Marshall is good choice for the job

Our congratulations go out to former Sikeston Mayor Mike Marshall who was appointed to a federal post by President Obama this week.

Marshall will be the new alternate federal co-chair for the Delta Regional Authority. That fancy title means that Marshall will have responsibility for hundreds of programs that benefit the Delta Region, an area along the Mississippi River running roughly from St. Louis to New Orleans.

Millions upon millions of federal dollars are allocated each year to fund projects throughout the Delta Region. Marshall will travel these regions and identify primarily infrastructure projects that could benefit the region. With the money involved, it's a powerful post and a feather in our cap that someone from our community was handed this responsibility.

Marshall has an extensive background in working on infrastructure projects. He was a 13-year member of the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority and was primarily responsible for the work of the Tri-state Mississippi River Bridge Summit that hopes to secure a new bridge over the Mississippi River at Cairo.

On a more local level, as mayor, he helped establish the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority that has gone a long way toward eliminating problem properties in our community.

A career banker, Marshall was named to the new federal post on Thursday.

The appointment clearly shows the confidence that the federal government has in Marshall's ability to appropriately channel federal dollars into worthwhile projects for the Delta Region. It is no small responsibility given the funds involved.

We add our congratulations along with others involved in this appointment. It's reassuring that "one of our own" now will be a major influence on how federal tax dollars are spent. We hope the conservative common sense that is Marshall's trademark will guide his decisions on these important expenditures.