The Meridian City Council will have at least two new faces this upcoming term, following Ward 2 representative K. Dustin Markham’s decision to run for mayor and Ward 3 representative Barbara Henson’s retirement. 

Two incumbents have no opponents in the June 6 general election: Republican George Thomas of Ward 1, and Democrat Kim Houston of Ward 4.

Ward 2

The Ward 2 seat, held by Markham, had a competitive Democratic primary but Tyrone Johnson, after a primary election and runoff, won over Nathaniel Pringle, Jr. and Tabbotha Adam-Jones. He will face Republican Christopher Von Cockrell June 6. 

Cockrell, a reverend at St. John’s Baptist Church in Marion, is no stranger to elections. As a former resident of Slidell, La., Cockrell ran for the council after Hurricane Katrina and again in 2016 as District 2 Supervisor for Lauderdale County. Now, he wants to represent Ward 2 in Meridian.

If elected, Cockrell said he will focus on rebuilding the city’s infrastructure and code enforcement.

“I think we have a lot of code violations in the city that really need to be given attention,” Cockrell said. 

Cockrell also said he’d like to make the city a model for recycling and address blighted properties. 

“One of the things that I’m proposing to do is the develop a partnership between our local churches and nonprofits where they could lease those properties from the city for better usage,” Cockrell said. “Turn them into possible green spaces, possible community sitting areas, parks, or even just put community gardens where citizens can benefit from fresh fruits and vegetables.”

Additionally, Cockrell said he’d like to see more effort in making citizens feel safe and improve recreational opportunities, especially in underserved areas of Ward 2. 

“I remember what Ward 2 used to be,” Cockrell said, remembering now-abandoned baseball fields. “I want to restore the beauty and glamour that Meridian once had and make it the Queen City that it should be.”

Johnson is a newcomer to politics but actively works with youth in the community through Phi Beta Sigma, Inc.

“We try to educate the youth about what’s going on in the community and just try to educate the students,” Johnson said.

Johnson said he would like to develop after-school programs for students but also address the issues that older teens, and young adults face.

To improve economic development, Johnson said he’d like to see more businesses come to Meridian and would engage citizens through community development forums – where citizens could meet with city leaders and developers to discuss what they’d like to see in their communities. 

“Community development would rebuild some of the houses in (Ward 2) and rebuild morale in our community,” Johnson, a Ward 2 native, said. “I’d also like to find some solutions to fix our sewage problems here in Meridian.”

Johnson said he frequently speaks with the residents of Ward 2, something he would continue to do through community forums if elected.

“I hear a lot of the voices and the concerns of the residents,” Johnson said. “I just know that this is the opportunity to actually get their voices heard and make some kind of progress.”

Ward 3

Following the retirement of Barbara Henson, two contenders will compete for the vacant Ward 3 seat: Republican Michael “Joe” Hoadley and Democrat Fannie Johnson.

Following his retirement from the Meridian Police Department in 2013, Hoadley said he felt God had called him to run for the council.

“I’m a Christian, first and foremost,” Hoadley said. “And I’m running because God called me to do it.”

For Hoadley, his faith influences how he runs his campaign and what he hopes to do as a representative if elected in June. 

“I think it’s time for some muscular Christianity in the City of Meridian because I know that 95 percent of the people are good, decent people,” Hoadley said. “The 3 to 5 percent that we dealt with at the police department are the ones that are wrong. If the 95 percent will stand up against the 5 percent we can have a good community again.”

Hoadley remembered a time when Meridian seemed like a safe place to raise children and enjoy the quiet life.

“I want to salvage and bring (Meridian) back to what it used to be,” Hoadley said. “I want to embolden the good people of Meridian to stand up and say, ‘No, that’s wrong. I will not stand for that in my neighborhood.'”

Hoadley said he would use his position to improve communication between city administration and the police department, especially tackling crime.

“I would like to see (the city council have) a little better cooperation with the police department,” Hoadley said. “Crime is always on everyone’s minds and I have a few ideas about that, that I will share with whoever happens to be the chief at that time.

“I still know people down there and they respect my opinion. And I think they could work.”

Fannie Johnson, also a newcomer to politics, serves as the executive director of L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen, a community kitchen that serves the area’s homeless population.

“The basic thing that everything leads back to is the quality of life,” Johnson said about her platform. 

Johnson said she would like to explore creating programs for the youth, the elderly, for community gardens and abandoned houses, combining some projects by pairing the youth with the elderly in a mentoring relationship and training some youth to rehabilitate houses before condemnation.

“Kids will have role models and the elderly will have a chance to give back to their communities; because some people can’t afford to give back anything but their stories,” Johnson said. 

Johnson said that many of her plans may be unrealistic but narrows her focus on preventing these problems at the beginning, especially issues that affect the homeless population.

“Things that would prevent the homeless population from growing,” Johnson said. “I would love for L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen to not be needed.”

Johnson said she drew not only on her experience with L.O.V.E.’s Kitchen but also her experience as a civil service senior administrator with the military. 

