As Cuba Gooding Jr. said in the movie Jerry Maguire, “Show me the money.” This is something I have been pondering for some time now with the Marion County Board of Supervisors. It seems like every person who addresses the board for road issues is told “they don’t have the money.”
Columbia Mayor Justin McKenzie in the fall asked if the county board would be willing to help with the costs of decorating the courthouse for the Christmas celebration; after he spoke the board fell silent.
A couple weeks ago library officials asked the board for a possible temporary location for the library or at least a couple of offices where they can begin to start using computers to handle the work being done by hand now. There was a little bit of mumbling about it among the board, but no one would offer a solution.
The library is a county building. Its roof was destroyed during the Dec. 16 EF-2 tornado that hit Columbia and then the worst damage was received from the several inches of rain that followed the tornado that night. The library has been closed ever since.
In September two volunteers with the Columbia Animal Control and Rescue Center appeared before the board asking about repairs to the shelter, specifically the attic fans. Both of the attic fans were no longer working, and the building maintained a strong odor of excrement and cleaners as there was nothing to circulate the air and/or pull the odors out of the building. Oct. 26 the shelter received damage from straight line winds to the roof and ceiling. Again, this facility is a county building.
Work has finally begun this week on the roof at the center. The two attic fans? Someone out of the goodness of their hearts donated two new attic fans and their installation.
Again I state the famous quote, “Show me the money.” Much to the delight of Marion County citizens, the board voted against raising the property taxes in September. Even without raising taxes the budget states the general fund is budgeted to receive $9,941,065 plus the beginning cash balance of $3,290,209 for a total of $13,231,274 for its current fiscal year that began in October. When you take into account the beginning cash balance, general fund, special revenue and debt service payments the county has $31,294,223 for the fiscal year.
Maybe we should go from the movie Jerry Maguire to the old Wendy’s commercial except instead of “Where’s the beef?” It should be “Where’s the money?”
The county has a lot going on, including the Marion County Regional Correctional Facility and some work being done on the roads, and of course, the employees need to be paid and have benefits, all of which makes total sense.
Yet the supervisors constantly tell the very people who voted for them there is no money, and that is why the roads stay in the shape they are in. There is no money, that is why the library doesn’t have a temporary location and that is why someone had to donate the necessary attic fans to the shelter.
I believe the board needs to be more transparent, especially when it comes to the money. The supervisors when they meet talk among themselves and when citizens request help, to the citizens it feels like it falls on deaf ears when the supervisors all fall silent.
Citizens have come to the meetings and have been ignored or have to wait for long periods of time before even being recognized. Because the talk is among the table there are times the citizens who are sitting in the meetings cannot hear what is being said.
The bottom line is the supervisors need to be more open with their citizens. If the board cannot do anything for the library, instead of falling silent, state why they cannot. Same with the shelter and same with the roads.
While elections have passed, the need for communication has not.
Susan Amundson is managing editor of The Columbian-Progress. Reach her at (601) 736-2611 or samundson@columbianprogress.com.
