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Additionally, he said that many of the concerns people voiced over the influx of the casino have been dispelled.
“I think people had concerns, especially with casinos,” Favre explained. “I think overall people are very pleased and happy with what is going on.”
The downtown area has been strengthened by such organizations as the Old Town Merchants Association which sponsors downtown activities. Second Saturday, a late evening downtown event once a month, has been revived and participation is up.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm,” F avre said of the downtown area. “We are starting to see a pooling of effort both personal and financial to make a go of it as an area.” Weekends are generally busy around Main Street and Favre said there are very few vacant commercial buildings left in town.
Going hand in hand with the prosperity and development, one of the mayor’s top priorities is the adoption of a comprehensive development plan for the city.
“You encourage development, but a compatible development. You don’t want something not compatible,” Favre said. “(A comprehensive plan) can be done in such a way to not discourage development.”
Re-elected to his third term in 1997, Favre will move into the next four years with two new council members, both women.
Carleen Murphy Moran has taken over in Ward 1 and Connie Payne Lampley takes the seat for Ward 3. Returning to the council will be Jim Thriffiley in Ward 2, Tad Black in Ward 4 and James Rutherford as Councilman-at-large.
There are several major improvement projects that will soon be going on simultaneously, a fact not lost to Favre.
“The goal is to make it happen and finish the things we started and not let them take us over,” Favre said referring to the capital improvements program. “It’s a matter of keeping it going and not losing momentum, or in some cases changing the focus to lead and not be led.”
As valuable as the capital improvements will ultimately prove, Favre said the city’s biggest asset remains its people.
“Our people make Bay St. Louis what it is. They are a great mix from different walks of life and different age groups,” he said, explaining that the residents are the “unofficial meeters and greeters of the city.”
The atmosphere of the city has changed from just a nice to place to visit to a nice place to be able to make a living at more than a minimum wage job, according to Favre.
“We said all along if we could get people here, we could keep them. Now we’re getting them,” he said