Though he shies away from the term “political career,” Mayor Toby Barker of Hattiesburg, Miss., said, “I think the story of my public service is the story of our city and it’s my life’s work.” The 43-year-old began his career as the youngest legislator to be elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives at the age of 25 as a Republican representing District 102. After 10 years serving in that capacity, he ran as an Independent for the mayor’s seat in his adopted hometown and has remained there since 2017.

He had imagined a life of public service, though “I didn’t think I’d run for office,” he admitted. But when he relocated from Meridian, Miss., where he grew up, to Hattiesburg in 2000 to attend the University of Southern Mississippi, he “fell in love with the city.” He chose to remain there after graduation, when he worked in the field of small-business relief after Hurricane Katrina ravaged southern Mississippi.

At USM or Southern Miss, as locals call it, Barker earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and a Master of Science in Economic Development. He later went on to earn another master’s degree from Brown University in Rhode Island in healthcare leadership.

Since graduation, he has focused his energy toward bettering his state and the city of Hattiesburg, though he credits the people of the fifth most populous city in the state for the improvements made under his tenure.

Visible validation of this comes through upgrades to the city’s parks and recreational areas. “One thing we did early on in my tenure was we passed a 1% parks and recreation tax,” which saw a portion of the revenue generated going to USM’s athletic department, improving the venue where the basketball team plays. The remainder goes to the parks and recreation department. “One of the big focuses for what we do with parks, aside from the quality of life for our citizens, is really strengthen that sports tourism muscle,” Barker explained.

With 18 soccer fields that needed maintenance for lighting and drainage, this tax allowed the city to complete those projects. “So now we’re hosting soccer tournaments for teams across the Gulf South for teams that are from almost 200 strong,” he stated.

Additional improvements have been seen throughout the city, including a public art trail with the painting of more murals, both by local artists and those from around the country.

Barker explained, “During COVID, we saw the need to get people outside, just for their own mental health. We saw the popularity of a couple new murals and we decided to become the city of 100 murals, and so we’ve gone all in on that … we’re at 64 right now, with the goal of getting to 100 in the next three years.”

This has brought more people to the city, where tourists can also enjoy the Hattiesburg Zoo, Serengeti Springs water park, 44-mile paved running, walking, bicycle and equestrian Longleaf Trace trail and the new Hattiesburg Pocket Museum — a converted alleyway with changing exhibits, curated by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission’s director and his wife.

As infrastructure is always a critical area of city management, Barker proudly reports that during his time as mayor, much work has been accomplished in this area. Most recently, the city has built railroad overpasses to prevent congestion in the downtown area when train crossings shut down traffic and “can keep first responders from getting to different neighborhoods.” These two overpasses cost $40 million and were funded both by the federal government as well as the city.

Looking toward his bid for a third term next year, maintains a strong vision for the future, visualizing his city as a powerhouse of the south. “We’re 142 years old now, and I would love to cap the vision for Hattiesburg at 150.”

Infrastructure remains one of Barker’s main goals, as well as strengthening the workforce and education system. Hattiesburg relies heavily on three main areas of labor: education (home to two large colleges), healthcare and the military, with Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center on its southern boundary. There is also a strong manufacturing presence that Barker hopes to see continued growth in within the following years.

This year, though, his extensive efforts toward bringing more visitors to the city have been rewarded, as he was honored with the Mississippi Tourism Association’s “Governmental Tourism Leadership Award.” Ironically, Hattiesburg hosted the annual Governor’s Conference on Tourism this year, where Mayor Barker was announced as the awardee. He stated that he was “very honored, but certainly surprised.”

But he considers his greatest achievement to be improving public education. “The thing I’m proudest of is our school district has been an A district for three years in a row. We started off as a D and we moved to an A, and every school this year was ranked an A or B” — a remarkable feat for an area with 60% of the population living below the poverty line.

“We have a great superintendent, central office staff, great school board members, great teachers, and then students and families that are committed to learning, so to turn that district around from a D to A, you know that when you come to live in Hattiesburg … you’re going to get a quality public education.”

Barker considers his work secondary to what the citizens of Hattiesburg have accomplished. “The strength of our city is not in city hall, it’s in the people who come up with new events and take risks,” he remarked, noting that he simply noticed the “limitless potential” around him and empowered others to greater achievements. He stated he set the goal of becoming a premier city of the Gulf South, which gave residents the motivation to jump aboard and collaborate with that vision. As for himself, Barker said, “I am the luckiest person for getting to live here. I think I have been benefitting from this city as much — probably more so — than it has benefitted from me.”

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