The discussion of parks and recreation continued at the recent city council meeting with one alderman saying that lies are being told by some county leaders.
“I wasn’t going to say anything about it, but it disturbs me as far as the supervisors talking about what they have bought,” said Alderman Ron Johnson. “They told you a lie.”
With Alderman Aubry Brent Jr. scheduled to meet with the Yazoo County Board of Supervisors about additional funding with the parks and recreation program, Supervisor Cobie Collins said the city doesn’t take into account equipment and labor they often provide to the city.
But Johnson said there was some dishonesty in those statements.
“The front-end loader they said they bought…didn’t happen,” Johnson said. “They said they bought a lawn mower and all that. They didn’t buy it. They talked about putting money up for bathrooms. If you don’t know, you’ll believe it. Don’t believe the first thing you hear.”
Mayor Diane Delaware said the county should also not include the funds provided by the Yazoo Convention and Visitors Bureau within its contribution.
“The city provides a certain amount of money,” she said. “The county provides one-tenth of a mill. I don’t know, but it’s about $57,000. The CVB provides $45,000 to parks and recreation, the money of which comes from Yazoo City. Every dime of it comes from Yazoo City.”
Delaware said that although the CVB may report to the county, that doesn’t mean its funds come from the county.
“All of that money comes from the city,” Delaware said. “So, I guess what we can start doing is that we can say we give parks and recreation $114,000 plus $45,000 from the CVB.”
“Plus free electricity, plus the use of our fields, plus the use of the office,” added Alderman Dr. Jack Varner.
Delaware said it’s time to be “candid” about what assistance is provided to parks and recreation.
“While the county might give them dirt, we mow some grass,” she said. “While they may put some dirt on the baseball fields, we do other things. We clean the fences. Each of us may be providing some in-kind service. Those in-kind services have nothing to do with the legislation that says the city can provide up to four mills, and the county can provide up to…two mills of its tax dollars. Two mills with the county are greater than or may be equal to four mills from the city. But that is where our focus is.”
Delaware said the county cannot use its in-kind services in exchange for the millage they are supposed to provide to the city.
“We should all get focused on what we want to do together as a unit to provide for our parks and recreation,” she said.
Varner said the city should also have more input on the selection of the program’s new director.
“It is not our job to micromanage, but we should have some input,” Brent agreed. “The county and the city should sit down and give expectations of what we want that committee to look for in getting a director. We owe it to the citizens of Yazoo County and Yazoo City to give the best we can in terms of parks and recreation. That is what they put us here for. To come up with personal agendas, that’s not what it’s about.”
