This conviction led Leonard through Harrison County where he served as a Deputy Sheriff until 1999. Upon leaving the Sheriff’s Department, Leonard went to work for the Mississippi Public Service Commission as a utility investigator where he worked until 2003. In 2004 Commissioner Bentz ran for and was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives representing District 116. He served in the House of Representatives until April 2006.

After Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Southern District Commissioner’s office was vacated, leaving an unexpired term to fill. Governor Barbour appointed Leonard to fill the unexpired term.

In 2007, Commissioner Bentz ran for and was elected to the office of Southern District Public Service Commissioner. He said, “It has been an honor to serve the people of Mississippi and especially the Southern District.”

He continued, “Serving on the Commission has been challenging at times. Some of the issues are mind-boggling. Dealing with issues that impact ratepayers like the cost of generating electricity, the cost of doing business in Mississippi, or dealing with the sometimes unrealistic regulations out of Washington can be very complex.”
So how do you handle these admittedly complex and difficult issues? He laughed and replied, “With lots of prayer. That’s a great start to any day. And I’ve got to say that I’ve been blessed with a tremendous staff. Without their commitment and hard work, we’d all be lost.”

He continued, “The issues may be more complex than I thought they would be, but I see in them a great opportunity to serve the public. A rule that I believe in is to regulate by common sense principles. It is easy to be against something. It’s tough to make a decision that you know impacts both sides and can impact utilities and ratepayers for the next 20 or 30 years. We’ve got to be forward thinkers, proactive in our approach in making sure that Mississippi is stronger when we leave than when we got here.”

Making decisions that ensure the viability of utility companies and at the same time protect the ratepayers can be a real balancing act at times. Commissioner Bentz said, “You can’t take sides on these kinds of issues. For me, the solution is this one thing only: ‘Do the right thing.’ A decision has to be made. We have to act on the information we have at the time. If your intent is honorable, and you are off track somehow, there will be time to change later.”

Commissioner Bentz was asked, “What are your thoughts on the Mississippi Damage Prevention Council’s (MDPC) proposal to create a stronger and more effective damage prevention program?”

He said, “As a resident of Mississippi, I applaud their efforts. Our underground infrastructure is vital to our entire state and we need to work together to protect it, first of all for the safety of our citizens, but also to help keep Mississippi competitive in the business markets. Getting the stakeholders involved is critical. I would encourage the MDPC to continue to identify other stakeholders and bring them to the table, even those who may not see things the way you do. Stakeholder participation and perspective is crucial to creating lasting change.”

He said, “I believe the will of the Commission is to do what is in the best interests of the ratepayers and utilities. Damages are not in the best interests of either group. Utilities that are disrupted can shut down industry or disrupt our economy. The cost of repairing damaged utilities certainly impacts the budgets of utility companies, and that can impact rates. And that’s true from the smallest rural water system to the largest utility in the state.”

What do you think about the PSC getting involved in the effective enforcement process? He said, “As you know, we have an outstanding Pipeline Safety Division. Their mission is to protect the public and environment, so it seems that it could be a fit. I am pleased to hear that the proposal includes a review board made up of stakeholders to ensure that throughout the entire process, their perspectives can be heard.”

He continued, “Some level of enforcement will be required in the end, but I’m convinced the solution to damages to our infrastructure is education, education and more education. Enforcement should be reserved for those who disregard the safety of others. I mean a case could be made that this is part of our responsibility to protect the public.”

What about the concern that this would give the PSC an opportunity to get involved in regulating rates for companies currently not regulated by the Commission? He paused for a moment then continued, “I’m a member of Mississippi Rural Water Association and I believe they do a good job of regulating themselves. Really, why in the world would anybody want to get in the way of these systems that are doing a good job? I don’t want the authority to meddle in their business, and I’m sure the law says we don’t have that authority.”

