County mayors form group

On Thursday, Malone Mayor Gene Wright will host the first-ever meeting of a new organization he recently founded.
The Jackson County Association of Mayors — JCAM for short — will have its inaugural get-together Thursday at 6 p.m. at Madison’s Restaurant in Marianna.
Wright said he anticipates having meetings in all the municipalities over the course of each year.
He said that of the 11 mayors and council presidents he’s invited, nine have responded favorably and plan to be there Thursday.
He said he thinks there will be strength in number on a variety of fronts — sharing ideas, in pressure on funding entities at state and federal levels, and in putting together joint solutions to shared problems.
Wright attends similar round table sessions held periodically around the county in which the county and representatives of its municipalities gather. But he said he thinks a mayors’ group has a place, too. He said he’s only seen three or four mayors at those meetings over time, and that the mayors may be more comfortable in a gathering strictly meant for them.
Wright announced the meeting Monday as he came back to Jackson County from a meeting of the Northwest Florida League of Cities. He returned from that session with a new distinction — he’s now a member of that organization’s board of directors, selected with one other man from a field of many applicants who wanted to serve.
Wright said that, in appointing him, the speaker mentioned that the League of Cities was impressed by his founding the new mayors’ association.
Wright said he hopes it will be a group that matters.
“Marianna, or Malone, or wherever we are, we all basically go through the same things and I think we have some things we can discuss with each other and things we can all relate to,” he said. “I think in this setting, we might all be a little more willing to talk about our frustrations and problems, and share our solutions and resources with each other, and maybe come up with some things together, too. I believe there’s strength in number.”
The Jackson County Chamber of Commerce, he said, is also on board with the idea. The organization has offered its headquarters at the Russ House as a potential gathering place.