Eight years ago, fresh from a victory that made her Greenville's first African American mayor, first woman mayor, and the city's youngest mayor, Heather McTeer found out the city's chief executive didn't have her own computer.
Employees of the Mississippi Delta's largest city have dedicated email addresses, which meant police detectives had to use their personal email accounts and home computers to send and receive information.
Greenville also had debts totaling $4 million, and needed a high-speed Internet connection to receive funds from federal agencies.
"If the city doesn't have it, the residents don't have it," she said. Now 36, McTeer counts leaving Greenville in the black and attracting millions of dollars in business investment and government grants to her hometown among the pinnacle achievements of her two terms as mayor. After deciding not to seek a third term, former bank executive Chuck Jordan succeeded McTeer as Greenville's mayor Jan. 3, 2012.
As McTeer eyes the congressional seat of fellow Democrat Bennie Thompson in the March 13 primary, she's reminded of her town's technological challenges not even a decade ago and has placed rural broadband expansion, environmental issues and biotech and agricultural development at the center of her campaign.
Chairwoman of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Advisory Committee, McTeer wants to serve on Congress' transportation, education and agriculture committees.
"When companies come into your city, they're not looking at the 18- to 25-year-olds," she said. "They're looking at your second graders, who will sustain their businesses in the next 15 to 20 years."
The Spelman College and Tulane University law school grad also understands the importance of keeping young talent in the district.
To do that, she suggests harnessing kids' enthusiasm for social media to demonstrate the need to develop mobile applications and other communications to address concerns throughout the Delta.
"A lot of times, it's about making links, and right now our kids don't know where the links connect," McTeer said.
First, though, McTeer may have to link up with a few more political donors. According to federal campaign disclosure reports, McTeer's campaign raised $63,192 and has $7,089 in cash on hand compared to her opponent's $1.7 million cash on hand after raising $411,284.
Nevertheless, she isn't bothered by the characterization of the race as akin to the biblical face-off between David and Goliath.
"I don't mind being on the David side because I know how that story ends," she said.
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