Now that he has won another term as mayor of Soso, Mike Moore is continuing his efforts to bring improvement and growth to the small Jones County town he calls home.
Moore, who has served as mayor for six and a half years, received 82 percent of the vote, defeating challenger Mark Green by a 97-21 margin.
“I am humbled,” said Moore. “I think the people of Soso have sent a loud and clear message that they are pleased with our administration and the work of the mayor’s office.”
Moore now plans to build on the accomplishments he has made in the last six or seven years. Among these accomplishments are the opening of a Family Dollar Store, an all-time increase in sales tax revenue and improvements in insect and mosquito control.
To help move the town forward, the mayor has applied for a Community Development Block grant to provide an additional water tank north of the town.
“This will enhance and improve the quality of water Soso currently has,” explained Moore.
“We’re also applying for a COPS grant to help us put a full-time officer on the streets 24-hours a day,” added Moore. “We believe that is something that is much needed in our community.”
COPS grants are awarded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The grants allow law enforcement agencies to hire and train community policing professionals, acquire and deploy cutting-edge crime fighting technologies, and develop and test innovative policing strategies.
“I am currently the only full-time employee in the Soso Police Department,” said Chief Randall Beech. “We have four part-time employees and five auxiliary officers. It would be wonderful to have one other full-time officer.”
Beech, who lives in town, said he has to be available to respond to calls 24-hours-a-day, seven- days-a-week. “It’s convenient for me because I live right here in town,” he said. “Still it would help me tremendously if I had someone working full-time to help with the calls.”
Being a small town, Beech said Soso doesn’t have a lot of crime. “That makes my job a lot easier,” he said. “It makes the work so much more pleasing.”
Beech added that the mayor and alderman make his job pleasing, too. When he was hired by the mayor, Moore told Beech he would run the police department. The mayor told him he and the aldermen would be there to provide whatever assistance he needed.
“They’ve done just that,” said Beech. “Mike and the board of aldermen are not pressuring you. They let you do your job.”
Town Clerk Jeanne Sherman also commends the mayor and alderman. “We have a very good mayor,” she said. “He is doing his job well and he and the board of alderman have a good relationship.
“They are not fighting and fussing like you see in a lot of these other cities. We don’t have the conflicts and everything others are experiencing. We have a great group of people running our town.”
Beech noted there have been some who have shown displeasure in the way the mayor and alderman are running things. He stated that before the election there was a lot of talk that the town isn’t growing.
“I think we are making progress,” said Beech. “We are slowly picking up here and there.
“Our main problem is that we don’t have a sewer system. I think that’s the reason we haven’t grown as far as the fast food and restaurant business goes. Even though I would like to see it happen, it will be a while before the fast food and restaurant industry comes to the area. There’s a lot more work to be done.”
Moore added that the work is never done. “We’ll continue to beautify our town and provide services that will benefit our community,” said Moore. “My door is always open and I’m willing to talk to anybody, any time. We’re all in this together.”
Local News
Town of Soso making strides
Re-elected mayor seeing more progress
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