Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin’s bitterness over the Columbus Redevelopment Authority’s success in acquiring state funds while his own pet project remains unfunded is putting at risk the most potentially transformative development in the city.

The CRA’s Burns Bottom redevelopment project stands to add significantly to the city tax base, provide new housing units for a woefully underdeveloped city and be the keystone for three of Columbus’ greatest assets: downtown, the soccer complex and the Riverwalk.

On Friday, CRA President Marthalie Porter told The Dispatch that Washington, D.C.-based Cornerstone Government Affairs has backed out of lobbying on behalf of the CRA.

It’s understandable – yet unfortunate – that a company like Cornerstone would be reticent about such a situation.

It should be a particularly bright red flag to us all when a firm with ties to Columbus – one of the firm’s partners graduated from Columbus High – says lack of community cohesion is a key reason they want to pull back.

Cornerstone cited too much conflict between the CRA and the city, Porter said. CRA and Cornerstone are renegotiating the scope and price for their contract, which was initially for full D.C. lobbying at the rate of $120,000 annually.

One needs to look no further than the mayor’s office to find the source of the “conflict.” Ever since the 2023 Mississippi legislature appropriated $3 million to the CRA for the project while declining to provide any funding for the completion of the amphitheater – which Gaskin has stated is his primary goal – the mayor has only served to impede CRA progress. Some CRA members believe the mayor’s posture has caused the resignation of at least one board member and has hampered the CRA’s ability to secure a developer and more funding.

Asking the CRA board to step aside – both directly and passive-aggressively – while the mayor pursues his self-declared top priority of completing the amphitheater divides the city into factions and impedes the significant momentum the CRA has built.

In addition to the $3 million from the state, the citizens of Columbus already have skin in the game to the tune of $3.2 million though a bond.

With past help from Cornerstone, the CRA is also set to receive an additional $2.2 million upon passage of a 2024 federal appropriations bill.

These dollar amounts are not small, but they are needed for the significant infrastructure work required to make the project attractive to private developers.

As we have said on these pages multiple times before, we believe the Burns Bottom redevelopment project – executed correctly – stands to change the fortunes of Columbus more than any other city initiative.

The voices in our local government need to be in unison in order to secure additional funding for any project.

Gaskin doesn’t seem to see that.

Instead of pledging his support to the CRA’s efforts and later directing efforts toward the amphitheater, the mayor has decided that public funding is a zero-sum game, that one and only one project will be funded. We fear the result may be no additional public funds for any project.

That’s unfortunate.

It doesn’t benefit the mayor, and more importantly, it doesn’t benefit the citizens of Columbus.

The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.