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NATCHEZ — Earnest Tony Fields announced his candidacy for Mayor of Natchez.

“As a lifelong resident and advocate for the City of Natchez, I have served the City of Natchez for over 19 years in the Natchez Public School District as an educator and successful administrator,” Fields said in making the announcement. “I’ve committed myself to the wellbeing of Natchez and her future. As an alderman of Ward 4 for eight years, I have a proven track record of progression and productivity with several successful completed citywide initiatives and projects. I have a platform and plan to address every area of need in our city. We’ll do so through what I like to call LEAP — Leadership, Experience, Accountability and Professionalism.”

Below is a breakdown of Field’s LEAP initiative:

Leadership:

*Innovative approaches to fighting crime through agency partnerships, data analysis and community engagement

*Citizen focused community development and workforce training

* Downtown and uptown strategic master plan

Promote relationship building within the city, county as well as the state level, to enhance accountability measures.

Experience:

*Proven best practices and successful economic growth

*Adequate training and technological advancements and upgrades

*Building and maintaining partnerships with key stakeholders within the city to promote safety and unity

Accountability:

*Implement policies that foster transparency through independent auditing, cost savings and right sizing through priority based budgeting

*Enhance processes and procedures within the Mayor’s office to improve the quality of service citywide

Professionalism:

*Make customer and constituent services a priority with the mayor’s office

Implement effective communications avenues for constituent feedback

*Prioritize professionalism within the mayor’s office by training and recruiting subject matter experts and top tier professionals

*Beyond the LEAP initiative, Fields also outlined other top priorities of his campaign.

“I will work alongside the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Adams County Sheriff’s Office and with Natchez Police Department to make sure that programs like Project EJECT and Project NOLA that place cameras in crime areas, are just the beginning of eradicating the crime in our city,” Fields said. “We will work tirelessly to get illegal guns off the streets of Natchez through initiatives that will not penalize individuals who turn them in. We will use our partnerships with county and state agencies to truly return to the safe community that Natchez is.”

Fields said he also envisions Natchez as an entertainment destination.