County Supervisors Need to go Back To School

***This is an opinion piece***

As a community, we should be outraged at the two county supervisors who voted to not fund ‘The Leader in Me’ program.  Supervisors Arnold and Banks both voted the issue down.  While the three other supervisors voted to support the funding there is an unwritten rule in the statehouse that bills like the one needed to fund ‘The Leader in Me’ do not become law if there is not universal support.

These elected officials knew that.

The county supervisors control funding for the tax dollars collected from the county.  They employ a county manager who does most of the management and footwork for the county.  All five of the county supervisors are up for reelection this year.

‘The Leader in Me’ program has been one of the most effective educational programs ever launched in our area.  It instills a sense of self-worth, good habits and life outlooks that greatly increase a students chances for success in our modern world.  We have knocked it out of the park with our implementation and effective management of this program.  It is something that is having a positive impact on the fundamentals of our community.

It is also, now, symbolic of the issue our community faces.  We have new ways and new successes that keep bumping into the old ways and old failures.

William Banks

John Arnold

The leaders of our school system have moved our educational system forward with monumental steps.  We are making tremendous strides against a state-managed machine that doesn’t want us to succeed.  We managed to convince a community that is historically tight with its wallet to fund new facilities.  Just like our parents funded for us.  We are truly worth it.  We have leadership in the city that is bringing in jobs, commerce, and growth like our city has never seen.  It is one of the greatest times in the history of our city to be invested and involved.

And then we have the tired men of the county.  They do the minimal and mundane week after week.  It takes a mountain of effort to get them to do anything.  The jail comes to mind.  We are on the second generation of taxpayers who are hearing about the need for a new jail.  They say they are moving forward but folks, don’t believe it until you see it.  And this group of slow-moving fill in the blanks in the county think it is not their responsibility to contribute to the positive direction of our school system.  If you’ve ever tried to convince the gentlemen of the county to pass a program that will benefit the citizens you will hear the phrase ‘I am only one vote’.  It is their go-to line of political evasion.  It removes them from the responsibility of convincing their fellow supervisors to support a program that is good for the community.  A leader can bring those who may not wholeheartedly agree into the fold.  A leader can do a lot.  The gentlemen of the county would do well to go back to school and get involved in the ‘Leader in Me’ program.

We can call their offices and bombard them with the knowledge that they have messed up.  John Arnold’s office number is (601) 634-8073.  William Banks office number is  (601) 634-8073.  You can click their names to get more information on them. In these phone calls, please urge them to reconsider and do another vote.

All five county supervisors are up for reelection and they all need to go if they don’t rethink this one.

Our community will continue to improve and move forward regardless of these men.  Our community will improve and move forward at a much more rapid pace if we get new people in office in the county.

Enough is enough.

The views expressed in this editorial are the beliefs of the author.  They do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of Vicksburg Daily News, the amazing team of extraordinary individuals who put up with the author or those who desire to be more like the author.