Page 52 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2017

BUSINESS & INDUSTRY get acquainted
George Bass
LONG BEACH
Phil Torjusen
GAUTIER
Q1. I see being mayor as a continuation of service to the city and the citizens.
Q2. I spent 35 1⁄2 years working as a firefighter for the City of Long Beach, with 21 years as Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director.
Q3. My vision is to grow our economy through commercial and residential expansion. To embrace the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast and sell Long Beach as a college town, and to work closely with our existing businesses with support to help them grow.
Q4. We see Highway 90, the harbor, Jeff Davis Avenue, Pineville Road, Commission Road, and 28th Street as our main areas for commercial development. Our school system and USM are vital to both residential and commercial growth.
Q1. I ran for mayor to utilize my business experience to help lead Gautier out of the unfavorable situation it is in.
Q2. My primary experience has been with a resort and community development company. For many years I was a senior officer with the company, attending board meetings and implementing the business plans.
Q3. To establish and implement an infrastructure plan for water, sewer
and roads for the long term. This will allow Gautier to do adequate economic development. I will also work with the administration of the Community College to provide student housing. If we had an additional 400 to 600 people living in the center of downtown, it would naturally ignite the economy.
52 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • August 2017
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