John Robert Smith served four terms as mayor of Meridian, Mississippi and formerly serves as the President and CEO of Reconnecting America, a national non-profit

transit Transit may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Transit'' (1979 film), a 1979 Israeli film * ''Transit'' (2005 film), a film produced by MTV and Staying-Alive about four people in countries in the world * ''Transit'' (2006 film), a 2006 ...

research and advocacy

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. Senior policy adviser at Smart Growth America and chairman of

Transportation for America Transportation for America (or T4A) is an American policy organization that supports progressive transportation and land use policy. The transportation program of Smart Growth America, T4A supports reforming transportation policy at the federal, ...

Career

John Robert Smith was elected Mayor of

Meridian Meridian or a meridian line (from Latin ''meridies'' via Old French ''meridiane'', meaning “midday”) may refer to Science * Meridian (astronomy), imaginary circle in a plane perpendicular to the planes of the celestial equator and horizon * ...

in 1993 and re-elected three times. In 2005, while seeking a fourth term, he narrowly defeated Lauderdale County Supervisor

Jimmie Smith James Howard Smith (born January 27, 1938) is an American jazz drummer. Early life and education Smith was born in Newark, New Jersey. He studied at the Al Germansky School for Drummers from 1951 to 1954 and the Juilliard School in 1959 and 196 ...

, a Democrat, by only 104 votes in the general election. He decided not to run for a fifth term.

Recognition

In 2002, Smith was elected as Chairman of the Board of the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Board of Directors. He had served on the board since June 1998. As mayor, Smith was known as a strong supporter of the arts. In 2005, he won a Public Leadership in the Arts Award from Americans for the Arts. In 2009 he was named Reconnecting America's President and CEO.

References

Mayors of Meridian, Mississippi Living people 1949 births {{Mississippi-mayor-stub