Municipal government is “where the rubber meets the road,” Mayor Andrew ‘FoFo” Gilich told delegates this morning in opening remarks to the Mississippi Municipal League convention in Biloxi.
Gilich and Gulfport Mayor Billy Hewes delivered brief welcome addresses to the opening session of the gathering, which has attracted more than 3,000 city leaders and staff from 300 cities and towns across the state. Leaders, exhibitors and presenters began arriving Sunday night and are expected to be in town through Thursday.
“There’s no insulation between you and the citizens,” Gilich told the leaders gathered at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center. “I’m proud of the job that we all do together to make ‘life’ life. Safe, friendly and beautiful as we like to say.”
Earlier this week, Gilich asked his fellow Biloxians to make note of the visitors, which comprise one of the city’s largest annual conventions. “As you encounter them in our restaurants and on our streets,” the mayor said in a post on the city Facebook page, “please join me in welcoming these leaders and guests to our community.”
Video: See welcome addresses by Gilich and Hewes
Read background on MML convention
See images from the opening general session
News and notes
Drainage tests: With more than six inches of rain reported in east Biloxi Monday, Biloxi Public Works crews today are dropping a harmless green dye in some storm drains at the eastern end of Howard Avenue to test drainage systems. The goal: To make sure stormwater is not infiltrating wastewater lines. A trace of green dye may find its way to Back Bay storm drains at the easternmost end of Howard Avenue.
Traffic advisories: To see the latest road closures and traffic advisories, click here.
