After months of hard work learning from Mayor Eddie Fulton, newly elected Mayor Steve Watkins was officially sworn in on Sunday, June 27.
Although this is his first time being a part of municipal government, Mayor Watkins has always had a heart for those who live around him. He had a career in aviation for years, and it started out by helping his country through service in the Air Force.
“I had a career in aviation. I flew airplanes for 41 years, starting with the Air Force. At the University of Southern Mississippi, I was in Air Force ROTC and was able to compete and receive a pilot slot in the Air Force. I actually began my flight training during my senior year at Southern. After I graduated, I went to a more extensive pilot training for the next two years and served six years in the Air Force. I was in the Strategic Air Command after pilot training and flew B-52 Bombers. I was an aircraft commander in that aircraft. I started off as a copilot and was upgraded to aircraft commander,” stated Mayor Watkins. “Then, I got off active duty and went back and worked with my family in Crystal Springs. We had a couple of different furniture and appliance stores, and I did that for a few years. At the same time, I was flying for the Mississippi Air National Guard. I flew for them as a pilot for the unit in Jackson and flew C-130s and C-141s.”
He continued his career in aviation by flying for Delta Airlines.
“After that, I was hired with Delta Airlines. It was the only airline I wanted to work for, so I only put in one application and didn’t apply for anyone else. I was fortunate to get hired. I dropped my application in the mail to them, and three weeks later I was sitting in class because I had already been interviewed and hired. I had a wonderful career with Delta and flew various different airplanes,” said Mayor Watkins. “I had around 29 years flying for Delta. The first half of my career, I was flying in the domestic system; then, I upgraded to international aircraft as captain and flew internationally for the second half of my career.”
Throughout his career in aviation, Steve Watkins was able to observe how other places work. His experience is able to help him in his new position as mayor.
“I feel very fortunate to have seen a lot of the world with the military and with Delta. I learned a lot, and not just about aviation. I learned a lot about how other people and places do things, sometimes differently than we do. They seem to take pride in different areas that we sometimes neglect. I learned a lot just from being exposed to other people and feel fortunate for that,” explained Watkins. “Those are some of the things I want to take back with me now. I’ve been retired for three years and am looking forward to getting more active again with this job.”
The new mayor is extremely optimistic and loves the City of Quitman. He believes in the citizens of the community and plans to make sure that multiple voices and ideas are heard on how to continue to make it better.
“I want to do some things that sometimes we just sit around and think about. I want to see people come together, and I want a collaborative effort. One person doesn’t have all the good ideas, and I’ve learned that throughout my life. We have some very talented people in our community, and if they can be motivated to make a difference then they will. I think I see my job as a motivator. I want to bring people together and get the ideas flowing. I want us to figure out how to do the things we really want to do,” expressed Watkins. “Of course, I’m going to go after any type of grant that is out there. Beyond that, I want to cultivate and develop what we already have in this community. We have some really good people, and I want to see businesses prosper. That is our backbone right now. We’ve lost a lot of industry throughout the years, and everyone knows that. The industry of our businesses has to be nurtured and taken care of.”
He is excited about a new program that is already getting started that will help businesses grow and prosper. He plans to do what he can to help the program grow since it is only in the beginning stages. Once it is up and running, Mayor Watkins is positive that it will help businesses grow.
“I’m really excited about our Main Street Program that we’re finally getting involved in in the city. I want to see that turn into something really big,” declared Watkins. “A couple of weeks ago, I was at an awards luncheon that they held in Jackson for the Mississippi Main Street Association, and I was able to see what other communities in the state that are just like ours have done just trying to draw people down to the business area. There are so many ideas out there than you could possibly do in a year. I want us to do some of that. We have a great community, and we need to let people find out about that and draw them in.”
While he is excited about what is to come for the city, the new mayor also has plans to better himself and learn as much as he can in order to better help the city.
“My focus right now is getting educated. I want to learn what there is out there, and the Mississippi Municipal Association has a great program for that. I’ll be going down there later on at the end of July, along with the Board of Aldermen and city clerk. They have all sorts of classes for us to attend and learn, and they have one specifically for new people in municipal government,” stated Watkins. “I’m going to do everything I can to learn and make myself available to whatever knowledge is out there. I think we will see some good come out of it.”
Quitman is now under new leadership, and with the experience and positive outlook that Steve Watkins has for the city, the next four years will hopefully bring about growth.
