Much of the news in Columbus and Lowndes County was dominated by effects of a devastating EF-3 tornado that touched down in the city in February, resulting in millions of dollars of damage.
The area also saw new faces in public roles — including a new legislative representative, Lowndes County School District superintendent, two city council members and newcomers to multiple county positions — and city officials have high hopes for Leigh Mall, after the longtime struggling mall was purchased by a Georgia-based retail firm in an online auction.
Here are some of the top headlines in Columbus and Lowndes County in 2019:
Feb. 23 tornado
On Feb. 23, an EF-3 tornado ripped through Columbus, killing one person, damaging or destroying 275 homes and 38 businesses and leaving $9.3 million in damage to public property alone.
The storm developed in the southwest part of the city and traveled northeast from First Street through Memphistown to Tuscaloosa Road. Both Sim Scott Park Community Center and Hunt Success Academy on 14th Avenue North suffered severe damage, and plans are in place to renovate Hunt and rebuild the community center.
In the weeks following the storm, city and county officials set up emergency shelters and a volunteer aid center to assist residents.
The storm was part of a larger flooding event across the state — areas of downtown Columbus, including the Riverwalk and Lowndes County Soccer Complex were under water for several weeks after the storm — and in April, President Donald Trump declared Lowndes and six other Mississippi counties federal disaster areas. Initially, Federal Emergency Management Agency declined to provide individual assistance to private property owners and residents whose homes, businesses and other property had been damaged. Agents from Mississippi Emergency Management Agency appealed the decision and in September, FEMA announced that assistance would be available after all. From Sept. 27-Oct. 31, FEMA representatives set up a Disaster Recovery Area in the East Columbus Gym to work with residents seeking federal aid.
McLean ousts Smith, Hawkins elected sheriff
Dana McLean beat longtime representative Jeff Smith in the Republican primary for House District 39 in August. There was no Democratic challenger, making McLean the representative-elect for that district.
McLean is a Columbus-based real estate agent with Century 21 Doris Hardy and Associates agency. She won with 51.93 percent of the vote.
Smith has been District 39’s representative since 1992. He served as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics Lt. Eddie Hawkins also beat two other Republican candidates in the primary and won against one independent in the Nov. 5 general election to become Lowndes County sheriff. Hawkins, who has served 14 years as methamphetamine field coordinator for MBN, will replace two-term sheriff Mike Arledge, who first became sheriff in 2011 and decided not to run in 2019.
The elections also brought in a new chancery clerk, Cindy Egger Goode; prosecuting attorney, Steve Wallace; Lowndes County District 2 supervisor, Trip Hairston; District 1 constable, Jake Humbers; and District 2 constable, Joe Ables, Jr.
Columbus fills two council seats with special elections
The city held two special elections after council seats opened unexpectedly in 2019.
Former Ward 4 councilman Fred Jackson announced his resignation from the council in July, halfway through his first term. Pierre Beard, who had run against Jackson in 2017, emerged as the new Ward 4 councilman from a pool of six candidates after a special election in August and runoff in September.
In the weeks leading up to Jackson’s resignation, rumors had begun to swirl that he had moved from his ward. He also came under public scrutiny in April when public records indicated he was given a discounted rate to rent space at the Trotter Convention Center — which is city owned — for his May 11 wedding.
The council seat for Ward 1 also opened when longtime Councilman Gene Taylor died Aug. 5 after a short illness. He was in his fourth term as councilman.
His sister, Ethel Taylor Stewart, was elected to replace him after a special election and runoff in October, making her the first woman on the six-member city council since 2008.
Beard’s and Stewart’s terms expire in 2021.
Hull PG purchases Leigh Mall
Augusta, Georgia-based retail firm Hull Property Group purchased Leigh Mall for $3.5 million in an online auction on Oct. 17.
The struggling mall had changed hands from Security National Properties to Colony Financial in 2018 after SNP defaulted on a $34.7 million loan for which the mall was one of dozens of properties put up as collateral.
Hull is one of the largest privately owned retail real estate companies in the country and specializes in transforming struggling malls and other retail sites into successful economic developments by working directly with tenants and local governments. It owns more than 30 mall properties, along with shopping centers and dozens of development properties.
Built in 1973, Leigh Mall is only 57-percent occupied, with original anchors JCPenney and Sears both vacated. The mall has also been steadily losing smaller tenants such as Reed’s Jewelry and Kirkland’s over the past several years. Maintenance issues from leaks in the roof to potholes throughout the parking lot have also plagued the property.
Lowndes County School District choose new superintendent in wake of financial troubles
Lowndes County School District’s board hired New Hope Middle School Principal Sam Allison to replace Lynn Wright as district superintendent in November.
Wright was first elected superintendent in 2011 and was re-elected four years later, the year before the Legislature made it mandatory for all districts to board-appoint superintendents by Jan. 1, 2020. Wright reapplied for his position but was not among the top three finalists.
The board interviewed the finalists in a closed-door meeting which board attorney Jeff Smith described as a “limited public forum.” While members of the media and the general public were not allowed to attend, board members each picked three stakeholders to sit in on the interviews.
