By Staff
MEET AND GREET Ann Wilson Hayes, left, a Republican seeking re-election as Lauderdale County chancery clerk, talks with Mike Segura, campaign director for GOP gubernatorial candidate Mitch Tyner, and Tyner himself. The three joined other candidates who met with Mississippi Power Co. employees at a company-sponsored lunch on Monday. Photo by Anna Wright/The Meridian Star
By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
June 24, 2003
Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Nielsen Cochran pledged Monday to prevent the federal government from taking over local electrical services like Mississippi Power Co.
Cochran, who represents the Central District on the three-member Public Service Commission, made his comments at a Meet the Candidates luncheon hosted by Mississippi Power Co. in Meridian.
He added that not just Mississippi Power, but Entergy, Tennessee Valley Authority and all small electric power associations are concerned with the issue.
Political luncheon
Cochran, a Republican, will meet Democrat L.D. Horne Sr. of Jackson and Reform Party candidate Mike R. Ivey of Florence in the Nov. 4 general election.
Cochran and other candidates in the November general election and the Aug. 5 party primaries spent lunchtime Monday meeting with employees at Mississippi Power Co. in Meridian.
The luncheon was one of several Mississippi Power has sponsored across Southeast Mississippi. Brian Finnegan, division operations manager, said the luncheon is a tradition.
Don Mason, Mississippi Power vice president for external affairs and corporate services, welcomed the employees and candidates.
GOP candidate
Mitch Tyner, a Republican who will meet Haley Barbour in the Aug. 5 GOP primary for governor, attended the event. Tyner said the No. 1 plank in his platform is God and family.
On the local scene David Pritchett, one of five Republicans running for Lauderdale County's District 1 supervisor seat, said he is running for office because he wants the county to operate more like a business.
Asked to give an example of county waste, Pritchett said: "I don't think bridges should go where they are not needed. Money should be spent on the higher traffic areas where it's needed a little worse."
Pritchett will meet Bill McBride, Eddie Harper, Jerry Marlow and Sidney Covington in the August GOP primary.
Agriculture concerns
Max Phillips, one of four Republican candidates for state agriculture commissioner, told Mississippi Power employees that his main concern is economic development through agriculture.
Phillips will meet Roger Crowder, Kyle Magee and Fred Smith in the August Republican primary.
Phillips also talked about protecting food supplies with bio-security measures; educating the public of the importance of agriculture to the state economy; and getting more young people interested in farming.
He said he challenged county supervisors across the state to become the catalysts to developing an alternative fuels industry.