Southaven won’t be hosting Biloxi bash

Last year’s MML reception bill topped $59,000

Southaven’s Mayor and Board of Aldermen will be in Biloxi next week for the annual Mississippi Municipal League Conference, but at this year’s event there will be no par- ty thrown by the city.

Last year at the event, former Mayor Greg Davis hosted a $59,000 reception for conference attendees.

Alderman William Brooks said the city did not consider hosting a reception at this year’s MML conference. “It was never even discussed by the board,” he said.

Alderman George Payne echoed the sentiment and added that the MML conference is a chance for the city’s new mayor, Darren Musselwhite and the five new aldermen to gain valuable insight about city government.

“MML is the only agen- cy that offers municipal officials this opportunity to come together and take classes that are important and beneficial,” Payne said. “Last year with that party, I didn’t think it was a great idea and I didn’t attend it. “

The “party” or reception was held in the ball- room at the Beau Rivage, the host hotel of the MML conference.

Davis recruited 14 businesses in the city to sponsor the reception. They paid $55,500 for the event that featured an ’80s band, Dr. Zarr’s Amazing Funk Monster, along with appetizers and an open bar. The reception was held in one of the ballrooms at the Beau Rivage, and attracted about 1,500 people.

The total cost for the reception was $59,650.01 — $55,500 from the businesses with the remainder, $4,150.01, coming from the city’s tourism fund. That fund consists of revenue collected from the city’s 1 percent tax on hotels.

In the past, the Southaven Chamber of Com-

merce paid for the reception. But last year, after details emerged about Davis submitting the same charges to both the city and the Southaven Chamber of Commerce for reimbursement, the nonprofit organization opted out of hosting.

Davis was adamant about hosting the reception last year because he said it was needed to show the city had bounced back from Mississippi Auditor Stacey Pickering’s yearlong investigation into Davis’ spending of city funds.

This year at MML, there is nothing the city has to prove.

At its July 2 board meeting, Musselwhite said the city was starting with a “clean slate.”

Alderwoman Shirley Beshears said MML will help her and her fellow new board members learn about their new jobs.

She said she plans to attend several workshops, including one on Main Street districts because she represents Ward 2, where Southaven’s Main Street is located.

“My top concern is getting more business and improving the aesthetics of our Main Street because it is the front door of Southaven,” Beshears said.

Beshears and other Southaven officials plan to leave Sunday for the conference that begins Monday and runs through Wednesday.

The city’s Tuesday Board of Aldermen meeting has been pushed back to July 23 because of the conference.