If you have a question please email me and I will get back to you. With your permission your question and my answer will be posted here.
I feel it is very important for any elected official or anyone seeking an elected position to stay in touch with the taxpayers who put them in office. My pledge to you if elected is to listen to your questions and concerns and to try to respond to you in a timely manner with an answer.
You can also send me a tweet or connect with me on Facebook @ Bo Alawine for Supervisor.
Q. What does a county Supervisor do?
A. In Mississippi, the Board of Supervisors for each county is essentially the head of the executive branch of county government. The responsibilities of the Board of Supervisors run the gamut from ensuring the sheriff's department is funded to banning the use of firecrackers. They are responsible for setting property taxes, constructing and maintaining roads and bridges, ensuring all county buildings (including the courthouse) are constructed and maintained, etc.
The complete list of duties and responsibilities can be found in Section 19-3-041 of the Mississippi Code of 1972:
The complete list of duties and responsibilities can be found in Section 19-3-041 of the Mississippi Code of 1972:
Michie's Legal Resources: Mississippi Code of 1972
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(Note: The following Q & A appeared in the October 19, 2011, edition of The Gazette (article not yet online).
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(Note: The following Q & A appeared in the October 19, 2011, edition of The Gazette (article not yet online).
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Q. What is your political philosophy?
A. If I
had to condense my political philosophy down to one sentence, I suppose it
would have to be something along the lines of "Government is to be for
the betterment of all, not for just a privileged few." It is my
belief that, more than ever, the levers of government have been and are being
used to fatten the bank accounts of the well-connected, while the rest of us
are expected to pick up the tab. Often this sleight of hand is presented
to the rest of us as "economic development". A perfect example
would be the favorite conservative tactic of granting tax exemptions to large
businesses/industries under the claim that those businesses/industries will
create more jobs which will lead to more revenue. In my opinion, the current means of
ascertaining economic impacts is fraught with pollyannish guesswork and wishful
thinking, resulting in a significant shift of the tax burden onto the taxpayers
themselves. I find it hard to believe
this isn’t intentional.
I would also add as a corollary that
government should be transparent so that every citizen can know what his/her
elected official is discussing and that official will be voting upon. Publicizing what factors go into the various
decisions and votes is critical for having an informed electorate. Unfortunately, it is often standard operating
procedure to coordinate the public’s business away from the public forums
and/or to move to “executive session” to discuss politically sensitive
items. In this day and age, there is no
reason why every agenda, all official meeting minutes (as well as video of all
meetings) and every document should not be publicly-accessible online 24/7. Jackson County is the lone holdout here on the
Coast with respect to making its spending information available and the current
Board of Supervisors has postponed doing so until next year. That is inexcusable.
Q. Who are your political heroes?
A. My
political heroes? That’s an interesting
question, one I haven’t even considered until now and I’m not sure I’d consider
anyone a political “hero”. “Hero” is a
term which has become almost meaningless in today’s lexicon. To me, a “hero” is someone who selflessly
goes far beyond the requirements of their daily lives to help others, putting
themselves at considerable risk, professionally and personally.
Having
said that, I would consider former Congressman Gene Taylor as someone worthy of
emulation. While I strongly disagreed with
a number of his conservative positions, he was always respectful and willing to
listen to my concerns. I was also
greatly impressed with his display of “grace under pressure” during his August
2009 “town hall” meeting in Moss Point.
I could only hope to be half as patient as he was in dealing with some
of the most outrageous attacks on both his character and his person.
Q. What propelled you to enter the race?
A. Every
American boy and girl probably dreams of being president one day; I was no
different. As I’ve grown older, though, I’ve
become more interested in the workings of local, state and federal
government. I’ve never been interested
in “politics”, per se, but in the day-to-day operations that most of us
take for granted.
The
specific impetus for throwing my hat into the ring was the initially unopposed candidacy
of the current Jackson County District #4 supervisor, Tommy Brodnax. On more than one occasion, Mr. Brodnax had
displayed what I considered an incredible contempt for the concerns for his
constituents, particularly those in the Latimer community with respect to the
Highway 15 proposal. No one, regardless
of their job approval numbers, should be allowed to run for office unopposed
and I intended to not allow Mr. Brodnax to “walk” into office. It wasn’t until after I had registered as a
Democrat that two other challengers, Mr. Ross and Mr. Cruthirds, filed to run
against Mr. Brodnax in the Republican primary.
Had I known Mr. Brodnax would have had two challengers, my decision
would have still been the same, given my personal political philosophy is generally
at odds with that espoused by Republican politicians.
I
am also motivated to move Jackson County away from what I perceive to be “good
ol’ boy” politics, where officials count on the indifference or ignorance of
the public to push through policies which might not be in the public’s interest. I would also like to see the county rely less
on heavy industry and more on sustainable, “smart” growth, growth which
promotes our natural resources and our people.
Q. Who has supported you in this race?
A. A
number of coworkers, friends and family have wished me the best of luck. I feel it important to note that, with one
exception, I have not received any political campaign contributions; i.e., no
one is supporting me financially. In
other words, I am a self-funded candidate.
At the end of the day, I want to owe no one but a “Thank you!” for their
vote.
It’s
often said that money is the mother’s milk of politics, a necessary evil to
promote one’s campaign message. While
this may be true, it would be difficult to dissuade me from the firm belief
that money often buys influence. I’d
rather risk losing an election due to insufficient campaign funds than win one
bankrolled by a number of people who come calling after I’ve been sworn into
office.
Q. Tell us about yourself, your family.
A. My
wife, Sandra, and I are both originally from Meridian.
I
graduated from Clarkdale Attendance Center in 1983 and received my A.A. in
Electronics Technology from Meridian Junior College in 1985.
When
I graduated with my B.S. in Electronics Engineering Technology from the
University of Southern Mississippi in May 1987, Sandra and I got married and we
moved to a little rental house on Stennis Avenue in Ocean Springs in August of
that year when I was hired by a defense
contractor out at Ingalls Shipyard. In September
1991, we bought our first (and only) house in the Latimer community where we’ve
lived ever since.
Both
of our sons, Jonathan and Sean, were born at Ocean Springs Hospital and attended
St. Martin Elementary until we decided to homeschool. Both boys are currently attending the
University of South Alabama where Jonathan is working on his Master’s in
Computer Science and Sean is pursuing a Bachelor’s in History with a minor in
Political Science.
I
have been fortunate that my employment has allowed me to travel all over this country
and to points beyond. I’ve been to
Japan, Panama, Mexico and Canada. I’ve
had the pleasure of meeting different people and hearing different viewpoints
on politics and government and life in general.
Q. Tell us what has surprised you in the past months as you have
been out campaigning.
A. I was completely taken
aback with the amount of money that local candidates were expected to raise
during the course of an average campaign.
At my first Democratic Party meeting, several experienced incumbents
offered their experiences with fundraising and relayed the amounts they had
raised in their last campaigns, amounts I found staggering.
My first true campaign
experience was during the Ocean Springs Mardi Gras parade. Prior to the parade itself, I walked up and
down Government Street, introducing myself to folks. It turned out approximately half of the
people I talked to weren’t even from Mississippi, must less Jackson County
District #4. This caused me to
re-evaluate how I was going to get message out to prospective voters. Given my decision to self-fund my campaign,
it seemed wasteful to purchase advertising that couldn’t be targeted to just
District #4.
Another thing that came
as a bit of a surprise to me was the number of people who had no idea as to
their supervisor, their district, their voting precinct or even when Election
Day was. It strikes me as a bit odd that
so many people could rail about what the federal government was or was not doing
right but had no clue about their own local government.
