Connie Moran runs for Mississippi state treasurer

Connie Moran, who carried out new urbanist ideas in the 18,000-population City of Ocean Springs, Mississippi, after Hurricane Katrina, won the Democratic nomination Tuesday for state treasurer. 

Unopposed in the party primary, Moran is citing her successes in Ocean Springs and her previous experience in economic development as evidence that she can help communities rebuild in ways that will "create more jobs in Mississippi." She argues that she is well prepared to help the northern Mississippi communities that have recently been devastated by tornadoes and floods.

Of all the public officials along Mississippi's Gulf Coast, Moran was one of those who exhibited the most enthusiasm toward ideas that new urbanists from around the country devised during the October 2005 Mississippi Renewal Forum. Some of those ideas have since been used to guide development in Ocean Springs, just east of Biloxi.

Victor Dover and Dover, Kohl and Partners of Coral Gables, Florida, helped Ocean Springs "envision how we would rebuild," Moran told New Urban Network. "Neal Payton of Torti Gallas from California worked with local architects Christian Preus and Bruce Tolar for our Front Beach Master Plan."

New urbansts were unhappy with a highway bridge the Mississippi Department of Transportation proposed to build from Biloxi to Ocean Springs after the hurricane. "With encouragement from CNU professionals, I stood my ground to insist that MDOT incorporate aesthetic and functional design into the Biloxi Bay Bridge, such as a multi-modal pathway for cyclists and pedestrians, decorative lighting, and see-through railings," Moran pointed out.

"Today hundreds of people enjoy that walkway on the bridge, which we have now connected to our harbor with a similar walkway along our beach," Moran noted. "We incorporated New Urbanist principles with the rebuilding of Fort Maurepas Park on our beachfront, which has become the most popular park on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  Last year we won an Award of Excellence from the Mississippi Municipal League for Best Economic Development and Planning Project for our Front Beach Master Plan and Fort Maurepas."

A $4 million downtown streetscape plan is now nearly complete, she added. Partly as a result, the number of restaurants has "grown from 63 to 105 in 3 years," Moran said, and a boutique hotel is to break ground in downtown this year. 

After her work with new urbanists, Moran was elected to the CNU Board. In Mississippi's Nov. 8 election, she will face the winner of the Aug. 23 Republican runoff between Lynn Fitch and Lee Yancey.

Moran has bachelor's and master's degrees in international finance and economics from George Washington University. She has 16 years' experience in economic development, including six years managing the European office of the the Mississippi Development Authority, in Germany.

In her bid for state treasurer, Moran also has spoken against "building mammoth state office buildings in surrounding counties." Rather, she says, "I would be a proponent of reinvigorating downtown Jackson, our capital city, by leasing existing buildings."

"The state treasurer also sits on the Bond Commission — deciding which of the large infrastructure projects proposed for bond financing by the legislature will be approved," she emphasized. "This is yet another opportunity where I can support projects that espouse New Urbanist principles."

More information is posted on the Moran For Treasurer website.