Dear Editor,
I wrote a Letter to the Editor in 2016 advising the county not to take credit for the Yazoo Convention and Visitors Bureau $45,000 contribution to the Parks and Recreation Commission. The city is just as responsible, if not more responsible, for this contribution.
The county contributes $46,080 and the city has contributed $66,581 through July, 2021, to the recreation commission. The county needs to stop making excuses regarding the recreation commission board. The county has representatives on the recreation commission board. Cobie Collins and Deuce Wright don't know what is going on with the recreation board because they don't want to know. They need to stop their whining.
It is time for the three other supervisors to put their big boy pants on. Don't let Cobie and Deuce lead you astray with the Benton sports complex. If my supervisor votes to defund Yazoo Parks and Recreation, I can guarantee he will never get my vote again. He would be voting to eliminate a sports program for all the children and adults, both county and city.
I know the Visitors Bureau promotes festivals, makes contributions to Yazoo Parks and Recreation, and makes contributions in support of the Triangle Cultural Center. But if the county votes to take the Visitors Bureau money it would normally give Yazoo Parks and Recreations and gives it to the Benton Sports Complex project, the city should immediately take steps to dissolve the Yazoo Convention and Visitors Bureau agreement with the county.
If the county wants a Benton Sports Complex, it should pursue private funding.
Wallace Russell
