Hugh Keating has unsurprisingly won the race to become Mayor of Gulfport, Mississippi. Will this usher in an era of progress?
Residents of the city of Gulfport have recently voted in favor of Hugh Keating to replace longtime incumbent William “Billy” Hewes III as Mayor of the port city, positioning the town for the possibility of bold change and new ideas. Gulfport has historically been one of Mississippi’s most successful settlements, boasting higher standards of living and more diverse economic opportunities when relative to the rest of the state. However, when compared with what its potential could be, Gulfport falls short. Many believe that Gulfport and surrounding cities simply do not possess the resources to become a crown jewel of the Deep South, but this is undeniably false.
Mayor Billy Hewes deserves credit for the actions he took while in office and the lasting effect his policies had on Gulf Coast politics and culture. The city recognized the relevance of the oceans and marine-related tourism and made substantial efforts to preserve our waters and aquatic areas. He made significant efforts to improve infrastructure in Gulfport, rebuilding several major roads and beginning projects that would make certain parts of the town more accessible to residents. However, many portions of the city, and the coast as a whole, are still plagued with crumbling roads in desperate need of attention and beaches littered with broken glass and debris in some areas.
The election of Hugh Keating to his first term is, as with all elections, attractive as a potential bookmark of a new beginning. Perhaps with new leadership, we can continue to address these problems and even move on to others, like the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s crippling brain drain and various environmental hazards. While I don’t want to immediately dismiss our new Mayor, I’m skeptical about whether he possesses the capabilities, plans, and vision to actually push Gulfport forward, and I believe our communities should observe with caution. The clock is ticking on Gulfport’s strategy of slow progress and hesitancy, and it is time that we start exploring the different opportunities and initiatives that may bring necessarily bold and consequential change.
As this blog has consistently emphasized, the young are our future and the Mississippi Gulf Coast is simply not an attractive location for our future lawyers, doctors, and entrepreneurs. However, it does not have to be this way. This region is deliberately engineered to appeal to a much narrower market, including more senior residents and older generations. Why does this have to be the case? It is more than possible to find compromise, building our cities and communities up to be appealing hubs for innovation and commerce as well as an affordable and value-oriented retreat.
As specified in interviews with local media like WLOX, Hugh Keating ran on a platform promising to transform downtown Gulfport into a vibrant cultural center and improve public safety and infrastructure, with “…more police officers, public parks, and better community relations.” These ideas are extremely appealing to residents, but it remains to be seen if his prospects will actually come to fruition. How will we make downtown Gulfport more accessible and lively? Does his plan include other parts of the city? He wants to improve public safety by providing more first-responders, but what support do our current men and women in service receive, and when will we address the tight resources our police stations, fire departments, and hospitals struggle to work with? Will improvements in infrastructure continue to be focused primarily on areas with high-dollar businesses and neighborhoods with economic and political significance, or will all citizens of Gulfport enjoy the benefits of walkable streets, new roads, and efficient public transportation? Admittedly, I’m somewhat hesitant to jump straight in.
Mayor Keating is right: Gulfport is in dire need of more cultural capital. If downtown Gulfport, along with other economic centers, were to be reorganized into more walkable, community-friendly areas with incentives to attract both local pedestrians and tourists, it would mean a massive boost for economic activity. As of right now, Gulfport fails to fully embrace its vast history, changing hands between several ruling powers of differing cuisines, styles of architecture, and languages that, if explored in our city, would captivate those looking for a change from their norm. We could encourage and support artistic expression and creativity, along with including more natural elements, to make downtown Gulfport and other areas of our city colorful and energetic.
We need more than just restaurants and parks—Gulfport requires and is more than capable of producing a scene that appeals to younger generations, tourists, and older residents alike. Personally, I envision intimate and pedestrian-centered streets and alleys lined with trees and flowers native to our region, with walls of buildings covered in the works of local artists, and stylistic architecture paying homage to our unique blend of history spanning America, Britain, Spain, and France.
Gulfport ranks pretty average in crime—according to most recent data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Unified Crime Reporting (UCR) program, Gulfport experiences a total violent crime rate of around 251 per 100,000 residents. However, there’s little interest in settling for mediocrity. It is more than possible, and in fact the goal, to make crime almost nonexistent. The safest cities in America, especially those with populations and economies comparable to that of Gulfport, achieve lower crime rates through investment into the community, not by simply hiring more police officers or increasing their jurisdiction—decisions that evidence proves would not reduce crime and could potentially even make it worse.
There needs to be a focus on not only policing, but also prevention. Our safest urban areas do this with robust policies to improve the standard of living in crime-ridden areas, including creating jobs, treating addiction, and placing an emphasis on education, giving citizens the comfort of knowing that there are other opportunities than resorting to crime. Most importantly, it is essential to rebuild trust; residents of Gulfport should feel as though first responders are not there to act as enforcers, but instead to protect and serve them.
It is essential that residents of Gulfport, particularly the young, stay involved in the planning of the direction this city intends to take. This city must encourage community involvement in its development, and it is a necessity that it listens to the voices of the people who live in it. Gulfport must enact meaningful change—change that builds a greater Gulfport for all who call it home, not just certain parts.