Jared Gould

I graduated from Petal High School and The University of Southern Mississippi (USM). I earned my Bachelor’s in history and a minor in political science. Starting in 2014, I assisted Calvary Baptist Church and participated in community service in Petal. I assisted with cleanup of the 2017 tornado and helped raise funds for the Addison McKinley Golf Tournament, which funded a scholarship for a Petal High School graduate.

In 2018, I interned for Mississippi Governor, Phil Bryant and later served as a Contractor to Mississippi’s State Workforce Investment Board. I analyzed education, career training, and job placement data across workforce and education providers throughout Mississippi. I was born with a rare congenital heart disease (CHD), which allowed me to partner with the University of Mississippi Medical Center in 2018-2019 to speak with journalists about the state’s breakthroughs in health care.

Prior to running for Mayor, I worked in Washington, DC, assisting with educational programs for members of Congress and headed a data collection project in partnership with the United States Capitol Police. I currently volunteer at the Petal Children’s Task Force and run a consulting business.

JAREDGOULD.WIXSITE.COM

Please explain your views on COVID-19 restrictions and what you intend to do in the shifting landscape.

The science on COVID-19 is continually evolving, and many of us have become reasonably frustrated with the federal government’s inability to provide us a consistent message on how to handle the pandemic. That said, I cannot foresee the extent of the pandemic months in advance, those decisions have to be made as new data is presented.

Additionally, mask mandates sit at the feet of the Governor. What the state decides is what I will enforce. I will do my utmost to inform residents about the tools they can use to prevent the spread of COIVD-19, inform them of hospitalization rates, and encourage a healthy lifestyle.

With development happening on the Evelyn Gandy Parkway, what are your ideas/plans for preventing Main Street and the downtown areas from becoming rundown and full of vacant buildings?

The first step is updating and enforcing codes. Buildings in downtown must meet reasonable aesthetic standards. Right now, downtown Petal is full of dilapidated buildings, which discourages residents from shopping locally as well as discourages entrepreneurs from building in downtown Petal. The second step is to appropriate money for sidewalk updates and development. The more walkable downtown Petal becomes, the more residents we can attract to the downtown area for shopping and recreational purposes.

In what ways, and to what extent, would you involve the residents of Petal in the decision-making process of our city, and would you please provide an example?

I will provide residents with a place where citizens can easily communicate with city leadership and receive important updates by improving the city’s online resources. I will also make myself accessible to all of Petal’s residents by hosting meet and greets and holding office hours. For example, I can host meet and greets at local restaurants, which will help increase foot traffic in our businesses and provide residents an easy place to talk with me to voice their opinions about ongoing city projects and decisions.

If it came down to raising taxes or cutting the budget and that meant cutting employees, which would you favor? And if you cut employees, would you first cut from recreation or from the fire department, or across the board in all departments?

This is an interesting question because it leads people to assume that there are only two options: cut city employees or raise taxes? If I say that I would cut spending in favor of raising taxes, one might say that I do not care about city employees, but if I say I support raising taxes, another person would say I am not a true conservative.

Why can we not think outside of this box? We ask the wrong question. The question should be: how can the city increase revenue without raising taxes?

The city can utilize its parks to host food vendors, in which the city receives sales tax and permit dollars. The city can utilize non-matching grants to build storefront infrastructure, which would then be leased to entrepreneurs who pay rent as well as sales taxes. The city can grow its population through workforce retention by partnering with the schools and local employers to place qualified Petal graduates in nearby jobs, which would lead to more home purchases and increase revenue through property taxes.

Have you ever written a Grant? Do you see grants as a useful tool in obtaining funds for projects for the city?

I have participated in several grant writing processes. In fact, one of my first tasks in Washington, DC was to search for grants for the nonprofit I was working for. I absolutely see grants as a useful tool for city development. The monies from grants can be applied to specific, planned projects. By using grant funding, the city of Petal can move past its year-to-year budget gridlock with the added benefit of supplying better resources to the community without having to increase taxes.

Do you support annexation of any area surrounding Petal?'

I will not support annexation until the city can meet its own needs. While there are many things to improve, Petal must first focus on becoming competitive by raising our first responders’ salaries to attract and retain experienced firefighters and police officers and raise the population density within city limits to attract small and corporate businesses. Without first working to improve our own city, annexation will only invite more problems Petal cannot handle and put the city at risk of wasting more money it does not have on a legal battle it will certainly lose, and already lost.

In the face of ever tightening budgets and budget shortfalls, what are your plans to increase community and infrastructure standards while keeping taxes low?

I will increase community and infrastructure standards by not walking away from opportunities to bring in more revenue through grants or utilizing the city parks to gain permit and sales tax dollars. Petal’s long-term spending goals should focus on sidewalk and road improvements as well as developments. The board should also explore opportunities for public and private partnerships with storefront infrastructure, in which the city leases public storefront properties to entrepreneurs wishing to have business fronts. At the top of the list for infrastructure improvements is also updating and enforcing building codes. Too many buildings in downtown Petal are in disrepair and unattractive. Setting and enforcing reasonable aesthetic laws will help beautify current infrastructure without raising taxes on citizens.

After a turbulent year in our community, how do you plan to address race relations in Petal?

The best first step in addressing race relations is by setting an exemplar for the community myself. No inflammatory comments will be tolerated. The feelings and convictions of our minority and underserved communities must be taken seriously, and I vow to be a voice for all of our residents. I will not tolerate racial injustices and will do my utmost to ensure that all members of our city are heard and treated equally under the law.

What new services do you plan to implement for the city and how will they be funded? (recycling, online bill pay, etc.)

The best new service to provide residents is a wider array of sports programs for their children. Soccer is one of the fastest growing sports in America, and the only sport to show an increase in audience attendance nationwide. Yet, Petal does not currently have a soccer program, forcing many kids from Petal to participate in youth sports programs in Hattiesburg.

By utilizing our current sporting facilities, the city will make additional revenue through soccer participation fees, concession stand fees, sales taxes from purchases at local restaurants made after sporting events, and, if Petal hosts tournaments, the city will qualify for a hotel that will generate more revenue from property taxes and sales taxes.

Taxpayer dollars will only be used to maintain sporting infrastructure such as paying for lawn maintenance and to help the program get started. Like the other sport programs in Petal, soccer will become self-sufficient, and the Petal Sports Association will pay the city every year for use of sporting facilities.