PASS CHRISTIAN, MS – Pass Christian Mayor Jimmy Rafferty used the Public Comments portion of a recent Board meeting to “set the record straight” about “allegations” made during a recent political poll that involved almost 300 Pass Christian residents.
Mayor Rafferty stated, “Someone in this town hired this California company to spread this stuff, and a lot of it was wrong and not true.” He emphasized that the Board, not the mayor, approves grants and highlighted his role in securing $25 million in grants for the city. Rafferty further accused the poll of being an attempt to “disrupt Pass Christian with things that aren’t true” and declared, “We’re not going to let that happen in this town.” He ended his comments by urging people to “stick to the facts.”
Additionally, Mayor Rafferty addressed the poll on the city’s official government Facebook page. In a post titled “Setting the Record Straight,” the mayor wrote:
Recently, a survey has been circulated throughout the community concerning actions by the Mayor that are untrue and just “WRONG”! As these false statements also reflect poorly on the City as a whole, it is my duty as the Mayor to set the record straight.
Allegation: The Mayor’s office has been providing grants to developers that are his “friends” from City funds that were not replaced.
TRUTH: All grants provided to any developer during this Administration have been set forth in a Development Agreement approved by a majority of the Board of Aldermen at a public meeting and documented in the City’s minutes. Under the City’s form of government, the Mayor is only authorized to vote in the case of a tie and did not vote to approve any of these development agreements. In all cases, developers receiving economic development grant funds from the State of Mississippi were required to invest significantly more of their own private funds into the projects. The Mayor has worked diligently to spur development in the downtown area on vacant properties that have remained untouched since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, aiming to rebuild and increase the City’s tax base.
Allegation: In the current year’s budget, the Mayor recommended that all departments, except his own, had to cut their budgets by 10% and a hiring freeze was put in place.
TRUTH: The Mayor submitted a budget for his individual department that was adopted and included in the overall City budget for this fiscal year. His operational expenditures were cut by 45% from the previous year.
Barry Dreyfus, a Pass Christian resident, candidate for Alderman of Ward 1, and frequent critic of Mayor Rafferty, admitted to conducting the poll in question and commented, “This is the second poll I have run in the city of Pass Christian. It is vitally important to me that I understand the needs and wants of the residents of the Pass. It is one thing to talk to a group of friends, but a competent pollster can get good and actionable information.”
Dreyfus added, “At the next Alderman meeting, I will make corrective comments. I feel the right thing to do is to make sure the record reflects the truth about my actions.”
Resident reactions have been mixed:
Cathy Swan remarked, “He doth protest too much.” Laurie DeSamper Soileau shared her concerns, saying, “There should be no training or travel budget until the city can hire more policemen.”
The conversation around the poll and the city’s response continues to draw attention from residents, candidates, and officials alike.
