’By Jeremy Weldon

Less than 12 hours after confirmation that Hal Ferrell will be the next mayor of Batesville, the businessman and former alderman, was speaking at a civic club breakfast meeting, thanking voters for their confidence, and outlining in general his plans for the next City Hall administration.“My focus is like a rudder on a ship,” Ferrell told the Exchange Club of Batesville last Wednesday (June 9) morning. “I’m just one little spot in there, but I think I can direct and encourage the development that we need, and that’s the way I want to start.”Ferrell, 74, told Exchangites he campaigned on the promise to work hard for the citizens of Batesville, and he intends to work harder with the election over. Ferrell convincingly beat two other candidates, Mayor Jerry Autrey and fellow businessman Eddie Nabors on what many locals described as the rainiest election day ever in Panola County.Besides the Exchange Club, Ferrell has made the rounds of many city departments and local businesses and has taken part in dozens of meetings since the election, gathering information and preparing to take the lead at City Hall. He and other city officials will be sworn in at the end of the month and take office July 1, by state statute.“It doesn’t make any difference when I take office, I’m starting to work right now,” Ferrell said.The mayor-elect briefly touched on a few topics, highlighted by his plan to focus on the promotion and growth of local businesses.“We are doing a great job with industry right now, and it’s not broke so I’m not going to fix it,” he said. “I want us as a community to focus on our local businesses and see growth. I want everybody to know what great businesses we have, who they are, and what they do. We are going to focus on a different local business each week and see what can be done to help them.”Ferrell said another goal is improving customer service relations with the taxpayers and citizens of the city. “When you go into City Hall and ask about trash, I want City Hall to be able to tell customers about trash and not tell them to call the county, and the county will tell them to call the city,” he said. “It’s that kind of approach I want to spearhead and turn the ship in that direction.”“I want to be a bulldozer in some things, and I want to carry some people along with me and get them excited. It’s all positive motivation and a positive approach,” Ferrell said. “We have good people in the city right now, but the fact is that I think we need more leadership.”