HATTIESBURG, Miss. (WDAM) - Hattiesburg Mayor Toby Barker spent Wednesday with Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs and leadership counterparts to share practices for providing residents with services and quality of place opportunities.
By Renaldo Hopkins
Barker, along with city staff and tourism partners, were joined by the Vicksburg group that was made up of Flaggs’ office and his departments across Parks and Recreation, Human Resources, I.T., Police Fire and Visit Vicksburg.
The group was broken up into three sections after a welcome and photo with Baker, to discuss operational practices and ideas across a wide range of topics and key buildings that help expanded those conversations:
Group A: Administration/I.T./Human Resources – Hattiesburg City Hall
Group B: Event Planning with Partners and Logistics – Historic Hattiesburg Saenger Theater
Group C: Public Safety – Hattiesburg Public Safety Complex
“This visit was a great opportunity to share best practices across our two cities,” said Flaggs. “Both I and Mayor Baker want to continue to push the envelope on what it means to be a high-achieving and high-performing city in the State of Mississippi – for our residents and those who provide services to them.
We’re grateful for the opportunity to drive over and learn from our counterparts in the Hub City.”
According to the City of Hattiesburg’s Chief Communications Officer, Samantha McCain, A.P.R., the visit was something both mayors wanted to accomplish in 2022 but was pushed back due to the holiday season.
Barker and Flaggs, both of whom are former legislative colleagues and now-mayors, have both pushed for transparent city government and believe that making ways to improve the quality of life for residents take thinking bigger and leaning on best practices where necessary.
“At face value – this visit was about sharing some of our city’s best practices with our counterparts in Vicksburg, showcasing the departments and partners who help make our city thrive,” said Barker. “But more than that, today was about our ability to help make Mississippi better.
I believe strong neighborhoods make strong cities, and strong cities make strong states. Sharing and collaborating on what has worked for us doesn’t make us less competitive. It helps us elevate the playing field.”
McCain said the morning of breakout sessions and facility tours were followed by an afternoon hosted by VisitHATTIESBURG, who directed the visitors through lunch, a presentation about Quality of Place, walking tours through the city’s Public Art Trail, a visit to the Hattiesburg Pocket Museum and a stop at a local shop.
Want more WDAM 7 news in your inbox? Click here to subscribe to our newsletter.
Copyright 2023 WDAM. All rights reserved.
Read this article in its original format here.
