Rudy Warnock for MDOT Central Commissioner

This November 6th we will choose an MDOT Central Commissioner between Republican incumbent Dick Hall and Democrat Rudy Warnock.

Dick Hall is a fine person and a gentleman. He is very polite in his dealings with constituents and is respected for his honesty and integrity on the job.

Nevertheless, I cannot vote for him. Indeed, I have NEVER voted for him in the two races he has run for his present post. When he was State Senator, he was THE most pro-abortion Republican you could find. In fact, he was the ONLY Republican legislator you could find that was pro-abortion in the thirty years I have observed Republican legislators. Appointed by then-Lt. Governor Eddie Briggs in 1992 to head up the committee that dealt with abortion legislation, Hall did all he could to stall or kill any pro-life legislation. Pro-lifers such as myself couldn't stand dealing with him because of his vehement pro-abortion stance.

Rudy Warnock is a professional civil engineer. He has his own firm, Warnock and Associates, which works with cities and counties to build roads and bridges. Today, Warnock is the county engineer for Madison County and city engineer for the City of Canton. He also works with other counties and cities across the district. Madison County and other local governments hire Warnock to design their roads and bridges. They go to him because his firm does the work timely and cost-effectively.

We send hundreds of millions of dollars worth of work to companies outside of Mississippi. Why is this happening? Why are we sending Mississippi dollars out of state? Warnock will do his best to keep the money in the state so Mississippians will be paid to do work in Mississippi. Why hasn't Hall addressed this?

What I would like to see is MDOT give cities a choice about how the money is spent. Why not give the city the money MDOT would spend for projects and let the city decide what roads and streets need to be fixed? Right now in Pearl, there is a lot of work being done on Highway 80. I drive over that highway every day and I can tell you it needs only minor, if any, repair. But I can show you some streets in Pearl that desperately need fixing. It seems like the only time MDOT is busily fixing roads that really don't need it is during election years.

Rudy Warnock also knows about traffic control. It's obvious Hall doesn't. Drive east on Highway 80 from Bierdeman Road to Mary Ann Drive and you'll know exactly what I am talking about. If you hit the red light on Bierdeman, you will have to wait and wait while the westbound traffic is moving along. Then you hit the red light at Kroger and you wait and wait. You keep going and then you hit the Red Light from Hades--the red light on Pemberton. You sit and wait and wait. Then you go and hit the red light on Mary Ann Drive and wait. None of the lights are coordinated. It is a waste of gas and time to sit there and wait and wait. The traffic engineers should do the best they can to make certain there is an efficient flow of traffic. That has not happened under Dick Hall's watch.

Dick Hall has NO training as an engineer. None. Nada. Null set. Bupkis. He is a politician through and through. He was first elected as a Democrat to the State House, then switched parties ("The fiscal issues." You know, just like Lester Spell), reelected as a Republican to the State House, elected to the State Senate and then appointed by the late Gov. Kirk Fordice to the MDOT to fill the vacancy left by then-Commissioner Wayne Burkes.

Rudy Warnock is an engineer who'll do his best to take politics out of MDOT and do what is best for the state. It's time for a change---a big change.

Mississippi needs Rudy Warnock as MDOT-Central Commissioner.