Former USM student body president elected as Ward 1 Councilman

HATTIESBURG, MS. - A former University of Southern Mississippi (USM) student body President, Jeffrey George, 23, was recently elected as Hattiesburg's Ward 1 Councilman in the General Election earlier this month.

After Ward 1 and former City Council President Kim Bradley decided to not run for re-election, George saw the start of his political career.

George said, “I saw an opportunity not only to continue serving the students at Southern Miss, but an opportunity to serve a bigger area, Ward 1.”

“Being SGA President, one thing I thought was important, was to stay up to date on what the city council was doing" he said. "It absolutely impacts the lives of the students that live here in Hattiesburg.”

He is not a Hattiesburg native, George was born and raised in Covington, Louisiana. Since his attendance at USM he made plans to call the Hub-City home.

“I want to bring this atmosphere to city council that 'we have got to work together'" said George.

He continued, "And that is our only way forward. There has been a lot of past fighting and bickering and that happens in politics I guess."

"But people are tired of that, people want to see a city council that is working together, working with our mayor, and working for the best interest of our citizens" said George.

George will focus on the city's budget and relaying important topics with Ward 1 residents.

“A few things that I want to focus on are making sure that our budgeting and its processes are efficient and putting money into the right things" he said.

"And utilizing funds and taxpayer dollars to the best that we can." He added, "Also improving the level of communication that just comes from the council. And working with our clerk to make sure we keep people up to date on what is going on.”

George said new leadership is a good change for Hattiesburg.

“Yes we had some challenges in the past, and we have some things we have to clean up and fix, but we need to start focusing on our future and moving forward together.”

George will graduate in August from USM with a Masters in Economic Development.

Mayor-Elect Toby Barker, Ward 5 Councilman Nicholas Brown, and George are new representatives for the city of Hattiesburg.

Barker and elected city councilman will take office July 1.