I am Bettye Stockstill, widow of Troy Stockstill, former Republican Supervisor of District 5. After Troy’s death in September 2005, I was appointed to this office until Nov. 2006, at which time a special election is to be held to fill the position until November 2007. After much prayer and consideration I am placing my name on the ballot as a candidate for the office.

Troy and I were married for 43 years and during that time, we were blessed with two children, Terry Wayne Stockstill, now residing in Houston with his family and working with a company (HELIX) based in Texas, and Sherri Stockstill Lawley, now residing in Carriere with her family and serving at First Baptist Church of Poplarville as their music director.

Troy and I worked together in business ventures with his brother and sister-in-law, Cleon and Margaret Stockstill for 24 years, and when Troy decided to run for office in 1999, we all helped him campaign and had the interest of the people of Pearl River County at heart. I can truthfully say that being a supervisor’s wife has seasoned me for the job at hand.

The People of Pearl River County and their welfare have always been my most important objective. Getting better paying jobs and trying to obtain industry for a good tax base is still first and foremost in my thoughts for the future. As most of you know, Troy envisioned a county-owned lake that would attract people looking for recreation, then with the lake in place, industry and economic development would follow close behind. That vision is now closer to a reality. I hope to be able to help this dream of Troy’s come true for Pearl River County.

We all know the county has had a population explosion since Hurricane Katrina, and I am looking forward to using this sudden influx of people as an opportunity to provide planned, sustained growth. There is much talk about building codes, zoning and green space. International Building Codes are now in effect. This will insure that the contractor that builds your home will be fully licensed and must build according to the codes. It is a proven fact that houses that are built to code have less damage during a storm or high wind.

We definitely need to do something about traffic flow. We are working closely with Mississippi Department of Transportation to alleviate some of the congested areas.

We also have that ever-present problem of ugly litter being thrown on our highways and byways. We could place someone on the roads writing tickets every 10 minutes to someone that litters, but until people start taking pride in our county, cities, and state, we will never be completely free of litter. However, that is not going to keep us from trying to keep Pearl River County clean.

I am looking forward to working with you and for you as your Supervisor of District 5. Lets move forward with purpose and pride.

Thank you for your support.