Here is Mayor Andrew “FoFo” Gilich’s draft of his inaugural address, which he used from the podium during the ceremony on Monday, June 30, 2025, at the Biloxi Civic Center. See the inauguration video.
Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you all for being with us this day. This is a very special moment for me. I consider myself once again blessed to be the Mayor of Biloxi.
Please give it up for Mia, Elena, and Pattie for kicking off the ceremonies this evening. It was great.
I am honored and humbled to lead this great City along with this City Council which has also just taken their oath of office. Congratulations to them all. I look forward to serving the citizens of Biloxi with you.
We both need and ask the Good Lord’s guidance to move Biloxi into the future the right way, as He would wish.
To advocate for just that, we’re honored today to have Pastor Eric Dickey from the First Missionary Baptist Church of Biloxi and Bishop Louis Kihneman of the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi.
Thank you both. Please continue to remember Biloxi and its citizens in your prayers.
Also, a special welcome and thank you to the Judges, Supervisors, and other public Officials with us today. Be assured that we highly value the relationships we have with each one of you.
Now let me offer my deepest gratitude to my entire super family, my long-time friends, and the many new friends I’ve made along the way for always supporting me, putting up with me allowing me to achieve this lifelong dream of mine to lead this great city.
At the top of my appreciation scale is “my wife for life,” Serena. In a few months, we will celebrate our 57th wedding anniversary. Thank you is not strong enough for all that you have done and what you do for me. On many occasions, she has told me, “This job is going to kill me, not you”. I’ll do my best not to let that happen…OK?
Welcome as well to all of our Keesler cousins joining us today.
Welcome back to Biloxi to Col. Chris Robinson, the new Commander of 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, the best base in the U.S. Air Force.
I’m know our friend Col. Billy Pope, your predecessor, described what a very special relationship and history that Keesler and Biloxi enjoy.
It is an amazing relationship, and I can tell you that it works both ways.
I’ve been around Keesler all of my life, but really up close over the last 10 years as Mayor of Biloxi. The makeup of both team Keesler and team Biloxi changes regularly, but that special Keesler-Biloxi thing always seems to survive and thrive.
One thing I have witnessed on every occasion is how top-level commanders value and express their appreciation, from bottom to top, to every level of the service men and women they lead.
Along those lines, please join me now in recognizing and acknowledging the 600+ employees spread over the various departments who meet the challenges and reach for those goals we have for Biloxi every day. Biloxi is many things, almost all good, and many of them great. Our goal is to make each one even greater.
I mentioned the change to Team Biloxi earlier. First of note, Mike Leonard (Col. Marine Corps retired), Biloxi’s Chief Administrative Officer since 2016, retired at the end of May this year. We’ve been friends since the 1st Grade, played football, and graduated together from Notre Dame High School. Our professional careers took us to different places, but our love and appreciation of our hometown remained strong. Mike has been much more than a CAO to me since 2016. Biloxi is a better place because he, along with his wife Chalmer, took that leap of faith to move home and serve our beloved city.
Next of note, Billy Ray Allen, Director of Public Works, after nearly 50 years of service to Biloxi, is retiring at the end of June this year. That’s today! Without exception, no one knows and I’m sure no one will ever know the utility workings in Biloxi above or below ground like Billy Ray. Nearly 10 years as Director, you can’t imagine how many times I have said “just call Billy Ray”.
All of us in Biloxi will miss Mike and Billy Ray being on the job.
I learned many things from Biloxi’s relationship with Keesler. One significant thing was to stay focused on the mission, be prepared for change, and make timely, data-driven decisions.
One of those decisions on June 10 was to confirm Richard “Rick” Weaver (Col. Army retired) as Biloxi’s new Chief Administrative Officer. His education and professional experience managing operations of the size and complexity of our city made him the right person for the job. We’re off to a great start with Rick. We’ll be jumping right into the FY2026 budget preparation process tomorrow.
Another change this term is the makeup of Biloxi’s City Council, with four new council members. It’s a change, not a challenge. I believe each and every one of us will focus on “what’s best for Biloxi.”
In the past, I compared the City Council to the offensive line on a football team. Some of us have played together for a number of seasons. They’ll tell you that sometimes it’s a tight formation, and sometimes it’s a spread formation, and sometimes it’s even unbalanced.
But bottom line, you can count on the team to execute “the play.” I’m confident we’ll be making some pretty good plays over the next term.
These are exciting times for Biloxi. Extraordinary progress has been made on many of the transformational projects, like the Popp’s Ferry Road extension to Hwy 90 at the top of our infrastructure list. The new Rouses and other retail opportunities are a direct result of the extension.
About to break ground is the $60M Mississippi Cyber Training facility at KAFB. It’s a collaboration of the State of Mississippi, Mississippi State University, and the U.S. Air Force. The vision is a high-tech campus that will extend beyond that corner of the base at White Avenue and Judge Sekul.
We’re in the design phase of the last two of 14 project areas of the $344M Katrina Infrastructure Project. That’s been on my radar every day over the last 10 years.
We hope to see expansion in the gaming and hotel markets. Possibly billions more in development in the near future.
You may have heard me say: “We have accomplished a lot of things in the last ten years, but I’m here to tell you that the best is yet to come.” I firmly believe that is true.
I’ll close with this thought. The thing that brings everyone of us in this room together is that our hearts is in Biloxi. We love Biloxi. We are Biloxi.
Again, thank you all. God bless America and God bless Biloxi.
