Mayor Flaggs, On Your ‘Vision for the Future of Vicksburg’

VICKSBURG, Miss. – It’s election year and career politicians Mayor Flaggs and Alderman Monsour are in full career politician mode. Alderman Monsour is even suddenly publicly disagreeing with the Mayor, something we haven’t seen since the last city election.

This Wednesday, January 8, at 5:30 p.m. the Mayor will give his “Vision for the Future of Vicksburg” in the Robert Walker Building.

There is a lot to celebrate in our community, especially the finally completed animal shelter. We are all looking forward to the new harbor project and the opportunities it will create. As we at the Vicksburg Daily News drove around the city yesterday looking at both the good about our city, as well as the areas that need improvement, it is hard to not notice how much better off our city is now than it was in 2013, when Flaggs was first elected Mayor. His first term was one of revival for our community and many mechanisms were put in place to help our city grow, but like a garden, a city needs constant tending. Today’s harvest is tomorrow’s fertilizer.

In 2013, downtown Vicksburg was a ghost town, a victim of many things including the Great Recession of the late 2000’s that destroyed the housing market. Now, the downtown area is full of shops and apartments, and parking is always a challenge – that’s a good problem. On the other hand, we have two large parking garages that remain largely unused and are decaying due to a lack of maintenance for the past several years. The stairwells are boarded up with plywood and have signs that say “Temporarily out of service.” People say they don’t feel safe in those garages, in spite of the cameras and partially operative LEDs.

The Art Park and City Front Murals were the glory of a past administration and are such a welcoming site to tourists. The Splash Pad is a joy, but this administration has allowed the rest of the Art Park to decay. We have covered the condition of that park, and some efforts have been made, but the lack of maintenance on it during the Flaggs/Monsour years have taken it’s toll. Artwork that was meant to be there for a lifetime has been destroyed, and the beautiful lighting that added to the ambiance of the park hasn’t been maintained either.

Vicksburg is blessed with both beautiful architecture and natural beauty, all while gracefully perched on the hills overlooking the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers with a picturesque view of the Louisiana Delta. But, the roads to see our beautiful town make for a rough ride through. Our two main corridors, Clay Street and Washington Street, are riddled with litter and the roads are in desperate need of permanent repairs. Flower boxes that once housed bright colors are now full of trash and weeds.

Blight is another concern. All over town we have properties where the city isn’t enforcing their own codes. Codes that, if enforced, would substantially improve the the quality of life for tourists and citizens alike. Boarding houses have proliferated and are an endless source of police activity.

Speaking of police activity, we have a crime problem in our town, in spite of Mayor Flaggs and Alderman Monsour’s position that crime is not a problem in our community. While we can be grateful that some of the violent crime we have is typically targeted, citizens have narrowly escaped being shot. Bullets don’t care. One of the indiscriminate shooting incidents at Clay and Cherry was at lunchtime and it’s a miracle only buildings were hit. A house on Drummond, in the Fostoria neighborhood, had a bullet end up in the bedroom mattress. Gun shots are gun shots. Alderman Mayfield is the only city official to go on record and admit there is an issue with crime in Vicksburg.

The first step to solving a problem is to admit it exists. Mayor Flaggs, in your political speech please acknowledge that you, as Police Commissioner and Mayor, have underfunded and underpaid police in Vicksburg for over a decade. Admit that you were wrong, as you did in a public meeting in 2024, in not paying your first responders appropriately. Then, admit that there is a crime problem that your policies did little to solve. Your history, Mayor Flaggs, is to blame others. In this case you will put the blame on Chief Jones who has to fight both crime and your administration to get anything done. Police Commissioner and Mayor Flaggs, support your local police.

Economically, Vicksburg remains a city of great wealth in the pockets of a few. Low wages, coupled with the high crime you’ve fostered with your policies, have cost us population. People work here while living in other, safer cities. When faced with the population loss you blamed the US Census. Take responsibility for your actions in the same way you hold business owners accountable for violent incidents on their property. The public, i.e. the voters, need a Memorandum of Understanding with you that you and your guaranteed second vote understand your policies have led us here.

For decades we’ve talked about the beauty of our town and our huge potential. As you lay out your vision for the next four years, Mayor Flaggs, be real. Address the population loss, address the crime, address the road work and beautification needs, and take responsibility for you and your guaranteed second vote’s actions and leadership. Explain how the best example of what will happen in the future is not what has happened in your past. Election season will come and go, and the city of Vicksburg deserves more than just election year promises.

One final question, Mayor. Are you still running for state wide office like you stated at that Chamber luncheon last year?