Bright Spots:
The City received an MDOT infrastructure grant for the replacement of the Luxipaliala Waterworks bridge in the amount of about $4million.
The City is trying to collaborate with EMCC to tear down dilapidated properties as part of a training program thereby reducing the number of homes waiting to be demolished at a faster rate.
Great improvement with National Night Out (NNO). This year, NNO in Columbus moved in the right direction by some neighborhood associations inviting the police to attend community-building and support the philosophy that by knowing your neighbors you can build a safer neighborhood and community. In the past, the City blank-check funded an individual that asked for money (around $2,500) for “her National Night Out events” where she spent taxpayer money to make the evening “extra special” by serving the mayor and council catfish, spaghetti, and garlic bread, and supposedly giving school supplies to children. The individual provided no accounting to the City and included no talk of safety and crime prevention. One neighborhood that presented its funding request to the council pledged a full accounting. We’re not sure how or why the new fund recipients were chosen (as they did not present requests to the council) or why the original requestor was not a recipient but it’s an improvement.
The City spent $27,300 in June for ClearGov software in the hopes of bringing transparency to the City Budget process. The ClearGov software should also streamline and reduce errors in the budget process. (Hopefully, it will be available to citizens soon, since many cities are wrapping up their budget and the approval deadline is fast approaching.) The City Council has historically not received, or asked for, proper accounting reports so this move to transparency may be most beneficial for constituents to hold the City government accountable.
It appears that this year’s Mississippi Municipal League (MML) went better than last summer! Last year, we reported that city officials turned in MML excessive expenses (and for meals that were included in the conference fees.) Expense reimbursement protocols failed to prevent waste, despite MML offering courses on travel expense rules while some played hooky. This year, some councilmen recorded a video while they were at the conference evidencing they attended at least one session. Columbus Matters requested the expense reports for the MML expense reports and was told no elected officials (to date) have turned in expenses for reimbursement. Well done Columbus elected officials!
The Mayor said the City is working to put the minutes to the City’s boards and commissions online. This would be a great step toward transparency and accountability. Columbus Matters’ review of board, commission, or authority’s minutes demonstrated that though some applicants for sought after seats get appointment, those applicants put forth little effort or concern, even skipping meetings. For all the conscientious servants of the City your efforts will be visible and appreciated.
The City hired Waggoner Engineering to help with blight assessment. Some City Councilmembers may have realized firing Waggoner—a firm that secured $6 million of additional funding for the City – was a short-sighted, illogical, hot-headed mistake. Those Councilmembers said they fired Waggoner because nothing was being done. Guess what, since they fired Waggoner, nothing’s been done. Now the City needs to get Waggoner back involved with securing funds, getting matching grants, and accomplishing goals. It may have been an awkward moment for the Councilman from Ward 3 as he asked why the council would hire a firm that they fired because of lack of performance…is that because he just “went along” with the Regime Remainders on that vote? The councilman from Ward 5 said that “lack of performance” was not the reason he voted to fire Waggoner, the Council changed its mind, putting the City first.
Columbus/Lowndes’ election integrity may be improving. The legitimacy of absentee voting due to such things as voting without identification or voting by non-residents tarnishes election integrity. It appears fewer folks are voting absentee than in the surrounding counties. Voting absentee for legitimate and justified reasons is encouraged but voting absentee in exchange for payment or because you live somewhere else is fraud. We’re tracking it!
