“The city is not buying LD’s” – Mayor Flaggs

At the beginning of today’s meeting of Mayor and Alderman, Mayor Flaggs stated that he wants to “Clear up a rumor, very quickly, and I’m going to say it one time. I don’t know anything about buying LD’s.”

The statement was met with chuckles from Aldermen Mayfield and Monsour.

“The city don’t have 1.5 million dollars. So those people calling to tell me I’m about to buy LD’s, I have no…” the mayor changed his glance to Doug Whittington, the city’s accountant, and said “Doug, I haven’t had any conversation with you about any money and I normally start with you. I don’t know of anything worth 1.5 million dollars other than me.”

Aldermen Mayfield and Monsour noticeably enjoyed clarification from the Mayor on the topic.

Last week the city announced the next step in a project to develop condominiums downtown. Part of the project included developing a waterfront park to replace the Washington Street Park the city developed in the past couple of years. The cost of the Washington Street Park was around $250,000 according to Mayor Flaggs in an exclusive interview with the Vicksburg Daily News last Friday.

News of the development sparked a flurry of comments on social media that were, largely, against moving or doing anything with Washington Street Park.

In the interim, LD’s hit the real estate market at a listed price of 1.5 million dollars. Other posts on social media insinuated some collusion between LD’s and elected officials.