Concerned with mounting city debt
I was not surprised to see the Mayor and city council discussing some large paving projects. The election is around the corner next year and they need to get something accomplished since they really have not done anything else worthy of praise. Our roads and ditches are horrible with trash everywhere. One of the big problems I have with this is the fact we finance a road for 15-20 years that will last 8-10 years. That is like buying a car with 200,000 miles on it and financing it for 8 years. You might better get you a good pair of Nikes because you are going to be doing a lot of walking while making payments.
The Robert Smith administration, with the help of a few close friends, has run our debt up from $8.2 million to $36 million in just 10 years. So what is another $6.5 million? This is not sustainable. Robert Smith will just drive us off the fiscal cliff, except right before we go off the edge, he will just open the door, step out and laugh as we tumble into the abyss. He will take his big fat retirement and his 30-plus pieces of property and ride off in his Corvette he titled in the county, leaving the next administration drowning in debt. Are you prepared to have $42 million of debt that you the citizens will have to pay back? Keep in mind that we will borrow $6.5 million to pave with, but the bond man will get around $300,000. J5 and Neel Schaffer will presumably get their 4 percent cut. Does this seem frugal to you? It might be time for you to call your councilman and tell them to vote no.
I watched the council meeting and Joseph Mickens appeared to be the only adult in the room by voting against pursuing the bond.
Pierre Beard brought up an item that I have thought was good. He wants the public works department to work five days a week instead of four. I think that is a wonderful idea. Way to go Mr. Beard.
I thank Yue Stella Yu for the informative article and The Dispatch for researching and publishing it. I don’t always agree with the paper, but they are the most important media keeping us informed on local items. We are dealing with a city that has the transparency of the Tombigbee River flowing through the amphitheater at midnight. I’ll say it again, it is time for Mayor Smith to go!
Kerry Blalock
Columbus
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
