It seems that just about every week we have a story about a municipality holding public meetings to get citizens' input on how tax dollars should be spent in their respective cities or towns.
Most such meetings center around 'grants' certain towns receive to address issues in those municipalities. Grant sounds good, but it's still tax money you are sending to the grant provider. Whether it comes from Washington, D.C., Montgomery or Tallahassee it's still tax money we have sent to them. In a nutshell, it's your money they are willing to send back to you.
Jay is seeking input on how to spend $17,500 to improve economic development and Atmore is scheduled to hold a meeting at 6 p.m. on Feb. 19 at the Escambia County High School auditorium to get input from the community to help that city expand economically.
It always amazes me that certain opportunities present themselves for people to voice their opinions on how their tax dollars should be spent, but they don't take the time or effort to make those voices be known.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised since the majority of the people don't vote, which tells me they could care less how their hard-earned dollars are spent.
My bet is if I approached anyone reading this column and asked you to give me your paycheck and I'd decide how much I'll give back to you, you'd turn down that offer. So why do you blindly send money to the state, federal government or your own town hall without questioning where your money is being spent?
I remember many years ago when Escambia County, Fla., was about the change its land use development code for rural portions of the county. It a nutshell, it was zoning for the rural areas. They had multiple public meetings from Century to Brat to Walnut Hill. I went to most. The problem was the only people that showed up at most of the meetings were the people giving the information and the media.
When the land use development code was passed and people started complaining, I had no sympathy for them. They had ample opportunity to not only attend those meetings but to figure out ahead of time how they wanted to protect their property. They didn't care until it hit them square in the face then they became concerned.
I'm not talking about the circus going on in Washington between the Republicans and Democrats, I'm talking about decisions being made by your local councils and county commissions. To me, that's where the rubber meets the road in our everyday life.
Those boards are the ones that make financial decisions on your behalf like property taxes, sewer rates, water rates and possibly zoning issues.
But like the meetings I attended when Escambia County (Fla.) was discussing zoning the rural areas, most of the time I go to the meetings and it's me, the board members and one or two other people.
Something's got to be hot on the agenda to have people show up at council meetings or commission meetings. Otherwise I have to assume people don't care about how their tax dollars are being spent.
I will applaud the Jay Town Council for holding its last meeting at Jay High School to give the students a first-hand look at how the council and the town operates. I wish other cities and towns would look at doing something similar in their own communities. Granted, the Jay students have every right to attend any meeting of the council at Jay City Hall, but I like the idea that Jay took the meeting to them.
The best thing about municipal politics is there is no party affiliation. There are no Republicans or Democrats serving as mayor or as a council member. They are there to represent their respective cities and towns because they want to make a difference in their respective communities.
I also know that all of them want feedback from the people in their communities whether or not they live in the district in which they need votes.
District lines don't mean anything to me if I want to voice my opinion on a school board, county commission or town council issue.
I've probably rambled through this column but it still irritates me that people want to complain but won't show up or reach out to the people who make those decisions. Stay involved and stay interested.
