Andrew “FoFo” Gilich, elected Tuesday night to his first full term as mayor of Biloxi, says he plans to have the swearing-in ceremony for the city’s newly elected leaders in the Saenger Theater, “where the next round of the rebuilding of our city will begin.”
Gilich captured 86 percent of the vote against Democratic challenger Sugar Stallings. The count was 2,062 to 303.
Only 10 percent of the city’s 24,270 registered voters turned out to the polls Tuesday, on a day where six inches of rain fell in parts of the city and only three of the city’s eight elected positions were contested.
In Ward 1, incumbent Democrat George Lawrence captured 69 percent of the ballots, or 305 votes over Republican challenger William Kai Landry, and Ward 2 incumbent Democrat Felix O. Gines won 85 percent of the votes, or 279 ballots over Ronald Weeks.
Gilich, who in 2015 won a special mid-term election to replace A.J. Holloway, now stands on the threshold of his first full four-year term.
The mayor would like to see the inauguration held before the Fourth of July weekend and days before the council’s first meeting of the new term, on Wednesday, July 5. He plans to have the inauguration at the Saenger to draw attention to his downtown restoration efforts, which include re-opening Howard Avenue to two-way traffic. The Saenger itself, a 900-seat theater that opened in 1929, has long needed restoration.
“We’ve had a number of challenges, but we’ve worked to deal with them every day,” the mayor said. “We will continue to stand up for Biloxi. Our future is bright as a star, but we’re going to make it a super nova.”
See the results from Tuesday balloting
Mayor appreciative of state’s efforts on rent issue
“I want to say thank you to Gov. Phil Bryant and our local legislative delegation and to all of our legislators for correcting this wrong,” Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich said today after a bill to return $606,000 in rent money to the city passed in Jackson Monday.
The city had argued that the money, rent money paid by the Golden Nugget to the city through the state., was inadvertently transferred to the state’s general fund.
“Gov. Bryant made sure that the issue was part of the special session,” Gilich said, “and we appreciate his efforts in getting it resolved. It was an important issue to the taxpayers of Biloxi, and he realized that.”
News and notes
Beauty and the Beast: The 2017 Disney movie “Beauty and the Beast” will be the featured film at the Summer Movie Series event on Friday at the Biloxi Town Green. The movie begins at dusk, games at 6 p.m. and admission is one can or bag of cat or dog food per person. To see the flyer, click here.
Swimming lessons: Slots are still available for the intermediate, adult and IPAP (Infant and Preschool Aquatics Program) summer swimming lessons that are currently being offered at the Biloxi Natatorium. For more information, call the Natatorium at 228-435-6205. To see images of the lessons this morning, click here.
