Editor’s note: David Sommers, Press Secretary for LA County Supervisor Don Knabe and I are on a 3,000 mile road trip from Florida to California. Yesterday, we made a stop in Long Beach, Mississippi a community familiar to many people in Long Beach, California as a city that was devastated by Hurricane Katrina two years ago this week. Below are our observations from our meeting with the Mayor of Long Beach:
Looking at a map, we realized how close were were to Long Beach, Mississippi as we were driving along Interstate 10 on our way to New Orleans. We called Mayor William “Billy” Skellie, to see if he could meet with us briefly and he graciously welcomed us into his city and into his world since the devastating events of two years ago. What we found in the hour we spent with him was a Mayor with a simple, but significant mission: 100% dedication to the reestablishment and improvement of his city.
First a little context: when Katrina hit, a sustained wall of water pushed its way a quarter of a mile into the city…it was not a wave or a Tsunami-like wall of water that went in and then washed back out to sea. The force of the hurricane drove the water inland and drove the community out. What was left the next morning was a city in ruins. And two years later we saw that although much rebuilding has been done, there is still years of work ahead to get this city back to where it was before
August 29, 2005.
We met Mr. Mayor at the temporary city hall, which was a collection of trailers far from the beach. The first thing the Mayor told us was the good news that city has just acquired
$5.3 million to rebuild a permanent civic center. The next thing he said was the overwhelming gratitude he still has two years later to the people of Long Beach, California, who stepped up to the plate financially and physically to support people that they had never met 2,000 miles away. Mr. Mayor told us that of thousands of individual contributions Long Beach, Mississippi received in the wake of the hurricane, Long Beach, California donated among the most money.
As we sat down in his office, Mr. Mayor shared with us some of the current struggles he is going through. Most of the population of his city has returned but his tax base is off by nearly 30% because many businesses and jobs did not return. The question he asked us is “how do you fund the same level of municipal services when you have only 3/4 the money you had before?”
Additionally, a majority of residents who have tried to rebuild have run into challenge after challenge with insurance agencies first settling claims and then trying to establish new policies that are necessary to have in-hand before you can begin reconstruction on your home or business. In one example, one homeowner who was paying $1,500 in insurance saw that cost jump to $6,000 after the hurricane.
The Mayor is a life-long resident of his city and was just 22 years old when Hurricane Camille devastated this community in 1969. He said that it took Long Beach, Mississippi 20 years to rebuild its infrastructure entirely and another 5 years beyond that to achieve economic prosperity above levels before Camille. He put it bluntly when he said, “I fully expect it to take many years to recover from Katrina.” But in the same breath, he is optimistic that recovery can be done much quicker. When you look around his office, it is clear to see he is dedicated to that singular goal of brining prosperity to his city once again, sooner rather than later.
Every surface of his office is littered with infrastructure maps, reconstruction timelines, flood plain charts and before and after pictures. There are no walls of certificates and accolades of his personal honors except for a photo of the Mayor with President Bush during the President’s visit to Long Beach.
The Mayor’s job here is unique in that even though there may only be 17,000 residents, he is a full-time Mayor serving as the city’s chief administrator and manager.
The evidence on the walls in the Mayor’s office and everywhere else in the city hall trailer complex, showed that this was a local government that was committed and united behind the singular goal of reconstructing and improving the community it represented. There was no partisanship. There was no divisiveness. There was no bickering over petty details. The struggles were for simple things: how are we going to fund one more street light that was washed away? How are we going to attract business back to the city? How are we going to recover the hundreds of jobs that were lost? This was a Mayor who exhibited the most admirable qualities that a mayor could: committed to making his city a palace again. It was subtle, but it was powerful.
He ran for his second term uncontested just after Katrina and despite the almost insurmountable challenges facing his city he keeps showing up to work everyday. He did not come across as being in office for the perks or to launch himself into a higher office. He was focused on the things that really matter to constituents.
Two years later, the job is far from done. And the need for help had not ended. The City of Long Beach, Mississippi can still use the help and support of Long Beach, California.
Below is the information to make a charitable contribution:
City of Long Beach Disaster Relief & Recovery Fund
P.O. Box 929
Long Beach, MS 39560
Call Mayor Skellie: 228-863-1556
Email Mayor Skellie: mayor@cityoflongbeachms.com
In the meantime, know that Mayor Skellie is on the job working for his city day and night and if you ever find yourself on a 3,000 mile cross-country road trip near Long Beach, Mississippi, give Mayor Skellie a call. And give yourself the opportunity to see this great city from his eyes: a city that may be devastated on the surface but will be great again.