Mayor A.J. Holloway is scheduled to undergo a routine follow-up operation to mend his colon on Thursday at Biloxi Regional Medical Center.
Holloway, who was elected to an unprecedented fifth four-year term on Tuesday, is expected to be out of his City Hall office for two to three weeks, but is expected to work from home before returning to work fulltime.
Dr. Frank Martin, who will perform the operation, had said that Holloway would undergo a follow-up procedure after the mayor’s Jan. 31 surgery to repair a perforated colon, which was caused by diverticulitis, a relatively common condition in which pouches on the outside of the colon become inflamed or infected.
Holloway had spent 11 days in Biloxi Regional after his January surgery, and took part in his first city function 20 days after the operation. His hospital stay and recovery are not expected to take as long for this follow-up procedure.
News and notes
Blinking signal: The traffic signal at White Avenue and Irish Hill Drive has been switched to the flashing mode while the Keesler main gate is closed for repairs. Traffic on Irish Hill has the right of way, while motorists on White Avenue face a flashing red light. The flashing signal will be in place until the White Avenue gate re-opens, which is scheduled to be Aug. 10, when upgrades to a security barrier are complete.
Political history, Part 1: Although A.J. Holloway became the first Biloxi mayor elected to five four-year terms, he’d need a sixth term to claim an unrivaled record. Two citywide elected officials who served during the mayor-commission form of government served six terms. Commissioner John A. Swanzy was elected to terms in 1923, 1927, 1931, 1935, 1939 and 1943; and Commissioner J.A. “Tony” Creel was elected to terms in 1943, 1947, 1951, 1953, 1961 and 1965. (The 1951 term was abbreviated apparently in order to align election cycles with neighboring cities.)
Political history, Part 2: City Councilman Tom Wall also reached a milestone with Tuesday’s general elections, becoming the first Biloxi councilmember to be elected to five consecutive terms. Wall, who represents west Biloxi’s Ward 5, was first elected in 1993 and was re-elected in 1997, 2001, 2005 and again this year. Besides Holloway, who served a term as Ward 3 councilman before becoming mayor, Wall is the longest-serving elected leader in the mayor-council form of government in Biloxi, which the city switched to in 1981.
