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From YouTube: 2021 SOTC Presentation, Biloxi Bay Area Chamber
Description
In-person State of the City presentation for 2021, delivered May 20, 2021 to a Biloxi Bay Area Chamber of Commerce luncheon at the Beau Rivage Resort & Casino.
A
I
am
pleased
to
introduce
our
speaker
today.
He
is
a
passionate
person,
always
has
been
and
says
he
always
will
be.
His
passion
is
one
of
the
things
that
motivates
him
each
and
every
day,
as
our
mayor,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
here
to
deliver
the
state
of
our
city,
please
welcome
the
mayor
of
biloxi,
the
honorable
andrew
fofo,.
B
C
Okay,
okay,
okay,
all
right!
Thank
you.
Thank
you.
It's
good
to
be
back
amongst
the
living
here,
so
we
started
a
little
bit
after
breakfast
of
the
mayor,
but
it
really
truly
is,
I
feel,
like
the
beach
bar
has
some
good
vibrations
going
on.
So
it's
a
it's
a
pleasure
to
be
here,
and
you
know
I'm
gonna
try
and
work
the
room.
C
So
I
hope
I
don't
forget
anybody,
but
I'm
appreciative
every
everybody,
the
members
of
the
chamber
of
commerce,
the
business
community,
so
I'm
going
to
start
better
start
with
my
family
first,
so
serena
and
my
family,
everybody
at
these
three
tables
and
lodge
you
know.
You
know:
we've
been
called
the
griswolds
before,
but
I'm
appreciative
of
them
there.
C
You
know
I
do
appreciate.
Everybody
needs
to
be
thankful,
and
I-
and
I
am
about
to
you-
know
how
we
we've
proceeded
and
how
we've
gotten
through
the
past
and
going
to
the
future.
But
it's
it's
to
them.
I
used
to
joke
talking
about.
Somebody
asked
me
well
how
many
people
work
in
the
city
of
biloxi
and
I
said
about
half,
but
that's
not
the
truth.
C
That's
not
the
truth.
I'm
going
to
tell
you
a
little
story,
I'm
going
to
continue!
My
welcomes
vincent.
Forgive
me
I'm
going
to
ramble
a
little
bit,
but
do
this
happen
to
me
today,
7
30
in
the
morning,
I'm
at
the
intersection,
the
stoplight
at
bob's,
ferry
road
in
sunkist
country,
club,
road
and
I'm
just
pondering.
How
can
I
get
150
million
dollar
bridge
then?
All
of
a
sudden
here
comes
like
a
squadron
of
f-15s
the
cutting
crew
and
they
looked
like
they
were
getting
ready
to.
C
C
So
let
me
check
some
notes,
bro
forget,
but
let
me
continue.
Of
course
I
tell
talked
about
our
team
biloxi
and
our
city
council
and
let
me
introduce,
I
think,
president
of
the
board
of
supervisor
district,
one
in
my
neighbor
beverly
martin
she's
here,
and
let
me
know
that
she's,
my
neighbor
and
together
we've
been
we've
done
some
unanimous
things,
both
the
board
of
supervisors
in
the
city
council
and
we've
gotten
folks
attention.
C
So
I'm
thankful
of
that
kind
of
working
relationship.
I
do
where
I
have
my
brother
mayor
there,
brother
billy
hughes
over
there
in
the
corner
and
and
we
and
we
do
have
a
record
of
by
the
last
visit
we
head
to
havana,
cuba.
I
think
bill
lavers
over
here
from
harrison
county
development.
Commission
he
has
has
it
on
tape
right.
C
We
played
a
little
louie
louie
and
double
shot
in
havana,
cuba.
Nobody
knew
you
know
who
that
was,
but
we'll
get
the
band
back
together.
We
do
have
a
mayor-elect
and
a
person
who's
been
here
a
number
of
times
at
this
address,
mayor-elect
kenny,
holloway
of
ocean
springs,
and
I
told
kenny
I
wouldn't
talk
about
millage
today.
C
Okay,
anyway,
that's
a
little
inside
story,
but
let
me
continue:
matt
mcdonald
and
commissioners,
the
house
and
linda
hornsby,
brian
golight,
over
the
corn,
but
everybody
from
the
house
from
the
tourism
and
also
the
board
of
commissioners
of
the
coliseum.
The
appreciative
there,
of
course,
my
question
cousins
over
here
to
corn
right
we're
appreciative
of
that
and
everything
that
you
do
and
and.
