Hancock County's Stalled Recovery

Facing South brings attention to a Reuters article highlighting trouble in Pass Christian and Pearlington.

Pass Christian House Member Diane Peranich is quoted expressing concern with possible condo development. Some of the communities lost much of their tax base and are less likely to oppose development that doesn't go with the historical nature of their community due to the possible revenue that that development could generate.

"What we don't want is miles of high-rises on the Gulf of Mexico white sands and no access to our citizens," said Diane Peranich, a state representative who grew up in the area.

"Those of us who have been here as long as the mosquitoes are not going anyplace. You are welcome to come join us but you are not going to replace us," she said.

The slow progress of Pearlington is also highlighted in the article.

The local school and post office remain closed, few businesses have reopened and only a quarter of its 800 homes have been rebuilt, according to Glenn Locklin of the charity One House at a Time.

Volunteers are key to reconstruction but their numbers have dwindled as other natural disasters, such as a tornado in May that ravaged a town in Kansas, have drawn the focus of concern away from the aftermath of Katrina, he said.

"You don't hear about us anymore. They say we're not news," Locklin said. "The one thing people don't realize is that we are just as bad as we were."

All this is infuriating when I think about how much money has flowed into this state. Barbour farmed it out in sweetheart contracts to his friends and allies and Republican office holders (like Sen. Moffatt) and now South Mississippians are paying the price.