[01/24/01] Laurence Leyens, a probable challenger for mayor, fired a shot across the bow of City Hall Tuesday with public comments about Vicksburg’s finances and police department.

“The question is, Can we take four more years of hiding things and the politics?'” Leyens asked members of Vicksburg Kiwanis Club.

Leyens, 36, is one of four people identified as interested in Vicksburg’s top office. Others are incumbent Robert Walker, former mayor Joe Loviza and activist and fitness instructor Eric Rawlings.

Rawlings, 38, is the only one who has filed papers in the mayoral race. Candidates have until March 31 to qualify. Party primary elections will be May 1, and the general election will be June 5.

Leyens, a developer and marketing analyst who is renovating The Valley and B’nai Brith Club buildings, also addressed tourism and city services. He told members of the Vicksburg Kiwanis Club Tuesday that the city election would dictate the economic future of Vicksburg.

The $103 million in new revenue poured into Vicksburg since the first casino opened in August 1993 should be put to better use, Leyens said, pointing out a city budget that has tripled in 10 years with little increase in services.

“You look around the city and you can’t see where the money is being spent,” Leyens said. “I’m here to plead with you that when you go to vote, think about accountability.”

Leyens, a Vicksburg native who returned after working in California, has been a proponent of downtown development and worked to develop a 23-page downtown marketing plan, which emphasizes tourism and lays out 12 points for turning downtown into a destination for visitors.

“The challenge is to get the community to understand what it means to be in the business of tourism,” Leyens said. “This town has got it, we just don’t have any focus.”

In his 30-minute talk, Leyens also said the police department budget is too large and there isn’t enough productiveness.

“As mayor, I don’t want to operate the police department,” Leyens said. “About 60 percent of our cops are very hard-working but some of them spend 90 percent of their time fighting amongst themselves.”

Leyens questioned the $6.4 million police budget and 107 employees compared with a $1.6 million budget for the Warren County Sheriff’s Department that covers a larger area with fewer people. In recent years, county drug prosecutions have increased while city prosecutions have gone down.

“You could eliminate the police department all together and give it all to (Sheriff) Martin Pace,” Leyens said.

When contacted this morning, Pace said he is not endorsing any candidate for mayor and has not discussed any plans to consolidate the two departments.

Leyens has not announced whether he will seek a party nomination or run as an independent. Rawlings filed as a Democrat and in past elections, Loviza has run as an independent, and Walker has run as a Democrat.

Walker was mayor for two terms before he was unseated by Loviza in 1993 by a margin of 116 votes. Walker won back his job with a strong showing in 1997, taking 60 percent of the vote.

In the aldermen’s races, only incumbent Gertrude Young has filed to be a candidate. Other likely or possible candidates in the North Ward include Vicksburg Police Detective Randy Naylor, businessman and retired educator Josephine Pratt, local contractor Sylvester Walker and community activist and convenience store owner Rodney Dillamar.

In the South Ward, incumbent Sam Habeeb has said he will not seek another term. Those looking to replace him could include businessman Robert Amborn, businessman Travis Wayne Vance, assistant director of youth services for the city Vickie Bailey, restaurant manager Sam Smith and hairstylist Pam Johnson.

The dividing lines between the city’s two wards runs along Fairground Street, Bowmar Avenue and Mission 66. Vicksburg aldermen are paid $45,491 a year.

The mayor’s post pays $56,531 a year.

The mayor and aldermen serve four-year terms.