In the game of politics, most voters assume that the most known candidate will win the most votes. One newly elected Yazoo County supervisor recently overcame that assumption, and after winning his race as the underdog on his ballot in 2019, he is working to bring a clearer understanding of local issues to his constituency by being as transparent as possible, and using social media to keep people informed.
Lee Moore, the newly elected supervisor of District 1, is the son of Danny and Phyllis Moore of the Phoenix Community in the southeastern part of Yazoo County. Moore and his family, including his sisters, Candice Duell and Heather Sibley, have lived in the Phoenix area for over 25 years.
Moore is a class of 2000 graduate of Yazoo County High School where he was the Salutatorian and was voted Mr. Yazoo County High School. Seeking higher education, Moore went on to attend Holmes Community College in Ridgeland where he served in various school organizations. While in school at Holmes he was named an Ambassador, and served as the Vice President of Leadership for Phi Theta Kappa.
After finishing his prerequisite courses at Holmes, Moore transferred to Mississippi State University, and later earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Ornamental Horticulture in December of 2004.
Feeling prepared to take on a career in the real world, Moore accepted an entry level position at Standing Pine Nursery in Raymond, MS. Moore worked his way up the ladder at the nursery, and over 6 years later he was working as the Production Manager and Head Grower for the company.
In 2012, however, Moore saw an opportunity to take over the family gardening and landscaping business, and moved back to Yazoo County where he opened Lee's Lawn and Landscaping service, and has been his own boss ever since.
Moore is currently an active member at Hebron Baptist Church, where he serves as a deacon and as the music leader.
He also loves being in the great outdoors and often hunts turkey and squirrels, and raises and trains Phoenix Feist squirrel dogs for that purpose.
Moore said that often times, hunting can serve as a social occasion for men, whose group conversations can often turn to politics or debates over local issues.
"I always thought I would like politics, even from way back," he said. "A lot of times when our conversations would turn to topics of the day, some of the guys like Mr. Hilton Stovall would encourage me to run, so I finally took their advice."
After much prayer and careful consideration, Moore completed his qualification paperwork and soon had his name on the ballot as a Republican candidate for District 1 Supervisor.
Knowing that his district is one of the biggest and most populated in the county, Moore quickly set to work getting push cards and campaign literature made, as well as signs, so that he could start getting his name and platform out to potential voters in all areas of District 1, including Bentonia, Satartia, Little Yazoo, Anding, Oil City, and Tinsley.
"I just started a kind of grassroots old fashioned campaign," he said. "I started going door to door, shook hands and talked with people. I tried to get out to everybody, but I am sorry to say that I missed some people, but I hope to change that soon."
In order to stay up to date on all of the county business, Moore added that he attended nearly every Board of Supervisors meeting held in 2019, and used his social media platform on Facebook to update and inform voters on county news.
"I feel like going to the meetings gave me a little bit of a head start," he said, "I felt like I knew more about what was going on. I would go home and put that on Facebook and let the public know what was happening, and they appreciated that."
After months of putting work into his campaign, the general election finally arrived in Yazoo County. Despite being the underdog in his district and running against five other names on the ballot, Moore won the District 1 Supervisor post as a Republican with 30% of the vote.
"I think that was God's way of keeping me humble since others before me had won by more than that," he said.
Moore was sworn into office on January 6, and he immediately started looking into some of the issues that have been plaguing his district for months.
"My biggest concern is getting these bridges repaired," he said. "I have got the Anding Oil City bridge that has been closed for about a year now, and it is displacing a lot of people, putting several more miles on everybody's travel time, and it is also a concern for our emergency personnel if we have a fire or if an ambulance needs to get through there."
Also on Moore's list to work on is the Hilderbrand Road bridge and the 322 miles of road in District 1 that are in desperate need of maintenance and repair.
One of Moore's first acts of business when he took office was to push for cleaner communities, and soon worked with the other supervisors to purchase 12 new dumpsters for the entire county.
"I asked the board and they agreed and we got those in and have placed them out in the community," he said. "Since then the pitch-ins have been a lot cleaner it seems like. I encourage people to take pride in our surroundings and make sure that we get the trash into our dumpsters and not litter or leave junk lying around."
Moore said that some of his goals as a supervisor are to help bring new jobs to Yazoo County by working with local businesses to build or expand, improving relations between the leaders of Yazoo City and Yazoo County. He added that he is also opposed to raising taxes, and is researching grants that may help bring funding to the county to help with road maintenance.
"I would like to see the children of Yazoo County grow up and stay here and build their homes and families here, instead of losing them to other towns and cities," he said. "I think the best way for us to do that is through bringing new jobs here and improving our tax base."
Moore said that he will continue to post his reports on social media as often as possible in order to be more transparent to his constituents. He also makes time to visit and speak with community groups in order to keep them informed on issues that directly relate to them
"I have been invited to a few small community churches to speak to citizens who are primarily concerned with the Anding Bridge," he said. "But I would be glad to come and talk to any groups who have concerns and let them know what I know."
Moore said that he can be reached on his cell phone at any time by calling 662-571-4876, and urges citizens to let him know if they ever have a problem or issue that needs to be resolved in District 1.
"I like for people to help educate and inform me about what is going on," he said. "Let us know about it so we can work together to try to fix it. I don't have all the answers, but I will do my best to find out what I can and get back with you."
In the meantime, Moore encourages citizens of Yazoo County to attend the Board of Supervisors meetings, which are mostly held on the first Monday and second Friday of every month.
"One of the things that I want as a Supervisor is to be accessible to people and to be transparent," he said. "I may talk a little too much about the issues, but there will be no secrets with me."
