Jack ready to take over

By Charlotte A. Graham, countyreporter@laurelleadercall.com

July 01, 2009 11:16 am

— His father, the late W. W. Jack, Jr., served three terms as mayor of Sandersville. Now 55-year-old Walter “Buzz” Jack will have his turn at governing the town he loves to call home.
At noon Thursday, Jack will be sworn in as mayor of Sandersville, the small Jones County town which has a population of 1,000 to 1,100. It’s a day he looks forward to with much anticipation, but realizes it will be “quite a challenge” to follow in the footsteps of retiring Mayor Allen Ramsey “Pat” Lightsey, Jr.
Lightsey, 74, decided to retire from politics after serving 12 years as mayor and 16 years on the board of aldermen.
“It’s always hard to follow behind someone who has served as long as Coach (Lightsey) has,” said Jack. “He’s is well-loved and respected by the community. He has made such a great impression in the town.”
Calling Lightsey a father-like figure, Jack says he often goes to Lightsey for advice. That won’t change when he becomes mayor. “My father always had a policy: ‘If I can’t get the job done myself, I have others around me I can go to for help,’” explained Jack. “I believe every mayor in the county could use this policy.
“It’s nothing wrong with asking for help when you are confronted with something that’s too big for you to handle. Someone else may have the skills and know-how to get the job done. “
Lightsey believes Jack will be a “great mayor,” just like his father. “His father was in office when I was an alderman,” added Lightsey. “It was great working with him.
“I missed only one meeting during my entire political career. I missed that meeting because the Dixie Youth World Series was being held in Hattiesburg.
“I had a team there and the mayor made me go,” continued Lightsey. “He felt I needed to be there. That’s just the type of man he was.”
Jack hopes to be the kind of mayor towns people can be proud of and speak well of just as they do his father and Lightsey. Having served two terms as an alderman, Jack already has some political experience he can build upon.
Police Chief Morris Walters, who has served for a year, expects changes to be made when Jack becomes mayor. He’s served a year under Lightsey’s administration and said he has enjoyed every many of it.
“I’m interim chief and it could be that the new mayor will consider someone else for the position,” he said Sunday. “That happens a lot when a new administration takes over.”
According to Jack, no one will be fired. “Think I will try to keep everybody in place as is right now,” he said. “I have some new ideas and I might want to shuffle people around, though.
“I want to come in and set some new ground rules, a standard everybody will need to go by. We want everybody pretty much on the same page.”
Jack, a health and driver’s education teacher at Northeast Jones High School, said he takes his job as a public servant seriously. In fact, it took him a while to even consider running for mayor.
“I wasn’t retired at the time of the election and I’m still not,” said Jack. “It was my father-like figure, Pat Lightsey, who encouraged me to get back into politics.
“This isn’t something I just jumped into at the spur of the moment,” he added. “I spent nine months thinking about it before I actually made the decision to run.”
Jack, who has spent 24 years as a teacher, said he had to weigh whether he would be able to effectively serve as mayor while still teaching. He had to decide if he could serve both positions effectively.
“I also wondered if I would be letting the people in the town down if I didn’t run,” Jack said. “Many of them were telling me that this was my time and encouraged me to run.
“I’ve always wanted to be in politics, if I could,” admitted Jack. “I feel like I’m well known in Jones County and the city of Laurel. I believe I have the experience to know what it takes to run Sandersville.”
Jack has already established an agenda for his administration. He said one of his major projects as mayor will be upgrading the town’s sewer and water system. “We really need a new sewer system,” he said. “We need to clean up our water problem.
“We need to upgrade our well or drill a new one. While the water is safe to drink, it has a tint to it. Nobody really likes that.”
Jack also hopes to establish a new fire station and public works building. He also hopes to bring new businesses in the area to help increase the town’s tax base.
“I love this town and its people,” said Jack. “I am a Sandersville boy and am basically, sold on the north end of Jones County. There’s no place I want to be.
“Our town has been made fun of and ridiculed by some, but Sandersville is a great place to live,” he added. “I want us to unite as one big happy family.”
Jack lives in Sandersville with his wife, Mary Beth. They have two adult children – Brian, 29 and Nathan, 25.