NATCHEZ, Miss. – Mayor Dan Gibson broke city aldermen’s tie votes Tuesday to retain a local ban against roadside panhandling. He broke another tie to appoint a former garden club president to Natchez’ tourism commission.
The mayor said Natchez should continue with its existing ordinance making it illegal for people to stand along public roadways asking for money. Gibson voted with three aldermen to opt out of a new state law that sets out a local permitting process “for what I consider to be a dangerous activity.” They outvoted the three aldermen embracing the new law that gives cities the option to allow roadside solicitation with various requirements, such as getting a permit and paying a fee.
Siding with the mayor were Aldermen Sarah Carter Smith, Ben Davis and Curtis Moroney to wave off the new panhandling permit law and keep the current ban intact. Voting to develop local permitting regulations: Aldermen Valencia Hall, Billie Joe Frazier and Felicia Bridgewater Irving.
Gibson and other city officials have expressed concerns about beggars posing traffic hazards at busy intersections as they solicit money from motorists at stoplights. Current law does forbid people from interfering with traffic, but courts have deemed limited forms of panhandling to be free speech protected by the constitution.
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In breaking another 3-3 board vote Tuesday, the mayor supported Donna Sessions’ appointment to the Natchez Convention Promotion Commission. Gibson said the former Natchez Garden Club president is highly qualified to serve on the tourism board, and he rejected some aldermen’s contention that a Black person instead should fill the seat.
Sessions replaces Barbara Bruce, who was one of three Black members on the six-member commission that determines how to spend the city’s tourism tax revenues to market the city. It also oversees Visit Natchez, the city’s tourism office.
With Natchez being about 60 percent Black, “there should be some sort of representation on the (tourism) board” to reflect that majority population, said Frazier, one of Natchez’ four Black aldermen.
However, Gibson said choosing people to sit on government boards should be based on their qualifications and not devolve “into a discussion on race.”
Joining Gibson in voting for Sessions’ appointment: Hall, Smith, and Moroney; Against: Frazier, Davis, and Irving.
Sessions will join the other NCPC members: Jennie Guido, John Grady Burns, Robbie Cade-Furdge, Fred Marsalis Jr., and Sheila Duffy-Lehrman. Marsalis and Duffy-Lehrman were appointed in October to replace Helen Moss Smith and Lance Harris, who resigned after several years on the commission.
Sessions was among six candidates considered by aldermen to replace Smith or Harris in October. Sessions remained in contention as a viable candidate after Bruce subsequently resigned, but Frazier, Irving, and Davis said more prospects should be sought for aldermen to interview.
Sessions was president in recent years of the Natchez Garden Club. It owns Magnolia Hall and House on Ellicott’s Hill, which are among Natchez’ primary tourist attractions along with other antebellum houses.
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