We made the national news tonight

....as the most impoverished state in the United States of America.  And you know what the focus was?  Education in the Delta.  We should be so proud.  NOT!!!

Tunica County Second Chances Program

The following is a copy of the letter this Committee sent to the Tunica Times.

"This letter is being written in response to the front page article in the 4 May 2012 issue of the Tunica Times. The title of the article is “Former sheriff back on county payroll.”

Let’s start with the “second chances” idea. This program may be beneficial to our community but it cannot be a program completely supported by our local government. If implemented, this program needs to be a joint effort between private and public entities.

Second, if implemented, the “second chances” program should not include those who broke the law while serving as an elected official. For our local government to thank these people by giving them a job is disrespectful to the rest of us. And as for these former elected officials not being given “desk jobs”? Are you kidding me? One of these people heads up the Meals on Wheels Program…a desk job.

And finally, if the Board of Supervisors wants to implement a new program don’t shoot from the hip. Work out the details, put it on paper, let the public know about it and then implement it. Not just on this idea, on everything. That’s how you gain the public’s trust and get re-elected."

Since submitting this letter, I have learned that there is a document being written to put this program in place. Here's hoping former elected officials will be "officially" excluded and private companies will participate.

Expanding on the contents of the Tunica Times article, it does seem preposterous that the District 1 Supervisor would vote against employing these individuals. The District 1 and District 2 Supervisors have been in office for a very long time. So, these two individuals can be held responsible for hiring prior to 1 Jan 2011. As a matter of fact, many moons ago I personally had a conversation with the District 1 Supervisor about the employment of the individual at Meals on Wheel. I remember what was said to me when I questioned this employment. I was told by the District 1 Supervisor that he would have vote for this individual because he was also his neighbor. As a point of interest, this Meals on Wheels individual is not listed with the agency. This individual is listed in the County Administrator's Department. Why is that?

Of course, we already know that the District 2 Supervisor was absent from this meeting. Seems he is absent alot when something that is really important comes up.

And there's more on Tunica National

And I sure hope this is the last:

Message:

I really thought that you were a highly educated person and could tell the difference between the truth and BS., but you had your mind filled with liberal ideas that you don't recognize the truth when you are told the truth. The things you are trying to find on T.N. are don't exist. This is the last time you will hear from me

Reply:

This email did not receive a reply.

Comments from the Blogger:

Another attack on the messenger. Although I will not divulge the name of the source of these emails, I will say the writer is a golfer who is known to play at Tunica National. Hmmm, me thinks he/she protests too much.

More on Tunica National

More email on the Tunica National subject.

Message:

You asking what the company makes or doesn't make is none of your business or mine or anybody's. Plus you wanting the list of the members and addresses or phone numbers is way out of bounds. You have what you need and that is the greens keepers salary. That is the only person the county pays. What the county pays the greens keeper, he could make more at any country club in the United States.The greens keeper at PGA National made more than $125,000 30 years ago.

Reply:

Please stop writing to me on this subject. I am not a whipping board for your bad attitude. You are making me wonder just what we might find at Tunica National. You are wrong on so many levels it is just not worth my time to speak with you.

End of emails.

This is a good example of people stating what they believe to be true enough times that they start believing their own untrue statements. We are seeing the same thing on the national political front.

Oh, by the way PGA National is 30 or 31 years old. Now I could spend time finding out what they paid their greens manager when they opened for business but why would I do that? Would rather spend my time helping to make Tunica County a better place to live and work for everyone and not just the few. Unfortunately, this means finding out where our money is going.

Messages through my email about Tunica National

From time to time, I receive messages though my email. Most of the time they are complaints about Tunica County and what the Transparency Committee "should" be doing. We're not going to use names of senders. We will include my replies.

Message:

Just for your information, Tunica National Golf & Tennis made money
last year even with the flooding of the Mississippi River which shut
down the casinos in Tunica County. The golf course was built to give
the people staying at the casinos something more to do than just
gamble. The golf course was not built for the few people who live in
Tunica that play golf.

Reply:

Where did you get this information...about Tunica National making money? The records I've seen does not back this up.

Also, the casinos have two golf courses for their customers...Cottonwood and RiverBend Links. What we did when we opened National had the result of taking business away from the hand that feeds us...i.e. the casino industry.

Now, had Tunica County done a feasibility study and found we were lacking a Tennis facility to attract business to the county and the casinos, I would have no problem with that.

Seriously, please tell me where the profit is recorded for Tunica National.

