Mayor-elect Andrew “FoFo” Gilich has named F. Cliff Kirkland as head of his transition team.
Kirkland is a former newspaperman, Biloxi city administrator and casino executive. He is a consultant specializing in government affairs, development and marketing/public relations. Kirkland also is the current president of Main Street Biloxi and is under contract with the city to plan and produce special events in the new stadium under construction on Caillavet Street. His position at head of the transition team is voluntary.
“Cliff is well versed in municipal government, business operations and corporate development,” Gilich said. “His professional management experiences will be invaluable to my assessment of city operations and to refining my action plan upon assuming office.”
Kirkland is a Biloxi native with a 100-year-old family history of service in city government. In his volunteer position, he will direct an analysis of departmental operations and a review of ongoing administrative matters.
Final numbers: Gilich wins 9 boxes, ties one
When the the final numbers were tallied and made official late Tuesday night, Mayor-elect Andrew “FoFo” Gilich ended up winning 9 of the city’s 10 precincts and tying one, the box in Woolmarket.
The final numbers, which include affidavit ballots, were Gilich with 4,347 votes (59.55 percent) vs. W.S. “Windy” Swetman III, 2933 votes (40.18 percent). A total of 7,300 ballots were cast, or 26.7 percent of the 27,337 registered voters in Biloxi. Twenty voters marked their ballots for write-in candidates, names of which were unavailable.
The count in Woolmarket was 560 votes for both Swetman and Gilich.
The Biloxi Municipal Election Commission, which oversees city elections, certified the results before leaving City Hall at 11 p.m.
See the final box-by-box numbers
Tonight: K10 panel to eye state of gaming
The Gulf Coast gaming industry has witnessed its share of expansions and contractions before and since Katrina, and the changes are continuing to occur. Find out where we were, what happened and where we’re headed in a special Katrina conversation, “All bets are . . . ” this evening at 7 at the IP Casino Resort Spa,
Panelists will be Jerry St. Pe, former chairman of the Mississippi Gaming Commission; Alan Godfrey, director of the Mississippi Gaming Commission; Michael Cavanaugh, longtime Biloxi gaming attorney; and Chevis Swetman, longtime Biloxi banker. Moderator will be Len Blackwell, also a former chairman of Mississippi Gaming Commission.
The event, part of the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art’s continuing “Katrina +10” retrospective, is free and open to the public, although a $10 donation is suggested.
