I am Howard Alexander, Republican party candidate for the office of City Council, District 5. I am a born and raised Picayune resident, as is my wife Betty Jo. We both graduated from PMHS in 1982, and married in 1986. We have two children, Emily, a freshman at Mississippi College and Tyler, who is a junior at PRCC. We now live in my old family home where I grew up on 4th Avenue. I am employed by Air Products and Chemicals in New Orleans, scheduling liquid hydrogen to Stennis, Marshall, and Kennedy space centers. My wife Betty Jo is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Riser Medical Center. We were both raised here and love our city’s unique character and charm. We choose to live here because it was and still is the best place for us to live and raise our family.

Pearl River County is one of the fastest growing counties in the State of Mississippi, with Picayune as it’s centerpiece. Even though my neighborhood, District 5, still has that small town feel, the rest of our city and outlying areas have seen major growth in the last few years. We, as a community need to maximize our city’s potential.

I believe we need to focus on the economic opportunities that exist here in Picayune, our potential for positive growth is unlimited. We need to promote our quality of life, and other key assets that companies are looking for to relocate or expand. Picayune’s location and transportation network would be a plus to any company looking to locate here. Picayune has a solid transportation infrastructure with our access to rail service, the closeness of I-59, I-10, and I-12, and also the waterways with facilities available at Port Bienville and Gulfport, providing economical and efficient access to national markets.

We need to focus on and promote our downtown merchants. Our downtown business district is the central component to the economic health of our city and neighborhoods. Healthy small businesses will supply more jobs to the community and will lead to a healthier economy overall.

I believe we need to focus more on our youth in our community. We need to make sure that all of our city’s children have opportunities to participate in positive programs that are available to them in our city, from the PYAA to other clubs and organizations in our city. We need to focus on the values that will ensure good citizens and strong leaders for the future.

If given the opportunity to represent District 5, I will be committed to you and to making the right decisions for our community. I will ask and encourage input from you. Together we can help Picayune continue to grow in a positive way. I ask and appreciate your support in the primary vote on May 5th.