I n local government, there seems to be a new buzz word-- transparency. But only if it is convenient.
Our local leadership apparently has no confidence in their constituency; otherwise, it would be okay for residents to be aware of the decisions our community is facing.
An alderman stated at a recent board meeting that the city planned to meet one-on-one with school district personnel. Our assumption is that the two groups plan to contrive a deal on property the city wants for a park.
The irony is that the city can not maintain the parks they have now, but they want to acquire additional property. Case in point, drive by the McNair Springs park, which is just a few steps away from being condemned. Yet, so much money is coming through the Parks and Recreation Department.
The city shut down the only public swimming pool. Perhaps they are afraid of undesirables.
The splash pad at the Sportsplex is about to fizzle out because no one wants to pay $5 to stand on a concrete slab to be squirted with a little water. After the Pearl River Basin Development District funded the project, the city opted not to add the attractions that make splash pads fun, planning instead to get the Simpson County Vocational Center to design some of attractions. We hope it is not too late to resurrect the splashpad, but a whole year has gone by with it virtually unused.
Granted, the city is in financial crisis. You can tell because the leadership is looking to make more cash every way they can -- raising garbage collection costs and increasing curb and gutter costs are just two of the revenue generating plans the city has adopted, but there is still a cash crunch. If you don’t believe it, look at our roads and streets.
The good thing is that the city has over $1 million in the bank with the goal of having $1.25 million by the end of the budget year.
Of course programs like the Chamber of Commerce are in risk of losing their funding from the city--so that Magee can buy Christmas decorations like those in Collins. Economic development has been on the block with Magee’s attitude that Mendenhall should be paying more of its fair share and Magee is not getting their money’s worth. So not much is getting done to attract new development.
It is not good when the city’s decisions are called into question after the fact because voters did not know about those decisions beforehand. For example, the city brokered a mega deal for some land, but it was not discussed in detail in public.
We can think of only two reasons for the lack of transparency. Either the board members are not informed enough to have a logical discussion, or they held meetings but chose not to follow open meeting guidelines and laws.
The board chose not to follow these guidelines even after being instructed by their attorney that they should discuss decisions in open board meetings. One alderman even questioned why they couldn’t “have meetings like they used to that were closed to the public.” The attorney said that was not legal.
These committees and sub-committees of boards fall under the same guidelines as the boards themselves. They must give notice of all meetings and follow open meetings policies.
The paper was in hopes that a new board would bring a new sentiment about public information. Instead, we have learned that backroom politics are alive and well with new cronies.
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Last week the Magee Chamber of Commerce held their nominations for a new board of directors for the upcoming term. Having served in the past I was asked to participate in the process this go round.
I have to admit I was more than a little disappointed in the accusations that former Chamber board member Jasper Adcox made about the Chamber.
He got mad about some decisions that had been made about Crazy Day and resigned from the board, which is his right. It was my understanding that these centered around alcohol being available at the event. Allegations were made that certain people got financial benefit from decisions that were made. If someone feels that way they have the right and obligation to express their opinion. But once that is done it is also their obligation to support the decisions of the board.
We most certainly did not hear any hoop-la when the Chamber paid for an extravagant Christmas party for members through Chamber funds, nor was there any complaint over expensive personal awards purchased at the Chamber’s expense.
See? There are reasons to be open and transparent. People have the right to know.
