In the News

Rep. Mike Ezell (R-Pascagoula) is opening an office in Laurel, and the Jones County Board of Supervisors is happy about that.

Ezell will be leasing space in the Jones County Extension Services office at 515 North 5th Ave., for $150 per month. The Laurel office will be staffed by Lance Taylor, a former Mississippi Highway Patrolman who lives in Jones County. The office is right next to the Veterans Service Center in the same building, board President Johnny Burnett noted. 

“We’re hoping that if our veterans need something, he’ll be right there,” Burnett said.

Ezell and Taylor visited the Veterans Memorial Museum in Laurel and the Jones County Emergency Operations Center last week.

“He’s already been here three or four times, so that’s encouraging,” said Danielle Ashley, board attorney and Chief Administrative Officer. “He’s already made a commitment to be more involved, and having an office here shows that commitment.”

One of the criticisms of Ezell’s longtime predecessor Rep. Steven Palazzo is that he was not accessible. He had an office in Laurel for some time but it was closed down in recent years.

Officials at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Monday morning said they couldn’t remember the last time they met with Palazzo. But Ezell — who took office in Washington, D.C., in January — met with them last week. He has to, by law, pay for the office space, and it’s costing $150 per month, Ashley said, and the board unanimously approved.

In a brief interview at the museum last week, Ezell talked about getting used to his new role as U.S. rep after spending several years serving as sheriff of Jackson County on the coast.

“One of the biggest surprises has been how so many people can reach across the aisle to help ... but when those cameras come on, it changes,” he said with a chuckle. 

His priorities, he said, are to “stop this border crisis and all the fentanyl coming in” and to fight the “woke, liberal agenda.”

The protracted process that the U.S. House went through to reelect Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House was a baptism by fire, of sorts, for Ezell. Instead of the usual “rubber-stamp” formality, it was a contested vote that took a week or so. Ultimately, it was a win for conservatives, Ezell said, adding that McCarthy is working hard.

“It makes you feel good to be an American,” he said. “He worked hard to keep the party together ... and it took a week, and as a result, I really got to know a lot of the people I’ll be working with better than I would have if we hadn’t gone through that.

“I’m just glad to be home for a few days and make the rounds.”

Ezell is on the Homeland Security, and Transportation and Infrastructure committees.