12 Jun 2014 BOS Meeting @ 9a

For everyone who doesn't know, the BOS Meetings have been changed back to 9a for the Summer.  So, the report I am posting here was not delivered because I missed this information.  This is just plain nuts.  We've being seeing more and more Tunicans at the evening meetings so why was this changed?  For the convenience of the Supervisors?

12 Jun 2014: Board of Supervisors’ Meeting @ 5p

Thank you for the appointment this evening.

The Transparency Committee would like to voice our concern over the $233,000 that was recently asked for by the Recreation Department for the purpose of funding their Summer Jobs Program.  Let’s call this what it is, a quarter of a million dollars.

We understood Tunica County’s financial position at the moment is requiring the funding for mostly “essential services.”  It is all well and good to have young people come to a Board meeting and tell us what their Summer Employment has meant to them over the years.  Many in the audience applauded their presentation.  I did not.  Why?  Because we were not telling these young people the truth.

The truth is: Our General Fund cannot afford this program this year.  What is wrong with telling these students the truth and asking them to volunteer their time in the Summer Jobs Program?

Okay, so you don’t like this idea.  How about this: The Board of Education has more then a few million dollars put away.  How about they pay for it this year?  Have you asked for their help?  And while we’re on the subject of the Board of Education, why not move the mentoring program to the school system so our Recreation Department can get back to developing “recreational” programs for all of our citizens…especially our Senior Citizens.

There are other possibilities to fund the Summer Jobs Program too.  It is my understanding there is a county in MS who applied for and received a grant to pay for their program.  I haven’t spent the time to investigate this possibility nor do I intend to do so.  But somebody needs to look into this possibility.  It needs to be the policy of this Board to make sure a Department head has exhausted every possibility for funding before they request undesignated funding from the County.