Office of the Mayor

Renaud James “Jimmy” Rafferty was born and raised in Pass Christian. He graduated with a Bachelors Degree in History from LSU and a Masters of Business Administration Degree from Loyola University in New Orleans. After college, Jimmy moved to New York and then Hong Kong where he helped companies open up and grow businesses across the globe. His career of progressive responsibility in global Human Resources included roughly ten years in the Financial Services industry, ten years in the Pharmaceutical industry and ten years in the Aerospace & Defense/Hi-tech industries.

While working internationally, Jimmy learned many skills that he will utilize as Mayor to make Pass Christian an even more desirable place to live, work and vacation on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Jimmy comes from a family of three generations of public service in Pass Christian. His grandfather was the town doctor and Mayor, his father was the Superintendent of Utilities, one of his brothers was an Alderman and the other brother was a City Judge.

Jimmy believes that it is important to give back to the community. He volunteered at a Catholic Charity called Christians Are Networking where he helped hundreds of unemployed people pursue their next job opportunity. He volunteers at a number of local charities (Knights of Columbus, Rotary and Gone Fishing Ministries) and is an active member of Holy Family Catholic Church. Jimmy is also a benefactor of Stand Up to Cancer, having lost his loving wife Beverly to cancer after 31 years of marriage. Jimmy has two daughters, Charlotte and Bebe.

Jimmy will utilize his business experience to leverage off of the progress already made in Pass Christian and will support measured growth and development. In addition, Jimmy will use his Human Resource skills to enhance inclusion and bi-partisanship, and maintain the quality of life without increasing the tax burden on the citizens of Pass Christian.