C
We're
we're
you
know,
we
do
some
great
things
in
the
video
you'll
see
some
of
the
things
that
we've
we've
done
since
this
interception.
Of
course,
my
two
generals
here
general
clark,
griffin,
a
former
councilman
and
rich
moss
and
they're
here
too,
so
I
got
a
couple
of
generals
on
my
staff
too.
So,
okay,
I'm
appreciative
of
that
but
vincent.
If
I
missed
anybody,
okay,
but
you
might
remember
my
enthusiasm
about
this
time
last
year
in
2020
about
how
we
felt
two
times
a
20
would
be.
C
C
In
fact,
it
was
honest,
horribilis
that's
a
terrible
year,
and
I
checked
that
fact
with
the
the
latin
professor
emeritus
betty
jean
kovich
hughes,
then
that's
the
right
translation
a
terrible
year,
but
that's
over
2020
is
here.
2021
is
here
it's
a
new
year
now
everybody
sit
back
and
watch
this
video
report
and
I'll
join
you
in
a
few.
C
C
Mayors
of
biloxi
have
been
coming
before
you
each
year
for
30
years
now
telling
you
the
story
of
biloxi,
and
I
want
to
again
applaud
longtime
biloxi
businessman,
tommy
monroe
in
the
biloxi
bay
area
chamber
of
commerce,
for
pushing
this
idea.
So
many
years,
tommy
monroe's
always
said
things
are
brighter
than
biloxi
and
we
agree
with
him.
C
C
C
2020
will
be
the
year
of
coving
and
its
impact
on
our
way
of
life.
The
biloxi
will
not
be
defined
by
a
virus
or
a
pandemic,
just
as
we
were
not
defined
by
zeta
katrina
or
camille,
or
an
oil
spill,
or
anything
else.
Kobe
19
overshadowed
nearly
everything
in
2020
and
now
in
many
ways
it
still
does
like
many
of
you.
The
threat
of
this
virus
and
the
need
to
stem
and
spread
has
occupied
a
good
bit
of
my
time.
C
C
C
I
say
this
to
you
as
a
your
mayor
as
a
father
and
yes
as
a
grandfather
to
answer
my
young
hero,
don't
get
the
idea
that
kobe
stopped
our
world
to
the
contrary.
It
hasn't.
I
want
to
give
you
an
overview
of
the
progress
we
made
and
the
many
things
we're
doing
to
improve
your
quality
and
our
quality
of
life.
C
C
The
most
pressing
challenge
I
faced
when
I
took
office
in
2015
was
dealing
with
all
the
torn
up
streets
in
east
paluxy.
The
north
contract
began
a
year
before
I
became
mayor.
It
was
part
of
what
was
said
to
be
the
largest
municipal
undertaking
in
the
history
of
biloxi
130
million
dollar
contract
55
miles
of
streets
that
would
be
torn
up
for
new
water,
deep
sewer
and
drainage
lines.
C
It
just
didn't
tell
you:
it
was
all
being
torn
off
at
once.
The
north
contractor
was
grinding
to
a
halt.
The
program
management
company
was
almost
out
of
budget
to
manage
the
entire
355
million
dollar
project.
With
200
million
dollars
left
in
construction,
then
the
payments
were
not
always
timely
and
fema
reimbursements
were
also
lagging
way
behind,
causing
a
cash
flow
problem.
C
We
paid
off
the
money
we
borrowed
as
we
were
reimbursed
by
fema
today.
Instead
of
reliving
history,
we
can
say
that
the
major
overhaul
of
the
east
biloxi
infrastructure
came
to
a
close
with
the
striping
of
division
street
in
east
biloxi.
North
of
the
railroad
tracks
are
the
newest
streets,
sidewalks
water,
sewer
and
drainage
systems,
you'll
find
anywhere
and
it's
been
earned.
C
The
south
contract
phase,
one
also
known
as
the
hippo
contract,
has
been
completed.
We
now
have
two
projects
underway
on
point
cadet
phase:
two,
the
lane
contract
is
expected
to
be
completed
in
august
phase.
Three,
the
knee
case
contract
began
construction
a
few
weeks
ago.
The
next
phase
will
be
in
west
biloxi
along
the
beach
you'll,
be
seeing
work,
but
not
nearly
as
disruptive
another
big
deal.
When
I
took
office
was
mgm
park.
