Billy Knight Sr.
Mayor, City of Moss Point
A native of Hattiesburg, MS, Mayor Knight taught high school mathematics in the Biloxi and Pascagoula school districts and later taught college mathematics at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He was a head high school basketball coach and assistant football coach at Nichols and Carver High Schools in Biloxi and Pascagoula, respectively.
Mayor Knight owned a men’s clothing store, a tuxedo rental business, a photography studio, and a computer and print shop as a businessperson. As Executive Director of Jackson County Civic Action Committee, Inc., a human services organization that he oversaw for 13 years and received funding from the local, county, state, and federal governments, Mayor Knight developed his expertise in the field of public service. Jackson County Civic Action saw tremendous growth under his leadership.
The Office of Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services named Mayor Knight the best executive director in Mississippi in 1991. For 14 years, Mayor Knight was Executive Director of the Singing River Education Association’s Head Start Program in Lucedale, MS. He was producer and host of a community affairs program, “Ebony Experience,” later changed to “Coastal Views,” which aired on WLOX-TV 13 in Biloxi for 20 years, making it the longest-running program to date on WLOX-TV 13.
Mayor Knight was selected to be an ambassador to Panama to promote early childhood education in March 2004, representing the National Head Start Association and the state of Mississippi’s early childhood development programs.
The Franklin Covey Leadership Center has certified Mayor Knight as a Certified Leadership Consultant. He has conducted leadership and management workshops throughout Mississippi, the Southeast Region, and Washington, D.C.
Hall of Fame
Mayor Knight was inducted into the Mississippi Valley State University Football Hall of Fame on October 11, 1980. He was inducted into the Southwest Athletic Conference (SWAC) Football Hall of Fame on May 23, 1997, in New Orleans, LA. He was inducted into the Mississippi Valley State National Alumni Association Hall of Fame on the Valley State campus on May 7, 2004.
Among his many positions of leadership over the years, Mayor Knight was President of the Gulf Coast Health Care Foundation, which raises funds for hospice care and indigent patients; Vice President and President of the Moss Point School District Board of Trustees; President of St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church Pastoral Council; Project Manager for the new construction of the Rev. Charles E. McMahon Family Life Center and St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, both in Pascagoula, MS; and Former President of MVSU Jackson County Alumni Chapter for over 25 years. Mayor Knight first ran for mayor of Moss Point in May 1997, again in May 2017, and ultimately won in 2021.
Mayor Knight retired in 2013 but has never really stopped working, mainly when there was an opportunity to serve his community or church. Mayor Knight is married to Lois Knight, principal of South and Lake Elementary Schools in Pascagoula, MS. They have one son, Mayor Knight, Jr.; two granddaughters, Precious and De’ja; and two great-granddaughters, Kayla and Kiersten.
As Mayor of the City of Moss Point, I aim to follow my long-time personal motto, “Leave it better than you found it.”
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