Message:

I don't know where it is recorded and I don't have the need to know as you don't. Harrah's, Sam's Town, Hollywood & the Grand had a golf course to play on. That leaves 5 that didn't have a golf course to send their players to.

Message:

If you want to report on wasteful spending by the county government,
you need to look at the number of people who are working at the
Recreation Centers and doing nothing. White Oak, Dundee, and the one
with the pool just north of town. If you go by any of these
recreation centers any time during the day you will find people who
are doing nothing. Now these people are collecting a pay check,
probably insurance, and probably retirement pay. Then you have the
janitor Eddie at the county building that works more than 40 hours a
week.

Reply to the last 2 messages:

I did not appreciate your remark about it not being my business or any other Tunican's for that matter to know how much money we are spending on anything and that includes Tunica National.

As you well know. I have been working on this Recreation Dept stuff for the last 4 years. Where are you with the help? .

For your information, Riverbend Links accepted vouchers from any Casino. Do your homework and then maybe we could get something done. Right now, it appears you are speaking as a golfer who enjoys playing at Tunica National and you don't care how much it costs the County.

Let's just start with this: What greens keeper makes $90k per year? Maybe Augusta?

Board of Supervisors’ Meeting 13 Apr 2012

Did you forget something? Last Fri night at 5p was the second Board of Supervisors’ Meeting for the month of May. The next meeting is on Mon, 30 Apr 2012 at 5p. Mark your calendars. These meetings are important.

The Transparency Committee presented the results of some of the projects we have been working on. Some projects contained new discoveries and others we have had long discussions about with the Board of Supervisors and we were asking for conclusions.

The reports by the Transparency Committee were placed in alphabetical order for delivery. A copy of our reporting and documentation is always left with the Board of Supervisors. This committee does not and has not asked for an appointment without being prepared. The subjects presented were: Claims for Mar 2012; the Election Commission; R. C. Irwin Library; the Recreation Department and Tunica National.

To save time and to not “bombard” the reader with too much information, let’s just skip to Tunica National. In Jan 2012, this Committee sent a Freedom of Information letter to the County Administrator and the Board’s Attorney. In the letter we asked for the names and addresses of each and every member of Tunica National.

The first letter received no response. So, we asked again and received a letter from the Board’s Attorney stating that Tunica County did not have the requested information. In 2003, there was an act of the MS State Legislature submitted by Rep. Henderson

“TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF TUNICA COUNTY, MISSISSIPPI, TO PROVIDE FUNDING TO TUNICA COUNTY PUBLIC PROJECTS, INC., OR TUNICA COUNTY ARENA AND EXPOSITION CENTER, INC., OR BOTH, FOR THE MANAGEMENT, PROMOTION, OPERATION AND MAINTENACE OF A PUBLIC GOLF AND TENNIS COMPLEX, ARENA AND RIVER PARK; TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF TUNICA COUNTY TO LEASE SUCH PUBLIC FACILITIES TO SUCH ENTITIES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.”

This Committee couldn’t figure out why this would be necessary. So, we asked. What we were told is that there are some things our County government could not do, like “run gift shops” and this legislation took care of that.

At this point, Mr. Dunn said we were “bombarding” the Board with too much information at 5p on a Fri night. Mr. Dunn, you are paid approximately $1000 for each meeting of the Board of Supervisors. If you are in a hurry, give the gavel to Mr. Nickson and be on your way. We were there on a Fri night. Why was it such a hardship on you?

Back to the story of Tunica National: By the time the Transparency Committee met the next day, we had learned that there are 2458 government owned golf courses in these United States. Can you imagine any golf course not having a pro shop?

We also found some interesting case studies looking at the pros and cons of government operating government owed golf courses. Oh, but we wouldn’t want to “bombard” the reader with too much information.

Letter sent to the Tunica County Board of Education

At the Transparency Committee Meeting on 10 Mar 2012 we discussed the handout from the Board of Education Meeting in Feb 2012.

Year Plan and Expected Graduation Rate

Year 1: 2011-2012: 52.7%

Year 2: 2012-2013: 57%

Year 3: 2013-2014: 65%

Year 4: 2014-2015: 76%

Year 5: 2015-2016: 85%

What we would like to know is the following:

1. Of the students who graduated in the 2010-2011 school year, how many entered a 2 year college and how many entered a four year college.

2. Of the students who graduated in the 2010-2011 school year, how many had to take remedial classes before starting their college curriculum.

Waiting for an answer.