C
C
We
looked
at
everything
now
fraternity
popped
up
in
refinancing,
about
18
million
for
mgm
park
and
about
2
million
in
other
debt
because
of
the
drop
in
interest
rates.
We
pull
the
trigger
the
move,
saved
us
300
000
in
that
fiscal
year,
ending
september
30th
2020
and
a
total
of
1.5
million
over
the
course
of
the
bonds
that
goes
right
to
the
bottom
line.
C
The
city
is
a
member
of
the
harrison
county
utility
authority.
Our
share
is
42
of
the
authority's
100
million
debt.
Luxy's
debt
service
to
the
utility
authority
is
3.9
million
a
year
during
the
utility
authority
fy
2021
budget
process.
I
pointed
out
biloxi's
experience
with
refinancing
debt.
The
utility
authority
engaged
the
same
financial
and
legal
team
to
determine
the
opportunity
that
trigger
was
pulled,
resulting
in
1.3
million
a
year
reduction
in
debt
service
for
the
city
of
biloxi.
C
C
C
C
The
nearly
650
city
of
biloxi
employees
forged
on
despite
the
challenges
of
the
pandemic,
storms
and
near
misses,
and
when
hurricane
zeta
actually
hit
it
was
the
first
significant
storm
since
katrina
15
years
ago.
In
fact,
mississippi
power
had
to
bring
in
1700
people
from
20
states
to
work
the
restoration
event.
C
The
pommel
was
back
five
days
after
the
storm.
Our
crews
and
contractors
hit
the
ground
days
after
the
storm
and
when
they
wrapped
up
operations
at
the
end
of
january.
Three
months
later,
they
picked
up
300
000
cubic
yards
of
debris.
I
appreciate
all
the
work
our
citizens,
contractors
and
public
works.
Crews
did
to
make
our
city
beautiful
again.
C
C
Now,
work
is
underway
to
transform
the
old
joseph's
building
across
from
mgm
park
into
23
high-end
departments,
with
two
ground-level
retail
spaces
at
the
old
magnolia
hotel,
jordan,
nico's
restaurant
fields,
flights
is
going
to
be
open
in
a
few
months.
It
will
have
an
oyster
ball
on
the
first
floor
tables
throughout
the
building
and
balconies
a
glass
walk-in
cooler
for
dry
aging
steaks
and
a
marble
countertop.
On
the
second
floor,
we're
all
excited
to
see
things
happening
at
the
bark
building.
C
C
Last
year
we
told
you
about
axe,
drawing
and
a
few
other
new
businesses
downtown
a
new
restaurant.
The
greenhouse
biloxi
is
open
with
a
record
shop
right
next
door.
It's
a
niche
business
tapping
into
the
vinyl
record
market.
They
even
sell
posters
too
marley's
music,
which
opened
at
the
beginning
of
the
pandemic.
It
actually
improvised
and
survived
through
online
auctions
reaching
customers
across
the
country.
C
C
Another
two
million
dollar
project
has
been
awarded
for
a
seawall
walkway
from
oak
street
to
the
small
craft
farmer.
We've
talked
about
this
for
years.
It's
not
only
going
to
give
us
a
beautiful
walkway,
but
it
will
have
a
18
inch
knee
wall
to
help
keep
sand
off
the
highway
90
and
on
the
beach
where
it
belongs.
C
This
stretch
will
be
a
pilot
project
for
what
is
needed
all
along
the
beachfront
parking
lot.
Paving
and
landscaping
has
been
completed
along
with
the
interior
improvements
at
the
wool
market
city
center.
It
includes
a
harrison
county
library
and
a
new
place
for
special
events
and
family
gatherings,
also
in
world
market.
C
C
Second,
to
only
hillapart,
with
all
the
talk
about
transformational
projects,
we
cannot
overlook
our
city
employees,
who
provide
the
day-to-day
services
you
expect
and
deserve
the
men
and
women
in
our
public
works
department,
not
only
assisted
with
the
storm
and
hurricane
related
cleanup,
but
they
continue
to
do
a
tremendous
job
day
to
day
maintaining
more
than
47
city
buildings,
including
mgm
park
and
the
blockchain
cemetery
and
providing
citizens
with
many
services.
They
expect
they
processed
10
148
workhorse
filled
nearly
2
000
pogo
mowed
over
5
000
miles
of
right
away.
C
C
Work
on
the
exterior
of
the
sanger
theater
was
visual
contractors
wrapped
up
the
renovations
to
the
fly
tower
on
the
large
area
that
houses
the
stage
equipment.
