After 10 years of helming Petal’s highest political seat, Mayor Hal Marx has announced his retirement at the end of the current term, saying he will not run for a fourth term in 2021.
On Tuesday, Marx said he made the decision about three months ago, citing as one reason the political burnout that comes with being in office for a number of years.
“You get to the point where you feel like you’ve done all you can do, and maybe it’s time for someone else to pick up the baton and try to go with it, and I feel like that’s the point I’m at now,” he said. “It’s not really got anything to do directly with all the debate about the budget this year, but it’s a symptom of the fact that I feel like now, the board and I just aren’t seeing eye to eye.
“Maybe there are some factions on the board that are going to be driving this discussion in the future, as far as the direction of the city. I don’t they necessarily are going to seek my input, or try to use my input on that. So I think maybe it’s time for somebody new to come in and have some fresh ideas and a fresh way of looking at things, and the energy that you need to be a good leader.”
The issue of the Fiscal Year 2020 budget has been going back and forth for the last several weeks, with Marx recently vetoing the budget that was passed by the Petal Board of Aldermen. That veto was overriden by a 5-2 vote Tuesday, with only Ward 4 Alderman Brad Amacker and Ward 5 Alderman Tony Ducker voting against the budget.
Marx, who formerly taught social studies at Petal High School, said at the end of this term he will have enough time in to be able to retire from the state.
“If I can go ahead and start drawing that retirement and getting that 13th check started from the state, and then also go out and start another career in the private sector – or a branch of the federal government or something else that’s not with the state – I could then obviously be better off financially for my family,” he said. “So that’s a big part of it.”
Marx is a 1991 graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, where he received a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in history. He earned a Master of Education degree from William Carey University in 2002.
In addition to his teaching experience, Marx also spent six years as a journalist or a daily newspaper in Laurel, including two years as managing editor. He was originally elected as mayor in 2009, and was re-elected in 2013 and 2017.
“I was re-elected by some good margins, so I felt good about the fact that some people felt that I was doing a good job at that point,” Marx said. “So I appreciate that, and I don’t want to overstay my welcome.
“I know after a while, with any official, it’s harder and harder to make people happy. You can’t make everybody happy in this job, and sooner or later, you’re going to make enough people unhappy that you wear our your welcome. So before I get to that point, I just kind of want to choose my own way of stepping down, and go out on a high note, hopefully.”
With 21 months left on his current term, Marx plans to continue to get his input across for his vision of the city, and to work with the board to keep the city moving in the right direction.
“But I do hope that our next election cycle, that we see some new candidates step forward offering themselves to run, because I do think we need some new ideas and some new blood in some of our offices,” he said. “So I think we’re going see that – I think we’re going to see a busy election in 2021, where we’re going to have a lot of candidates running for a lot of different offices.
“I think that’s a good thing – we haven’t had that for the last couple of election cycles, and it’s been kind of quiet. So I think now is the time for some other people to step in and offer themselves for service.”
