Frustrated Moss Point residents ‘struggling’ for new identity as mayor faces fraud charges
Reba Scott has known Moss Point Mayor Mario King since he was a child living down the street from her and her young family.
She was happy to vote for him in 2017, when he won 61% of the vote in his first run for public office.
“My thing was, OK, he’s new, he’s energetic, he can bring new ideas to our city, bring new things to the city,” said Scott, who recently retired after more than 30 years with the Moss Point School District. “Then he got in there, and I guess the real him came out.”
For Moss Point residents, the news Friday that their mayor had been indicted on federal fraud charges was only the latest headline in a series of controversies.
First there were the misdemeanor domestic violence charges against King and his wife, Natasha.
There was the lawsuit filed by Alderman Ennit Morris, accusing King of threats and assault, closely followed by a lawsuit by city employees alleging age discrimination and harassment.
Some residents also told the Sun Herald there has been pervasive disrespect toward citizens, especially older constituents, when they tried to express opinions at board meetings.
The River City elected King in hopes he would bring change and a new sense of optimism. Instead, his tenure has frustrated residents who say King doesn’t represent their community.
The years just before King was elected had been difficult for Moss Point. The Utilities Department ran a multi-million-dollar deficit thanks in part to employee wrongdoing, and the police chief resigned after a DUI scandal.
Monica Cooper, a lifelong resident and vice president of the Moss Point School District Alumni Association, saw the 2017 mayoral election as an opportunity to make a statement about the city’s identity.
When Cooper, who is 55, was young, the city was known for its thriving industries. But over the years, companies like International Paper closed their Moss Point plants.
“We’ve been struggling to re-identify ourselves, and to find good leadership that could lead us in that direction,” Cooper said.
Cooper said she believes it is especially important for young people to have a voice in Moss Point, so King’s youth — he was elected at age 30 and made headlines as a millennial mayor — was a benefit. She also approved of his efforts to get the city on sound fiscal footing.
To Charlotte Brown, a Moss Point business owner, Friday’s fraud indictment was particularly damaging because it called into question whether King could be trusted to manage money.
“Who would want to come and take meetings with him and expand their business to Moss Point if they’re afraid that he may take their money?” Brown said. “Come on. That’s crazy. So it damages everybody.”
Brown also runs a YouTube channel celebrating Moss Point, featuring videos of notable residents and natives, like the Princeton professor Eddie Glaude. But King’s antics have complicated her efforts.
“It’s to the point now, because of COVID-19 and because of him, I want to fast forward to 2021,” Brown said.
It is still unclear whether King will run for re-election: the Board of Aldermen has said it cannot force him to resign, but if he is convicted or pleads guilty, he will have to step down. A trial may take place as early as September, the board said in a statement on Friday.
In the meantime, two others say they will run against him: Shira Stallworth, a youth pastor and television host, and John Mosley Jr., who also ran in 2017.
Mosley was still mulling whether to run again when he learned of King’s indictment.
“After what happened, I was inundated with calls,” he said. “I just said, ‘OK, alright, I’ll do it.”
Stallworth launched her campaign in January, hoping to build name recognition and early support. She described the indictment, and in particular its allegation that King took money he had promised to Moss Point schools, as part of a “dark cloud that’s over the city.”
Anne’ McMillion, a former school district employee with one child in school and another graduated, as well as an education advocate and acting president of the National Independent Black Parent Association in Moss Point, said she had not been surprised to learn of King’s indictment.
“Moss Point is a small city but a great city,” she said. “There is so much advancement that can be done, but when you have a level of immaturity and inexperience, you will mess up the image that we’re fighting for.”
Cooper said that she hopes Moss Point residents will unite and develop their own vision for the city, regardless of what happens in the upcoming mayoral election.
“I think as community members, we often look to government leadership to plot our course and take us there,” she said. “I don’t think that’s their job. It’s our job to do that.”
