Picayune
Picayune Mayor Jim Luke, a former police chief, said he hopes public safety will be a major focus for state legislators during the 2025 session.
“I’ve worked with public safety most of my career, or supervised it, and I like a real strong emphasis, whether it’s retention of firemen and police officers or things we can do to help them in their daily lives,” Luke said. “Those are my heroes.”
Luke supports Medicaid expansion, noting it could provide critical support to residents in need.
“I don’t know too much about that, but I hope (it is expanded). I’m getting to an age where that’s important to me, you know?” Luke said.
The mayor also called for improved public transportation, as Picayune currently has no bus routes.
“There’s a lot of folks who can’t get from point A to point B, whether that be the doctor, or whether it be to buy groceries or just get tests at the hospital,” Luke said. “Transportation issues could be something that could be helpful to our area.”
Luke expressed optimism about working with state lawmakers.
“I look forward to the upcoming session,” Luke said. “I find that everybody in state government is great to work with. I think we’ve got a great governor, I think we have great legislators, and I have nothing but praise for our legislature in the upcoming session.”
Poplarville
Poplarville Mayor Louise Smith said the city’s main legislative priorities include funding for water line repairs, street improvements and a new fire engine for the city’s aging fleet.
“We’re a very small, rural town with actually a small tax base because we serve so many entities that are not taxed,” she said. “The schools are not taxed, the community college is not taxed, the hospital is not taxed, the churches are not taxed. There are so many entities and so many services that we have to provide.”
Smith highlighted the city’s “target hazards,” including schools, dormitories and churches that would be at significant risk in the event of a fire.
“A lot of (target hazards) are at the community colleges, the college dormitories, the courthouse, the courthouse annex, one of our schools, some of our churches, some apartment buildings, and we had that truck doesn’t always function,” Smith said.
Poplarville’s water system also requires urgent attention. Smith pulled a rust-covered pipe from a shelf and dropped it with a thud.

That’s part of our water lines, and that’s what it is throughout our city, and that’s one of our greatest needs, is our infrastructure,” Smith said.
“You can see, it would take lots of dollars to do the work we need to do on our water infrastructure – lots of dollars to do what we need to do on our streets,” she continued. “So many streets are just in horrible disrepair, so that’s where we’re constantly looking to gain funds to make those repairs and provide better services.”
The mayor expressed concern about potential cuts to the state grocery tax, which she fears could hurt small towns like Poplarville.
“It’s going to hurt all the small cities. So, we’re hoping that if they do that, they’re going to find some other way to make the cities whole. But I don’t know, it scares me,” Smith said. “I would say to them, ‘We need the funds. If you’re going to take the funds, please replace them. If you don’t, this is going to be bad.’”
Smith also hopes to secure funding for mental health and senior services, which are currently lacking in the area.
“Most other surrounding areas have senior centers within their location, within their city limits or county limits. Well, we have not been able to do that, and that’s still one of my goals — to provide Senior Services. I’ve been involved in several cases that I’ve had to call in the Department of Human Services to help us because people are not receiving the help that they need,” Smith said.
Smith hopes to see a future where the city’s needs are met.
“Well hopefully, we’ll have a lot better infrastructure and we will be more economically developed. There’ll be better jobs. There’ll be more opportunities for our young people, for recreation, there’ll be more opportunities for our seniors and getting some of the help that they need,” Smith said. “We’re a good community, but we can be better, and we’re working really hard to be better.”
Your Voice Matters!
We’re reaching out to mayors across our 10-county area to learn about their priorities for the 2025 legislative session. This is an ongoing series, and we want to hear from you! If there’s a specific topic you’d like us to ask your elected officials about, email us at rhcjcnews.com.