Now
more
work
will
begin
on
sealing
the
bricks
to
help
reduce
future
interior
damage.
The
department
also
managed
over
1.4
million
in
paving
citywide
2020
was
one
of
the
busiest
years
ever
for
the
port
division.
C
C
Despite
the
challenges
of
2020,
we
found
time
for
outdoor
recreation,
the
parks
and
recreation
department
maintained
the
city's
15
parks
and
playgrounds
and
20
ball
fields
made
repairs
at
the
blockchain
auditorium
and
the
donald
snyder
community
center.
They
broke
ground
on
the
new
public
park
at
eagle
point
that
will
include
a
walking
track:
pickleball
courts
and
ball
fields,
community
programs,
sports
events
and
rentals,
unfortunately
decreased
because
of
the
pandemic.
The
department.
C
A
public
affairs
division
worked
around
the
clock
to
make
sure
the
public
was
aware
of
the
national
and
local
guidelines
and
protocols
for
cover
19..
We
appreciate
the
many
kind
words
that
we've
received
about
their
monthly
newsletter
and
the
dozens
of
informational
videos
produced
for
the
city's
social
media
platforms.
D
D
We
dedicated
a
second
new
station.
We
brought
two
new
trucks
online
and
they're
green
trucks
because
of
the
efficiency
we've
built
in
and
let's
not
forget
in
december,
we
were
able
to
notify
mayor
gillitz
that,
because
of
his
support
and
the
support
of
the
city
council,
we
now
have
a
class
two
fire
rate.
D
Fire
departments
across
the
country
are
graded
from
ten
to
one
one
being
the
best
by
being
a
class
two
we're
in
the
top
two
percent
of
fire
departments
in
the
country.
That
means
you
enjoy
discounts
on
fire
insurance
for
your
home
and
business,
and
it
also
tells
you
the
quality
of
a
fire
department
that
you
have
serving
you.
D
We
had
a
few
fires
too
306
of
them
to
be
exact,
and
yes,
it
was
the
year
where
jack
made
his
rounds
as
well,
we're
very
proud
in
the
biloxi
fire
department
in
a
year
with
so
many
challenges,
the
pandemic
storms,
many
firefighters
stricken
with
the
virus,
but
through
it
all
we've
made
some
strides.
We
work
we're
we're
named
a
class
two
fire
department.
A
E
C
E
E
We
rescued
189
animals
and
resolved
nearly
50
percent
of
our
felony
cases,
which
is
above
the
national
average.
We
organized
security
and
traffic
for
more
than
eight
major
events,
some
involved
the
hiring
of
sworn
officers
from
other
agencies.
We
also
implemented
and
deployed
a
new
community
camera
program.
E
E
Finally,
I
want
to
thank
the
citizens
who
make
biloxi
such
a
great
place
to
live
and
work.
We
have
an
outstanding
police
department
with
dedicated
officers
and
dispatchers
and
staff
who
just
do
a
great
job
for
the
city,
we're
very
fortunate
to
have
the
support
of
our
community,
which
isn't
the
case
throughout
the
country,
and
for
that
we
are
truly
grateful.
E
C
B
Hello,
I'm
community
development
director,
jerry
creel
mayor.
We
don't
have
a
dog
in
this
hunt,
but
we've
been
busy
bird
dogging
new
development
projects.
In
the
past
year,
we've
issued
over
4
400
building
permits
with
a
construction
valuation
of
110
million
dollars.
57
million
of
that
total
was
for
commercial
and
53
million
was
for
residential
development.
B
B
B
B
B
Lastly,
we're
reviewing
plans
for
major
renovations
to
the
bart
building
downtown
fields;
flights,
restaurants,
going
into
the
magnolia
hotel,
major
improvements
to
the
former
joseph's
building
to
create
commercial
and
residential
tenant
spaces
and
a
5
million
dollar
project
at
treasure,
bay,
casino
resort
for
improvements
to
the
hotel
rooms,
restaurants
and
common
areas
and
the
addition
of
an
on-site
26
face
rv
park
and,
yes
mayor,
we
are
dog
gone
busy,
but
we
continue
to
sniff
out
new
development
projects
seriously.
Here's
the
mayor
now
to
tell
you
about
two
big
announcements
coming
in
2021.
C
It's
even
more
exciting
when
you
consider
it
will
be
happening
in
the
middle
of
this
pandemic.