Commissioner Bentz concluded, “This Commission works diligently to promote the best interests of our state, our utilities and our ratepayers. I think that even though we may see things differently at times, we have worked together for a stronger and better Mississippi.”
“I personally appreciate the privilege given to me by the voters of the Southern District, and if given the opportunity to serve another four years I will continue working to do the right thing.”

His early memories are the levee, the river, and of cow pastures transitioning into sugar cane fields as far as the eye could see. While attending St. James High School in the late 60’s, he began working part time for Ducks Grocery less than a mile from the school. His responsibilities included stocking, sweeping, and making sandwiches for some of the new construction workers who had moved in the area working to build a tank farm for Shell Pipeline.

Donald said, “I got to know quite a few of the construction workers during this time. When I graduated high school, I went to Southern University but continued to work at the store part time. One of the maintenance supervisors asked me if I might be interested in going to work for Shell. I told him my mother and father were insistent that I got a college degree, so quitting college was not an option.”

He continued, “Sometime later, he asked me again and I reminded him about my mom and dad’s plan for me. He said that the company had a program that would allow me to get my degree while working for them. I thought to myself, if Shell was going to pay for my education, my folks might just go along with that. So he went to my parents’ home and told them about the program and they allowed me to go to work for Shell in December 1973.”

It has been said that if you love your job, you’ll never have to work another day in your life. When you listen to Donald’s overview of his career, you get the sense that it has been more that he expected. He said that he had started out painting and cutting grass right there at home, but soon began a series of moves that carried him literally all over the country.

Since 2005 Donald has served in the position of Gulf of Mexico Manager for Public Awareness. The Gulf of Mexico region is made up of six states that includes both Mississippi and Louisiana.

Donald’s home is in Houma, Louisiana, but Burton Lane and St. James will always have a special place in his heart. He said, “As I look back over my career, I’m reminded of just how fortunate I’ve been. I’ve been given the opportunity to go places and see things that I could only dream about. The best part of my job has definitely been the opportunity to interact with a lot of great people.”

He continued, “I like people. I’m a true believer in the philosophy that people are the greatest asset of any organization. I can tell you for sure that the folks I’ve worked with over the years have made me look better than I would have been able to do by myself. I believe that if you treat people right and respect them that there is no end to what can be accomplished.”

Some say that respect doesn’t demand that we agree, but it does require that we listen to understand the other’s point of view. When dealing with the complex and sometimes emotional issues of damage prevention, it is a great quality to have. Perhaps that is part of what has driven him to get involved with so many organizations over the years.

For example, Donald is also a member of the Mississippi 811 board of directors. He has been one of the active supporters of the Damage Prevention Summit, an annual event sponsored by the Mississippi Damage Prevention Council (MDPC).

In the earliest planning stages of the first event held in 2008, he challenged other stakeholder groups in Mississippi to work together to make the event a success by stating that Shell Pipeline would be the first gold sponsor of the event. Other stakeholder groups followed his lead and in so doing this regional Common Ground Alliance (CGA) event promoting damage prevention in Mississippi was off and running. Perhaps even more importantly, the stage was set to create the environment for trust and respect that has allowed for a stronger and more effective damage prevention program to be developed.

Donald and his team are also actively involved in the regional mass mailings promoting pipeline safety, police and fire education efforts, pipeline group meetings across their region and supportive of Louisiana One Call’s diggers night out programs just to name a few.

He said, “Shell Pipeline is very proactive about pipeline safety. Our corporate culture is that we want to be a good neighbor. We recognize damage prevention is critical to protect our underground infrastructure, and more importantly we want to work with other stakeholders to insure the safety of those who may be working around our facility, the safety of our employees and the general public.”

The end of this year will mark the close of his career. His retirement becomes effective December 31, 2010. When asked to reflect back over the past 37 years he commented, “It has been a rewarding experience for me. I’m proud to have worked for a company like Shell. I’m fortunate to have had a boss like Greg Smith, the Gulf of Mexico Regional Manager. He has been very supportive of our damage prevention efforts and supportive of me personally.”

