NATCHEZ — Jake Middleton is six months into his newest job, and he says is feet are wet.

As an alderman for 16 years prior to running for mayor, Middleton said he’s had experience, and the job to him is not overwhelming.

However, there have been several hurdles Middleton has jumped since his July swearing in.

Hurricane Gustav

As all eyes watched Hurricane Gustav head toward New Orleans, it suddenly took a turn and Adams County went from an evacuation safe haven to one of Gustav’s targets.

What Middleton recalls the most from that experience is having to rely on others for help, and having that help come through beautifully, he said.

“Everyone knew we were in trouble,” Middleton said after the storm blew out the county’s transmission lines and downed hundreds of trees.

The night the city’s lights went out, Middleton said he was concerned that perhaps there wasn’t enough law enforcement to handle all the lights being out, so he called Gov. Haley Barbour.

Barbour then sent down 14 or 15 state troopers, alcohol, tobacco and firearm officials and several Mississippi Department of Transportation law enforcement officers.

Middleton said he was pleased to see everyone work together — including tourism, public works and county officials — toward a common goal of getting the county back on its feet.

“When it gets down to it, everybody pulls together,” Middleton said.

Budget

With fluctuating gas prices and an economy on the brink of a recession, Middleton said a lot of careful consideration went into the 2008-2009 fiscal year budget.

“It was hard,” he said.

The first thing Middleton said he wanted to do was find ways to trim the budget down.

“We tried to emphasize to the department heads to cut the budget by 5 percent,” he said.

Also, Middleton cut the two lobbyists from the budget and made some personnel changes to avoid any unnecessary overlap.

But Middleton said he felt the cuts only compensated the fuel budget.

“At that time, gas was $4 a gallon,” he said.

The previous fiscal year, Middleton said the city was $30,000 over in its gasoline budget.

With gas prices now under $2, Middleton said there’s some breathing room in the budget for gas, but he’s not anticipating the low prices sticking around.

“I still believe the gas prices will go back up,” he said. “I think we’ll see an increase again.”

And now tourism officials are worried about the next few months, fearing a drop in tourism due to naturally slow months and a hurting economy.

That’s why he said it’s important for the board to keep a careful eye on the budget and meet quarterly to discuss the city’s financial situation.

Recreation

While the city was working on the budget, Middleton was working on a plan to help out recreation.

Serving 13 of his 16 years on the board of alderman as the chair of recreation, Middleton said he’s always had a passion for that aspect.

Part of his platform was to build a recreation facility and he wanted to get the county involved.

So, before the county board of supervisors voted on its budget, Middleton asked for an increase in the amount of money the county gives toward recreation.

The county chips in $50,000, while the city pays nearly $1 million.

Middleton requested a two-mil increase in the county’s participation.

The county denied the request. Late, the city and county formed a committee to discuss recreation.

Middleton said several plots of land have potential for development.

“It’s moved further now than I think it ever has,” he said. “I think everyone pretty much has decided that we’re going to do it.”

He’s also working on several means by which to fund a recreation development.

One way to do so would be to impose a 1 percent sales tax increase — a bill the Mississippi Municipal League is lobbying for the state legislature to pass.

Middleton said he’d like to see this project come to fruition by the end of his administration.