gloster. When elected representative, he was serving as an Amite County deputy sheriff.

Several political activists had worked in the 1970s to create districts with larger African-American populations so black candidates had better opportunities to succeed. &uot;They contacted me and said I should run,&uot; Green said. &uot;I said OK, but I didn’t think I’d be elected.&uot;

A graduate of Southwest Mississippi Junior College and of the University of Southern Mississippi, Green is a widower, having lost his wife in 1996. His only child, a daughter, is in her second year of medical school at the University of Houston.

He will continue to serve the public in some way, he said. &uot;I believe Mississippi is the best place in the whole world to live. I believe it to the soul of my heart,&uot; he said. &uot;And I think Southwest Mississippi is the best place in the state.&uot;

His hope is that people of the state and of Southwest Mississippi will get along and work together for the benefit of all.

&uot;You can’t change history, but you can let it lie. I hope we can come together. I hope enough of us can agree to let the past be past and look to the future for the common good of all mankind,&uot; he said.

&uot;I think it could happen. I want it to happen. I want to help make a difference and will continue that until my last breath is gone.&uot;