More than 100 elected officials from Mississippi’s 82 counties are in Meridian this week as the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Minority Caucus hosts its annual conference in the Queen City. The yearly gathering kicked off Tuesday afternoon with opening remarks at the MSU Riley Center.
Lauderdale County Supervisor Joe Norwood welcomed visiting supervisors and encouraged them to take full advantage of Meridian’s museums, restaurants and other features while they are in town.
“We are happy to have y’all here. We just want to make sure that you enjoy yourself while you’re here, learn something while you’re here and make a great contribution to our economy,” he said. “And we’ll return that when we come to your perspective place.”
Supervisor Josh Todd also welcomed the visiting officials and said the county hopes this will be the first of many events the Minority Caucus will hold in Meridian.
“If y’all need anything, please let us know. Please enjoy this beautiful city and our county, and we welcome you all.”
Meridian Mayor Percy Bland also welcomed supervisors and encouraged the Minority Caucus to return to Meridian for next year’s conference as well.
The MAS Minority Caucus Conference is scheduled to run through Thursday afternoon with supervisors attending a number of panels and presentations on topics ranging from leadership and conflict resolution to data centers.
“Y’all are here to make decisions on you all’s counties, so y’all take some of these good ideas that you’re going to learn back to your communities,” Bland said.