I’ve been critical of the city’s public comment section of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen meetings in the past, specifically that the board typically does not respond to concerns presented to them at the time.
Mayor Diane Delaware made some good points in response to my criticism, most notably that the board can’t just let a meeting run wild because someone has a grievance. Citizens get three minutes to speak, and then they are usually invited to the mayor’s office if they wish to discuss the matter further.
But something that happened during Monday’s meeting renewed questions in my mind about how the public comment section is used.
Yazoo City resident Wallace Russell is concerned about the state of the gym at the building which currently houses the Yazoo City Boys and Girls Club and the Yazoo City Community Complex (formerly the Yazoo City Junior High Building on Canal Street). The roof is in such a state of disrepair that water has heavily damaged the gym.
Russell has expressed his concerns about the building to officials with the Yazoo City School District and city officials. On Monday he also proposed his ideas for a solution.
The board listened to Russell’s presentation and gave no response at all.
Russell was understandably frustrated because he had taken the time to visit City Hall to request that he be placed on the agenda, and he even offered his prepared remarks that he read during the meeting in advance. That provided an opportunity to prepare a response. He entered the meeting expecting to be on the board’s regular agenda where he could discuss the issue and receive feedback.
Russell’s proposal was that the Public Service Commission provide enough free utilities to the school district to offset the cost of repairing the roof. There could be some very good reasons why that proposal wouldn’t work, but we don’t know because there was no response.
Russell presented his ideas in a calm and organized manner. It’s not like he was some rabble-rouser wanting to take control of the meeting. He read some brief prepared remarks.
His topic of discussion was also not a trivial issue. The building in question is used for many community events, and the Boys & Girls Club plays an important role providing positive opportunities for local youth. Not having the gym has decreased participation of older children.
But even if you take the importance of the work being done inside those walls out of the equation, we’re still talking about a large building in the center of town. It would be a blow to the health of the city if it were allowed to fall into a total state of disrepair.
There’s no easy solution.
The city school district has had to make some tough choices to get its finances in line. Superintendent Darron Edwards and the school board have been willing to make those decisions. It’s not hard to understand how a building that they’re not currently using for classrooms isn’t a priority when they’ve had to make budget cuts that include staff reductions.
The city probably doesn’t have a bag of money lying around either. Replacing that roof and making the necessary repairs won’t be cheap, and you have to budget for that kind of expense – if you can, and if you think the expense is justified.
Russell was attempting to start a discussion about how to solve the problem.
Maybe his idea would work. Maybe it wouldn’t.
We’d know more about that question if the board would have chosen to respond to him instead of moving on without discussing his presentation.