He thought for a moment and continued, “To think that a country boy from St. James, Louisiana would have been given the opportunity to travel the world, to learn and be of a part an industry that frankly is critical for this nation’s way of life is hard to put into words.”

From the board room, he stared out of the window at the tank farm surrounded by acres and acres of sugar cane as he contemplated his response to a query posed to him. The question was, “What one thing would you like people to know about you?”

His response was, “That I gave it my best shot. If they can learn from, or improve on anything I’ve done, it gives value to my efforts over the past 37 years. I’ve tried to do the right things for the right reasons, and I’m comfortable with that.”

Thanks for your leadership, Donald. I think your mom and dad would be proud.

The Daily Mississippian reported that the line on the Square ruptured the afternoon of June 12, resulting in flooding and sedimentation on the streets. The report also said the 8-inch cast iron main ruptured due to a crack on the bottom side of the pipe. The line was repaired and the city was able to have the water back on by 9 p.m. the same day.

There was another story about the ruptured line on June 12, but it wasn’t reported.

“Main ruptures on the Square can be real tricky,” Chad McLarty said. He knows because he’s the Water Department Superintendent for the City of Oxford. “A repair crew may need to kill as many as 30 valves to stop the water on the Square.”

McGinnis and administrative assistant, David Brown, were in the courthouse the morning of April 24. McGinnis had been there all night and Brown came that morning. “We were in constant contact with the weather service,” McGinnis recalled. “We knew the storm was going to hit us.” But what worried McGinnis, who is also the 911 Coordinator, were the words used by the weather service to describe it. “They used words we were not accustomed to hearing, like, ‘tornado emergency’ and ‘extremely dangerous.’ They used those a lot,” she said.

The tornado struck Yazoo City a few hours later, just after 12 p.m., and its 160 mph winds left a wide path of destruction.

There was no scarcity of vision in Corinth, Mississippi in 1980. Clifford G. Worsham had a vision – it was about water and the future of his town. Worsham was a member of the Corinth Utility Commission, and the other commission members agreed with him that the current groundwater supply was not capable of satisfying the long-term needs of the community. They began looking at the possibilities of utilizing surface water to supply the future needs of Corinth.

That was 30 years ago. Today the vision is becoming reality, but Worsham was only able to see it in his dreams; he passed away in June 2009.

“You’ve got to grow your business or you’ll become stagnant,” said Booneville Mayor, Joe Eaton. “Especially in times like this when our overhead is going up, and our tax base is going down.”

Eaton is new to the office of mayor, but not new to business and city government. “I worked for Caterpillar and was a business manager for an automotive parts distributor, before I became mayor,” he said. He achieved his experience with city government as a member of the Booneville Board of Aldermen from 1993 to 2001.

“CNN and Forbes Magazine also said it’s a great place to launch a business,” said Mayor DuPree, “It’s a great city and, of course, Brett Farve played for the University of Southern Mississippi and lives in Hattiesburg.”

DuPree was elected Mayor of Hattiesburg in 2001, after serving three terms on the Forrest County Board of Supervisors. However, politics was not on his mind while earning a master’s degree in Political Science and a doctorate degree in Urban Studies.

“I went into sales after graduating, but I have always been interested in community development,” he said. “And after being appointed to the school board in 1987 and seeing how things worked and didn’t work, I decided this was where I needed to be, helping the community and doing things that had only been talked about in the past.”

“That doesn’t count the thousands of volunteer firefighters we train annually in the field through our Extension Service Bureau,” said Curtiss Marbury, Instructor Chief with the State Fire Academy. “We’re extremely busy around here and, as a matter of fact, we’re currently booking reservations for 2011 and 2012.”

The State Fire Academy Executive Director, Reggie Bell, has been involved in training efforts in 36 states. “I’ve seen all their training facilities and to be very honest, we have the best in the nation, right here in Mississippi.”

by Jack Garrett, Director of Regulatory Services, DIG TESS

After Hurricanes Katrina and Rita swept through in 2005, issues with offshore pipelines and the need for a one-call system covering the Gulf of Mexico came to the forefront. GulfSafe was developed to address these concerns in the Gulf and began operation February 16, 2009.

