We Have Plenty of Passion, But Precious Little Progress
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DAVE’S WORLD
By David Howell
I got to counting the years Monday night, and the tally is now over a quarter-century.
Yes, I am getting older, and my years working in a newspaper office actually stretch back to my high school days at The Panolian.
But it’s been 28 years on my own. Twenty-eight years covering city, county, school and even a few hospital board meetings.
I would put a conservative estimate at 1,500 meetings. Some short, some long, some crazy and many now just a distant blur.
But I don’t remember anything quite like the marathon of city meetings we’ve experienced over the past few months.
There is plenty of work to be done, don’t get me wrong, and these meetings are important. But they are accomplishing precious little, and October has turned into the ultimate meeting marathon. Let’s start with Oct. 6, a meeting that continued well past my bedtime. The story in last week’s Herald about that meeting spanned multiple pages. I’m sure some folks read every word, but my feelings will not be hurt to learn that others quickly turned the page, or I should say pages. Time is precious in all our lives, and reading a book about a meeting that accomplished little probably isn’t high on anyone’s list.
We had a repeat performance Monday night, Oct. 19, and at about the 90-minute mark, my frustration was apparently shared by Water Valley Police Chief Jason Mangrum, who finally stood up and pleaded for action.
I tried to make this week’s story a little shorter. Hopefully that is okay.
And I haven’t even mentioned the raises.
The budget adopted by the aldermen in September included $2-per-hour raises for city employees, but the money to pay for them remains in question. Mayor Tommy Reynolds explained Monday night that the raises would increase the city’s monthly payroll from $173,357 to $191,589, an additional $18,232 a month, or nearly $219,000 a year.
During the discussion on raises, aldermen questioned whether they had been given a complete picture of the revenue sources supporting the budget. It included more than $500,000 in anticipated payments from the Utilities Commission, even though commission officials had been saying for months that those payments could not continue.
Alderman Grant Thompson said board members had not received the detailed budget worksheet. Alderman Demetrius Ingram expressed concern that employees had been led to expect raises before the board had a clear understanding of the city’s finances.
And on the Utilities Commission side, there has been a tremendous amount of hard work invested, and some real strides have been made. For one thing, it sure is nice not to have the power blinking off on a regular basis.
But there is still a mountain of work ahead. We have aging equipment in the electrical substation, antiquated copper lines that need replacing and a second substation that will require millions of dollars in investment. That’s not to mention the expense of maintaining the system and preparing for the next big storm. As soon as the lights quit flickering, we can all easily forget about the huge upgrades needed.
These are real problems, and they aren’t going away. Neither is the city’s need to pay its police officers, firefighters and other employees who provide essential services every day.
There is certainly no shortage of passion on either side of this debate. I’ve seen plenty of it over the past few months, sometimes enough to power a small city.
If we could just harness all that energy and direct it toward a common goal, the sky would be the limit.