“So policies and procedures, I not only know how to put them into place I know how to write them. I’ve dealt with budgets large and small, and (can) react to changes – when they grow and when they grow smaller,” Johnson said. “So I want to put in all my skills and experience together with my passion for service and hopefully be a great City Council member for Ward 3.”

Ward 5

Incumbent Republican Randy Hammon will face two opponents: Libertarian Charles R. Kimbrough and Democrat Weston Lindemann.

Hammon, running for a second term, has worked to address abandoned homes in the city, a project he said was stalled by politics in the last year.

“We’ve done 300 of 3,000 abandoned homes so…we’ve just really gotten started. And then this last year we’ve done not much at all,” Hammon said. 

Hammon, a retired process engineer, said he’d like to improve Meridian’s rating as the 19th safest city, out of 25, in Mississippi.

“I’d like to see the city council start to put pressure on the on the mayor and the police chief to enforce our codes and ordinances… all the cities that do that have success in reducing crime,” Hammon said. “The problems we’ve got are nothing that other cities don’t have. Worst case even if we copied the other cities we would be doing well and that’s why other cities are doing well.”

Additionally, Hammon said he’d like to bring some of the programs other cities have to Meridian.

“One of them is Carpenter’s Helper, which helps low-income and need families get work done on their homes,” Hammon said. “It usually is headed up by construction people… and I would like to get that started but it’s going to take time.”

To attract investors to Meridian, Hammon said Meridian will need to address its roads and infrastructure.

 “I’m running again because we haven’t done everything that we need to do,” Hammon said. “If we expect to get businesses then we’re going to have to clean it up.” 

Kimbrough, a newcomer to politics, said he renovates old homes with his business.

“We bring them from the brink of being destroyed by the city and try to make them available for lower income folks to be able to have an affordable place to live,” Kimburough said.

Kimburough said that over the next four years, the city should focus on rebuilding communities, attracting jobs to Meridian and lowering the crime rate.

“I think y(we) should work with the police force and train them in a way to build a relationship with the locals and the population,” Kimbrough said. “Seventy percent of Meridian doesn’t feel connected in a meaningful way (to the city) and I think that should definitely be addressed.”

To help with jobs, Kimbrough said he would like to explore trade schools and eliminate roadblocks for businesses.

“I think one of the big things would be to start something like trade schools. Places where people can get educated, learn a craft and learn a skill. And also encourage small business growth here in town,” Kimbrough said. “It just seems like there’s a lot of bureaucracy involved, deterrents and taxes that don’t need to be there. A lot of the procedures that are required to do business in Meridian need to be streamlined.”

Kimbrough said he decided to run for city council because he felt the city could use some “fresh blood.”

“I just think we need a new direction,” Kimbrough said.

Lindemann, 20, is the youngest candidate and will be a part-time student at Millsaps College in the fall, studying philosophy and economics.

“I want to see more vision for Ward 5 in particular, I think that’s one thing that’s lacking in our current leadership and that’s why I’m running,” Lindemann said. “Ward 5 has been, ‘Let’s tear down, tear down, tear down, and I’m all about building up.”

Lindemann said he and his team developed a plan to crowdfund to restore and revitalize abandoned homes instead of demolishing them. Lindemann said that in the time that 300 homes have been demolished only three have been built in Ward 5. 

“Essentially these properties are off the tax roll and that’s hundreds of thousands of dollars that our schools are losing. It’s money that could be going towards our roads, towards jobs, toward workforce development, it goes on and on,” Lindemann said. “And so, you have to ask, well, if we’re not doing anything to increase our revenue, eventually someone’s going to try to raise our property taxes and I don’t want that to happen. So instead of raising property taxes I’d like to see new tax money brought in by boosting our economy through redeveloping all of these properties that are off the tax rolls.”

Lindemann said that by investing in workforce development and inviting non-profits to help with business incubation, the city will show potential investors that Meridian is a growing city.

Lindemann said that his age benefits him and means he takes a more “hands-on” approach to politics.

“When I look at the role of a councilman, being only 20 years old I’m really looking at politics from a pretty unique perspective,” Lindemann said. “I don’t see (City Council) as just a vote twice a month, I see it as really being active in the neighborhood of Ward 5. I want to take a hands-on approach with every single neighborhood and every single community.

“Really just having a vision for the city of Meridian. Rather than standing for tearing things down I’d like to build things up.”

Election information

City council members, elected every four years, receive $20,000 a year. The council president, when selected, will also receive a $2,500 stipend for the year they serve.

The general election will be June 6, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Mississippi allows voters to vote absentee if they have a legal reason, such as a business trip or working during polling hours, to miss the general election. City Hall will be open during normal business hours, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., throughout the week as well as Saturday, June 3, from 8 a.m. until noon for absentee voting.

Voters should look at the bottom of their voter registration cards for city precinct locations, which may differ from county precinct locations. For more information call City Hall at (601) 485-1945.