Biloxi City Council hosts workshop on ordinances for special events

The Biloxi City Council is still working out what ordinances it needs to implement to keep locals safe during special events.

The Biloxi City Council called an agenda workshop special meeting to discuss special event ordinances following push back from various recurring events. Cruisin’ the Coast told News 25 at the last meeting they were worried for the future of their event. Cruisin’ the Coast Executive Director Woody Bailey said, “It’s a total change in policy that the city is proposing for special events and how they’re going to handle special events. So, it’s very concerning to us.”

Cruisin’ and other event coordinators showed up Tuesday in hopes of finding middle ground on the ordinances.

However, they are leaving without a solution with the city council and the mayor divided on how to handle this. Councilman Paul Tisdale said, “The general consensus is – we have some organizations that put on some events, and they’re great events in the city of Biloxi. And we had an issue with one of the events, which was spring break, this past year. And six or seven years before that. This is not the first time that that particular event has created some concerns for public safety. So, we’re trying to craft and produce a product that is equitable and fair, that established clearly what folks have to do if they’re going to put on an event in the City of Biloxi.”

This year’s Black Spring Break ended abruptly with an officer-involved shooting. The uptick in violence during the event is why the city is cracking down on the rules. The mayor and police chief argue these ordinances are just a precaution. Police Chief John Miller said, “What we plan for is the unforeseen. We don’t know what kind of events someone would want to pose to have in Biloxi. Seems like the smarter way to go to me is to have something in place where you will at least know ahead of time that this is being proposed. And then it gives you an opportunity to be fair to the promoters and explain to them, either we can do this or we can do this with these exceptions or modifications.”

One main part of the proposed ordinances is the cost of manpower. However, when an event is created purely online, who do you send the bill to?

Another workshop is likely in the works for the council so they can answer that question and fine tune the ordinances.