The Mississippi Municipal League Deputy Director Robbie Brown, MML President Mayor Glen Barlow of Town of French Camp, MS, and MML Second Vice President Mayor Errick Simmons of Greenville, MS were in Washington, D.C. recently to meet with Congress and Administration officials.
They met with Congressman Bennie G. Thompson, Senator Roger Wicker and Congressman Michael Guest to discuss best practices in governance and help from fderal departments.
The team also visited with other department and officials during their time in Washington D.C. for National League of Cities’ Congressional City Conference.
MML is the Official Non-Profit private organization of Cities and Towns of Mississippi. The MML lobbies the state and federal legislatures, provides education for municipal elected officials, provides technical support, represents municipalities with public and private entities, and is a networking media for municipal members.
There are 298 municipalities in Mississippi. Over 50% of the citizens in our state live in a municipality. Mississippi is a state of small towns; 85% of cities and towns in Mississippi have less than 10,000 citizens; 54% of cities and towns in Mississippi have less than 1,500 citizens.
The services provided by cities, towns and villages are essential services that citizens can’t do without. These are typically not the kinds of services included in the popular call by some for “less government”.
City officials are elected by their citizens, and therefore, are best positioned to identify the needs and desires of their own citizens.
A key legislative priority identified by the Mississippi Municipal League will be to strongly oppose any legislation that creates an unfunded mandate on cities and towns.
