Golden Triangle voters have a chance to elect one of their own Tuesday when Starkville resident Mike Tagert squares off against DeSoto County”s John Caldwell in a runoff to fill the vacant Mississippi Department of Transportation Northern District Transportation Commissioner seat.
Caldwell and Tagert qualified for the runoff by finishing as the top two candidates in a pool of seven during a Jan. 11 special election. The winner of Tuesday”s runoff will replace former Northern District Commissioner Bill Minor, who died of a heart attack Nov. 1, and join Central Mississippi Commissioner Dick Hall and Southern District Commissioner Wayne Brown. Transportation commissioners are responsible for the governance, policies and budget of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
“I realize a lot of folks don”t really understand what this position is, but you”re in charge of the largest organization in the state with 3,200 employees and a $1 billion budget each year,” Tagert, the top vote-getter in the Jan. 11 vote, said by phone Saturday as he campaigned in Saltillo. “It”s our taxes at work and we want people to have a voice in (filling) this position because it does have an impact on everything we do, from providing safe roads and bridges to better access to attract new industries to our area.”
Tagert touts his experience in the transportation and economic development fields as his main qualifications for the job. For the past three years, he has served as president of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Council and administrator of the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway Development Authority.
“I think my qualifications stand on their own,” he said. “This is what I”ve been working on for years: Transportation solutions as they relate to economic development. We know small communities throughout the region, from Southaven to Tupelo to Columbus to Starkville to West Point, need to have transportation access to bring new industry and new jobs for its citizens.”
Caldwell, the transportation director for the DeSoto County School District, is a former DeSoto County supervisor. He recently won an endorsement from the Oxford Tea Party, and has been touting his experience in the Marine Corps, county government and transportation.
“I think the experience is there; but more importantly I think the heart is there. I am doing this because I care,” Caldwell said in an interview with WTVA News. “If I didn”t think I”d make a difference I wouldn”t be running.”
Caldwell said he wants to give more of a voice to local communities and county supervisors in decision-making on roadways.
The Northern District covers 33 counties, including Oktibbeha, Clay, Lowndes, Monroe, Choctaw, Winston and Webster. Noxubee County is in the Central Mississippi District.
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