One
project
is
the
u-music
broadwater
development
located
on
the
old,
broad
water
property.
It's
estimated
to
attract
two
million
new
visitors
a
year
with
a
world-class
1.1
billion
dollar
resort.
That
would
include
a
12
000
seat,
atrium,
a
new
marina
and
golf
course,
and
1100
hotel
rooms
and
a
casino.
C
The
other
project
located
on
the
old
tivoli
hotel
property
in
east
biloxi
is
the
tivoli
resort
and
convention
center.
It's
a
700
million
dollar
project
with
1300
hotel
rooms
at
casino
and
convention
center.
The
property
was
acquired
in
2007,
and
plans
have
been
on
the
table
for
10
years.
Amazingly
today,
they're
both
moving
forward.
C
All
the
work
at
the
new
community
bank
has
not
escaped
the
attention
of
folks
at
the
people's
bank.
In
fact,
chavez
weapons
has
embarked
on
an
ambitious
upgrade
of
bank
property
seriously.
We
oftentimes
showcase
new
development
in
these
reports,
especially
downtown,
but
we
are
thankful
to
those
who
have
been
mainstays
in
our
downtown
area.
The
people's
bank,
which
includes
the
swept
and
building
and
else's
hardware
bank
off
south,
formerly
first
mississippi,
national
bank
radford,
o'keeffe,
pmp,
lexi,
regional,
now,
meredith
giuseppe's,
the
former
location
at
geno's
and,
of
course,
mary
mahones,
will
always
be
mayor.
C
B
C
So
it
is.
We
come
to
you
again
today
with
another
report
about
the
state
of
your
city.
We
dare
to
have
a
vision,
a
vision
based
on
what
was
and
what
could
be.
We
stand
ready
to
deal
with.
Whatever
comes
our
way
like
another
story
that
occurred
50
years
ago,
when
one
of
our
own
dared
to
have
a
vision
and
a
plan
then
comes
the
unexpected
and
the
adversity.
A
C
C
C
E
C
I
hope
you've
enjoyed
watching
the
presentation,
and
I
want
to
thank
everybody
involved
with
being
part
of
that.
All
our
directors
are
sicilian,
vincent
and
randy
everybody
to
putting
that
it
was
a
real
quality
thing
and
I
want
to
save
the
best.
For
last
I
see
my
my
good
friend,
especially
when
we
talk
about
boardwalks,
our
general
general
joe
sprague
is
the
director
of
the
department
of
marine
resources,
all
those
boardwalks
we
had
a
plan.
Did
we
jo
well,
I'm
appreciative,
so
I
saved
the
best
introduction
for
last.
So
I
thank
you
now
that.
D
C
C
C
C
The
way
it
works.
The
big
winner
in
this
deal
do
the
arithmetic
right
12
of
111
million
dollars,
that's
13.3
million
the
biggest
winner
and
we're
we're
not
complaining
about
is
the
state
of
mississippi.
They
get
eight
percent
of
it
right
off
the
rattle.
That's
8.88
million
dollars
now
at
least
4.4
million.
That's
split
up
amongst
a
lot
of
folks.
First,
the
city
gets
a
chunk.
The
harrison
county
gets
us
a
little
bit:
biloxi
public
safety,
sheriff's
department,
biloxi
schools,
gulfport
schools,
long
beach,
schools,
past
machine
schools
in
harrison
county.
C
C
C
C
Look.
These
are
astounding
numbers,
particularly
at
this
time,
in
these
early
months
of
2021.,
after
everything,
biloxi
and
our
coast
has
battled
through
and
considering
that
our
gaming
industry
was
not
yet
at
full
throttle
numbers
don't
lie,
and
everyone
needs
to
draw
their
own
conclusions,
no
matter
why
they
came
or,
however,
they
got
here
or
who,
wherever
they
came
from.
The
fact
is
they
got
here.
C
C
The
innovation
group,
a
gaming
industry,
consulting
company,
has
been
working
in
biloxi
for
three
decades.
Michael
seoul
company
president
noted
that
there
is
more
to
it
than
biloxi's
record
high
revenue
mark
after
the
cavone.
After
coronavirus
closures,
soul
said
the
real
story
again
is
its
resilience
in
the
market,
which
has
been
proven
time
and
time
again,
it's
a
result
of
a
high
of
the
hybrid
position
as
a
convenient
regional
market
with
destination,
caliber
offerings
and
amenities.