Unlike traditional one-call operations, GulfSafe’s notification process is primarily web-based. Most notifications are requested through GulfSafe.com or by calling 1-888-910-4853 (GULF). Use of the service requesting notifications of activity is free, as all costs are paid by the owners of offshore facilities. Technical and user support is conducted online or by phone at 1-888-910-4853 (GULF).

One of the technical challenges was in building a system that was seamless between state and federal waters. Offshore operators wanted one system to function in all state waters as well as the Outer Continental Shelf. They also needed a system that could process near shore calls to 811 from state one-call centers along the coast and process those request into GulfSafe. This was accomplished by overlaying the GulfSafe database into Louisiana One Call and Mississippi 811 systems.

If someone calls 811 in those states for an offshore request, the local call center processes the request and forwards the information on to GulfSafe. This process will be expanded to Alabama and Florida as new member companies are added in those areas.

Locates in the Outer Continental Shelf are processed directly through GulfSafe. This procedure provides the seamless system that offshore operators desired, and it also provides the flexibility to integrate the 811 message into GulfSafe’s promotions. Typically the system is promoted as “Onshore 811, Offshore GulfSafe.com.”

One of the goals in the development of the system was to provide workers offshore the same safe working environment that we have come to expect onshore. Most workers wouldn’t think of putting a shovel in the ground without calling for locates, just for their own personal safety. Yet offshore, this attention to safety is overlooked. It’s made even more difficult by not being able to see through the water, and at depths that can give workers a false sense of security.

Pipeline companies are often left out of the loop. They may not be aware that work is being done in the vicinity of their line because a vessel operator may be using public maps to assume where subsea systems are located. This would be comparable to having onshore excavators do all their own locates instead of calling for locates. From the operators’ perspective this is not the ideal process.

GulfSafe currently serves four of the Minerals Management Service’s Planning areas for the Outer Continental Shelf; the Western Gulf of Mexico, Central Gulf of Mexico, Eastern Gulf of Mexico, and the Straits of Florida. Expansions into other planning areas are slated as wind and wave energy is developed on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

As you might expect, offshore damages are extremely costly. With the final tab easily reaching into the millions of dollars, facility owners are finding GulfSafe is a cost-effective way to prevent damage to vital infrastructure. The cost for membership varies on the area of coverage or footprint of a utility company. For information regarding membership or further details contact jackgarrett@gulfsafe.com.

You can also learn more about GulfSafe by attending the Mississippi Summit in November. We hope to see you there.

by Stan Rucker, VP of Safety and Loss Control with Electric Power Associations of Mississippi.

Electric power associations build underground power lines to withstand most damage due to natural causes. But nothing can protect them from the direct impact of excavating equipment – except the operator’s awareness of electrical safety.

Most important, electrical safety measures can help prevent a tragedy: If you strike an underground power line while digging, you could seriously injure yourself, and those around you, and knock out electric service to homes and businesses in the area.

The danger is real: On average, 325 people die, and 4,400 are injured each year because of electrical hazards, according to data published by the National Safety Council. Electricity ranks sixth among all causes of occupational fatalities. The leading cause of fatal electrical incidents while on the job is contact with power lines, both above and below ground.

By calling Mississippi 811 before digging, the electric utility serving your work site will be alerted of your intentions. Utility personnel will determine whether an underground power line or other electrical facilities exist at your work site and, if so, dispatch a representative to mark their location. This is a service that Mississippi’s consumer-owned electric power associations are happy to provide to help protect you and your workers, foremost, but also to prevent power outages and avoid costly damage to underground electrical facilities.

Electric power associations urge you to devote a few minutes to electrical safety before digging by dialing 811 at least two days before the work is scheduled to occur. For more information, visit www.ms811.org.