Newcomers have entered the upcoming city council elections in Wards 5 and 6, both looking to claim a seat to fight urban decay.
Mary Beth Jeter and Donald Pope both filed qualifying paperwork on Monday.
Newcomer Mary Beth Jeter, 60, is running for Ward 5 councilwoman as a Republican.
Jeter told The Dispatch Tuesday that she’s originally from Savannah, Tennessee, having lived in Columbus intermittently since enrolling in Mississippi University for Women’s paralegal program in 1983. Since then she’s travelled for work in law and real estate, and she was shocked at the state of the city when she returned in 2016.
Jeter said she wants to reduce crime, clean up trash and fix Columbus’ roads. She decided to run when her car window was broken into a few weeks ago, she said.
“When I came back in 2016, this town looked like a ghetto,” she said. “My husband and I lay in bed at night and hear gunshots downtown every single night. It’s just nasty… A few weeks ago my car window got broken into and I said that was the last straw. When that happened I said to myself, ‘I can’t take it anymore. I’ve got to step up.’”
Jeter faces Democrats Sedrick Fenster, Cequeila V. Clark and Gregory “Gary” Jefferson.
Qualifying for municipal elections will run through 5 p.m. Jan. 31. Party primaries are April 1 and the general election is June 3.
Ward 6
Newcomer Donald Pope, 61, is running for Ward 6 councilman as an Independent.
The Columbus native told The Dispatch Tuesday he retired from the post office in 2023 after 30 years of service, making this the first election cycle in decades where his job wouldn’t prevent him from holding office. He said he graduated from Mississippi University for Women’s paralegal program, and has been involved in a wide variety of community work through his fraternity, church and charities.
He said he’s running to try and revitalize the city, focusing on using funding from new industry to repair Columbus’ infrastructure and make it easier for small businesses to survive.
“As a community, it seems like we’re falling by the wayside,” he said. “When I was growing up I was very proud of the city of Columbus. It was one of the jewels of north Mississippi. But in the last decade, we’ve regressed so much… All our tax dollars are going to Tupelo, Tuscaloosa and Birmingham. People travel to other cities and take our tax base with them. We have to give the citizens somewhere to spend their money here in Columbus.”
Pope faces Republican Jason Spears.
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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 35 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
