Three former mayors serve the City of Starkville

STARKVILLE, Miss. (WCBI) – Not all towns can say they have three mayors. And that’s not exactly the case in Starkville, but the board of alderman has a pretty unique dynamic.

Three current leaders have all served as mayors of other towns before being elected into their current roles. Mayor Lynn Spruill served as mayor of Addison Texas from 1988 to 1993. Ward 5 Alderman Hamp Beatty served 3 terms as mayor of Newton. Ward 3 Alderman Jeffery Rupp held the top job in Columbus.

Spruill sees this wealth of experience on the board as beneficial to the business of governing.

She said, “They have come in with an understanding of how this works and how to make it work better. And so, we all play off one another.”

All three leaders have some specific goals in mind over the next four years.

Spruill said, “I want to see the beginning of a Rail to Trail because you won’t be able to finish it. I want to get the jail out of downtown, and I want to change the form of government.”

Rupp said, “We’re also looking at ways we might make the city a little more business friendly, maybe just a little bit more efficient in how you do business with the city. So we just started to look at some of those things.”

And Beatty wants to put more focus on promoting the town. “Continue to do things to promote industrial development. Starkville is in a unique position as Southeastern Conference town.”

Both mayors turned aldermen say they know how to lead and follow.

Rupp said, “I will still always have the mayor thing that I’ll fall back on, but I can’t serve the city unless I serve the city the way I ran, with the attention of being an Alderman and part of the team.

Beatty added, “I have to remember that I’m part of a team. I’m not steering the boat.”

You can see the full conversation with Spruill, Beatty, and Rupp Tuesday on MidMorning with Aundrea at 9:00 a.m.