During Wright’s tenure, the district saw major construction projects, such as the Career Technical Center on Lehmberg Road, but ran into financial trouble with deficits exceeding $2 million multiple years in a row and cutting more than 60 first-year teaching positions at the end of the 2018-19 school year. Earlier this month, the board voted to borrow up to $2.6 million in a tax-anticipation loan to make payroll, the second straight year LCSD has resorted to that measure in December.
Communiversity completed
This year saw the completion and opening of the Communiversity, East Mississippi Community College’s $42-million advanced manufacturing skills training center on Highway 82.
Its first director is Courtney Taylor, formerly regional director of workforce and economic development for the Alabama Community College System.
The 145,000 square-foot building houses instructors’ offices and classrooms for all the credit programs related to manufacturing, along with computer labs and space for industrial outreach training. It will also include an Imagination Center displaying products made in major industries all over the Golden Triangle, and has three empty manufacturing bays that start-up companies can rent from EMCC to produce products on a smaller scale.
The Communiversity was paid for with a mixture of federal, state and local funding. In 2014, the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors committed $10 million — $666,666 per year for 15 years in debt financing. Also contributing to funding are Oktibbeha ($2.5 million) and Clay ($1 million) counties.
Columbus deals with finances
In the wake of $800,000 deficits each of the two previous fiscal years, the city of Columbus hired Deliah Vaughn as new chief financial officer in May.
Vaughn previously worked as health services agency controller in Tunica County for two years. She replaced former CFO Milton Rawle, who resigned in February after months of public criticism that he hadn’t provided councilmen with an adequate picture of the city’s financial situation.
Vaughn started her new post in the midst of a scramble by city officials to mitigate spending after hired consultant Mike Crowder, a certified public accountant, projected earlier this year that the general fund balance could be as much as $338,000 overdrawn if something didn’t change.
Mayor Robert Smith implemented a cost-savings plan and announced during November’s council meeting that the city had saved $2.1 million as a result of those procedures, though approximately $1.4 million of that was due to a hiring freeze and open positions in the Public Works, police and fire departments.
Columbus rejoins LINK
The city of Columbus renewed its partnership with the Golden Triangle Development LINK one year after cutting ties with the organization.
In August 2018, the city council voted to end a 10-year association with the LINK, which recruits industries and major developments, and contracted with Tupelo-based The Retail Coach a month later to take over retail recruitment for the city. At the time, council members said they felt the LINK had not done enough to encourage retail development in Columbus.
However, during its September meeting this year, the council approved $100,000 for the LINK as a part of its appropriations budget for FY2020. Council members also voted not to renew the city’s contract with The Retail Coach, which expired Oct. 15, after some council members said they felt The Retail Coach had not been as communicative with the council as they promised.
The LINK contracts directly with counties, and in the case of Lowndes County, is paid $400,000 annually for its services. After the city cut ties with the LINK, the county paid the entire amount. With the city involved again, it will pay $100,000 of the county’s contribution.
LINK representatives said while they are happy to partner with the city again, they have no plans to more aggressively recruit retail.
Palmer Home leaves Columbus
After more than 120 years in Columbus, Palmer Home for Children announced its intention to move the children in its residential care program to its campus in Hernando.
The faith-based nonprofit which serves children in foster situations — traditionally through long-term residential care — announced the move in March and had transferred all 30 children living on the 110-acre Columbus campus to Hernando by July.
President Drake Bassett said the 150-acre campus in Hernando is a better fit for Palmer Home’s new model, which is shifting focus from primarily a residential program housing children who cannot live with their parents or other family to a focus on four programs: residential, foster care, transitional coaching for ages 18-24 and respite care for child victims of sex trafficking.
Administrative, marketing and financial offices remained in Columbus.
Top 10 most viewed stories of 2019 on cdispatch.com
■ Philadelphia man caught with trafficked child – 9/12/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Residents seek Kratom ban in Lowndes – 2/5/2019 – Amanda Lien and Slim Smith
■ Storm destruction: One confirmed dead, thousands without power – 2/24/2019 – Dispatch Staff Report
■ Local nursing home among ‘poorest performing’ in Mississippi – 6/7/2019 – Mary Pollitz
■ Remembering ‘Ace’: Caledonia native, ballplayer a victim in Southaven shooting – 7/31/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Beating the odds: At six months, smallest calf born alive making progress at MSU’s College of Veterinary Medicine – 5/4/2019 – Slim Smith
■ MUW soccer coach, 41, passes away Sunday – 1/28/2019 – Adam Minichino
■ Fire damages Zachary’s restaurant – 4/28/2019 – Slim Smith
■ Palmer Home to move children to Hernando site – 3/2/2019 – Isabelle Altman
■ Suspect charged with capital murder for Artesia killings – 1/17/2019 – Isabelle Altman
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
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Related Photos
After several years of decline, Leigh Mall came under new ownership after an online auction in October. Augusta, Georgia-based Hull Property Group purchased the mall for $3.5 million. Photo by: Dispatch file photo
The Communiversity, East Mississippi Community College’s $42-million center for advanced manufacturing training, opened in Lowndes County this year. Photo by: Courtesy photo
Dana McLean
Eddie Hawkins
Pierre Beard
Ethel Taylor Stewart
Sam Allison
Courtney Taylor
