I have a file in my office that’s made up of things I find that I think are good ideas worth saving.
Some of them eventually end up inspiring columns or editorials for this newspaper or other projects.
Some of them get forgotten about as new business piles up on top of the file.
But I’ll occasionally revisit the file, especially when I’m needing some inspiration.
One of the items that I’ve saved for some time was a campaign ad for Yazoo County native Chuck Jordan during his successful bid for mayor of Greenville. Jordan had a lot of great ideas, and he also had a reputation that inspired confidence he could actually make them become reality. Unfortunately his tenure was cut short by cancer, but he accomplished a lot in a short period of time.
The ad that I saved had said that blighted properties don’t belong in a city with pride.
Yazoo City currently has the same opportunity. Our Mayor and Board of Aldermen has worked with Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann to come up with a list of 99?? properties that the state currently owns because the taxes were unpaid for years. These properties are going to be sold, most likely for a fraction of their appraised value.
These properties aren’t going to be attractive to everyone. If they were prime real estate someone would have paid the taxes.
But they represent great opportunities for some Yazooans.
Maybe it’s a small lot in an otherwise neighborhood that’s been neglected and is overgrown. I know a few Yazooans who would love to have a chance to purchase a property in their neighborhood just so they could clean it up an keep it maintained.
Maybe it’s a chance for a homeowner to expand his property by purchasing the empty lot next door. A large lawn can make city life much more attractive.
Or maybe someone will see opportunity in one of these properties. Cheap land is an open door to opportunity for the right person.
If just half of the properties listed sell, that would be a tremendous improvement to our city.
The immediately obvious benefit will be that these neglected properties would now be in the hands of people who want to improve them. Another significant benefit to Yazoo City would be that those properties would be back on the tax rolls.
Take a look at the properties listed. Even if there’s nothing you might be interested in, you’d be doing the community a great service if you helped inform someone about this sale who might take advantage of it.
