Name: Pete Hunter
Age: 66
Address: Stovall
Previous political office: None
Political affiliation: Democrat
The Mississippi River and the massive levee that flanks it has been an integral part of Pete Hunter’s life. The 66-year-old Coahoma County native grew up on both sides of the levee and has lived within sight of the levee for most of his life.
He has a cabin, where he loves to hunt, on land leased from the levee board and he’s spent 45 years farming on both sides of the levee, including a good number of years running and working cattle on its grassy banks.
“I’ve always been interested in it. In a lot of ways, I feel that I have trained to be on the levee board,” said Hunter, who is one of five candidates vying for a spot on the Mississippi Delta . “I’ve been around it all my life. I feel like I’m made for the job.”
He said the commissioner’s post “was not really on my radar” but he decided to seek the position because “so many people came to me and said, ‘You really need to run. You’re perfect for the job.’”
Hunter, who graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in agricultural engineering, has grown cotton and grain and commercial vegetables at his Stovall Plantation farm. He’s retired from active farming, but often assists those who are renting his land.
“I absolutely love farming,” said Hunter, whose other passion is flying as he’s been a pilot for more than 50 years.
From high above, since 1973, he’s had a distinct view of the floods and high waters that sometimes hit the Delta and has acquired “a vast knowledge of how floods affect our area.”
“I’m very interested in the protection, management and maintaining the high levels of standards our board has had in managing the levee system,” Hunter said.
He said when comparing this part of the levee with other levee systems in other parts of the state and across the river, this area stands out.
“It’s very obvious this area is far superior to maintaining and upholding the standard of the levee,” Hunter said. “I’d just like to be a part of it and part of the management.
“I think I’m highly qualified to not only manage the land and employees and the system as it is, and I have also managed large budgets and been a successful farmer for 45 years.”
Hunter is currently the president of the Mississippi Association of Conservation Districts and serves on the Delta Council board of directors. He’s been a commissioner on both the Coahoma County and Mississippi Soil and Water Commissions and served on the Governor’s Task Force on Water.
“The romance of the Delta is the fact that there’s nowhere else quite like it, and I want to do everything I can to protect it,” he said.
As a member of the levee board, Hunter said he’d encourage the levee board to stay within its by-laws and “do the most important things first.”
“Sometimes it seems the board gets off-center for what they’re there for. I want to stick with the basics first,” he said.
Hunter would like to explore the idea of creating some sort of park-type area in Coahoma County where people could go to view the river. Currently, that’s not an option.
“And to me, that’s kind of sad,” Hunter said.
A member of the First United Methodist Church in Clarksdale, Hunter sings in the choir and is a Sunday school teacher. He’s a volunteer leader in the church youth program, was involved in the Young Life chapter at Clarksdale High School and Lee Academy, and also conducts devotionals at the Fairland rehabilitation center.
“That’s the way I serve God,” Hunter said. “I love kids and I share the message with them.”
He realizes the importance of the levee and that struck home in 2011.
“That year, the water was six and a half feet deep in my cabin (located on the river side of the levee). Had it not been for the levee, it would have been eight feet deep in my home in Stovall,” Hunter said.
And he believes there should be a good relationship between the levee board and the community.
“When problems arise, I want to be fair,” Hunter said. “I’ve been there. I’ve felt their pain.
“I want to represent the people of this community. I just really have a passion for this area.”
