Karen Underwood Hession
I’ve been married to Joey Hession for 34 years. I have two children, Whitney and Adam. I have 5 grandchildren. My parents are Earl and Emla Underwood. I have 3 brothers, Mike, Chuck, and David Underwood. I was born and raised in Petal and I chose to raise my family here. I graduated from Petal High School in 1980 and went straight to work. I worked 7 years at Deposit Guaranty National Bank where I worked my way up from proof operator, bookkeeping, teller then head teller. I worked 7 years for South MS Home Health at the corporate headquarters as an administrative assistant to 5 nurse managers. I then made a lateral move to Human Resource, where I recruited and interviewed employees from all over the state to find the best employees possible. I have spent the last 22 years working with my brothers, Mike and David Underwood at Underwood Small Engine. We sold the business several years ago to Kent and Tammy Myatt. The name changed to Underwood Outdoor Power which is where I currently work. My passion is renovations! I was able the buy my first house at 18 years old because a lady owner financed it for me. I have renovated 8 petal properties in the past 8 years.
Please explain your views on COVID-19 restrictions and what you intend to do in the shifting landscape.
We need to educate ourselves and listen to the health care professionals, follow their advice and do what is best for ourselves, our families, and businesses. We have really smart business owners that can decide their policies and procedures for their businesses as well as the corporate businesses.
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?
I have had great success with all the properties I have invested in. Downtown Petal is a great investment opportunity. New businesses are moving in and renovating houses and some are building. The excitement had already started and is building. The youth of today want to live, work and play in a vibrate downtown! I want to share my vision with property owners, private investors, and developers. I will aggressively recruit!
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 want to hear what Petal residents have to say and what they want. I would love to have one day a week that any resident could have lunch with the mayor at various locations. I would also like to go to the schools and have lunch with students. My door is always open!
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?
I hope that Petal residents will support the 3% hotel and restaurant tax. This will give Petal residents as well as surrounding communities and visitors that do not live in the city limits, the opportunity to contribute. That 3% will go to the recreation department which is projected to be around $750,000.00. The money that was budgeted for the recreation department can then be used in the budget elsewhere and we would not have to raise taxes or cut the budget.
Have you ever written a Grant? Do you see grants as a useful tool in obtaining funds for projects for the city?
No. Grants would definitely be useful for any projects that Petal is in need of. We have to make sure we are able to pay the matching dollar amount if required.
Do you support annexation of any area surrounding Petal?'
I think we need to get our downtown revitalized first. But, the Evelyn Gandy Parkway to Hwy 59 would be a great area to grow towards.
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 think we can volunteer to help each other to increase community and not increase taxes. To increase infrastructure standards we have to get our bonds and bills paid off before we start the next phase. We need to start now planning for a long-term comprehensive infrastructure plan.
After a turbulent year in our community, how do you plan to address race relations in Petal?
Unify, invest and build community. I want to use every opportunity for our community to come together and participate in fun activities, work side by side on projects and spend time together communicating and listening to one another. I want to be part of the solution!
What new services do you plan to implement for the city and how will they be funded? (recycling, online bill pay, etc.)
I already have my water bill on autopay. It saves me time and I’m never late. I love composting and recycling. I think we could join with corporate sponsors to put on workshops to educate the public on a lot of things we would like to implement for the city. I would love to hear from the citizens on what they want and then we would have to brainstorm on how to accomplish it.