WESSON — The Wesson Board of Aldermen has scheduled a July 15special election for mayor following Bill Tigner’s resignation lastmonth.

The special election, to be held at town hall, was approvedduring Tuesday’s monthly board meeting.

Tigner, citing work conflicts, resigned last month during aspecial called board meeting. His resignation was effective May23.

Anyone wishing to qualify for the special election can begin theprocess today at town hall, said Town Clerk Linda Dykes.

Candidates, who must live within the town limits in order torun, must obtain 50 signatures from other registered town voters ona special form. The last day to qualify will be July 3, at 4:30p.m., at town hall.

For voters who will be unavailable July 15, absentee voting willstart July 7 at town hall. Hours will be from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30p.m. daily, with July 14 being the last day to vote absentee.

While discussing the upcoming election, board members also votedto re-appoint election commissioners Bob Meteer, Flonie Turnbo andLucille Horton.

Board members moved on to routine matters, such as the approvalof previous minutes and the approval of the claims docket andfinancial statement, which brought some discussion on the town’sprocedures.

Ward One Alderman Robert Derrick took issue with the fact thatthe town’s financial statement was not available due to computerproblems.

“I don’t see how we can approve the claims without a financialstatement,” Derrick told Dykes, who is in charge of the town’sfinances.

Dykes promised that if the claims were approved, and checks wereprinted Wednesday, she would make sure there was enough money inthe bank before making any payments. She explained that theinstallation of a new software program did not allow employeesenough time to print out the financial statement.

Derrick stressed the importance of getting a financial statementbefore each monthly board meeting so aldermen could review theinformation thoroughly before approving the statement.

Dykes told aldermen it was often impossible to get an accurateclaims docket and financial statement to board members by theirscheduled meetings on the first Tuesday of every month.

“We got in bills today that we couldn’t even get on there,” shesaid.

Following the clerk’s assurances, the board approved the claimsdocket even though the financial statement was not available. As asolution in the future, Derrick said that people not submittingbills by the first of the month would not get paid until the nextmonth.

In other matters, the board agreed to get more involved with theCopiah County Economic Development District after a presentation byrepresentatives Dale Heard and Bubba Howell.

They asked the board to meet one day in the next three months todiscuss their vision for the town of Wesson. The board plans tomeet Aug. 19, when a new mayor will be in office.

“The county would like to assist the towns in accomplishingtheir goals,” said Heard about a long-term plan being developed forCopiah County.

Other municipalities are being asked to do the same in order tohave all entities working together for common goals.

Some of the top items needing improvement in the county,according to the economic development district, are schools,housing and retraining the work force for service-related jobs.

“The goal of the district is real broad,” said Howell. “It’s notjust about creating jobs. It’s about creating a quality of lifethat we can enjoy.”

After a short open discussion and executive session on apersonnel matter, the board adjourned the meeting. They will meetnext at 7 p.m., July 8, which is the second Tuesday of the monthrather than the usual first Tuesday meeting because ofconflicts.