Development, homelessness and race are spotlight issues in Biloxi mayor election
Two Republicans are on the ballot for the April 1 primary election for mayor of Biloxi.
Andrew “FoFo” Gilich has served as mayor since he won a special election in 2015.
Jordan N. Gollub, who also lives in east Biloxi, is retired and will take on Gilich.
The winner will face Andy Linville, an Independent candidate and Farren Santibanez, a Libertarian in the general election. Both are discussing the homeless issues on their social media pages.
Being mayor of Biloxi “is my passion,” Gilich said. “You know, we’re doing this for generations to come, just like generations before me did. I’m challenged every day.”
Gilich is a computer coder and a programmer and said, “The challenges we have to meet are the things that are across the country,” such as homelessness, economics and addiction. He and the city council will meet with the community April 15 at the Biloxi Civic Center to try to find some answers about the homeless issues.
Development is happening throughout Biloxi, Gilich said. “It’s almost like building a submarine. It takes 10 years,” he said.
The $28 million Popp’s Ferry Extension from Pass Road to the beach — “I call it the “Biloxi Beach corridor to the Gulf of America” — will allow a lot more development in west Biloxi, he said.
“If nothing else is built, it’s already paid for itself with regard to Rouses,” he said, Rouses Market opened a new store in that area because of the improved traffic flow from the project. The new road will connect U.S. 90 to the city-owned Popp’s Ferry Bridge, making the bridge eligible for federal money to be replaced.
Gilich said the city is extending Shriners Boulevard in Woolmarket, and he sees Highway 67 connecting in a straight shot across the causeway to the beach.
“Think about the cyber training center. They’re going to be training probably 10,000 people, if not more a year,” he said. A new access road to Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College is being completed.
Gilich is heading to Washington, D.C. to meet with politicians and developers who are interested in Biloxi because of these projects, he said. He envisions starting on an east-west corridor along the railroad tracks to ease traffic along the beach.
“It’s kind of complex, but exciting,” he said of all these plans.
Gollub wasn’t available by his home phone or cell phone number he provided when he registered to run for mayor. He previously told the Sun Herald that if he is elected, he hopes to return the former Mississippi state flag with the Confederate battle emblem to Biloxi through a city proclamation.
Among his priorities, Gollub said, are to rename Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard because, he said, King was “no good” and not from Mississippi.
Gollub was also an active member of the Ku Klux Klan for about 20 years, from the 1980s through the early 2000s, according to news accounts. He no longer identifies as a klansman, he said, but supports some white supremacist beliefs, including segregation. He also thinks interracial marriages should be banned.
Sun Herald reporter Anita Lee contributed to this report.
