L.B. residents question city's priorities

STEVEN A. McCALEB
103 ALVERADO DRIVE
LONG BEACH, MISSISSIPPI 39560
PHONE & FAX: (228)-868-8428
E-MAIL: mccaleb4thdist@aol.com
WEB SITE: www.mississippiwebsite.com

By CHRISTINE HARVEY
THE SUN HERALD

Monday, February 18, 2008  

PLEASE VOTE

Is creating a job for a fired police chief considered Fraud, Waste, & Abuse of
taxpayers money?

LONG BEACH - A handful of residents who attended a public hearing Tuesday questioned the priorities of a city that included no money in next year's budget for drainage projects and plans to give a part-time police chief a full-time salary.

I can understand the reason for not budgeting money for drainage.

Long Beach may buy into sewer
click here

Long Beach Ward 2 Alderman Jimmy Levens hopes his fellow aldermen will agree to help pay for a water and sewer project proposed by the Harrison County Wastewater and Solid Waste Management District. Levens and members of his family own 68 acres of undeveloped land along Red Creek Road, background, which is one of the main routes for the proposed water and sewer line.

Is this Fraud, Waste, & Abuse? 

The city held the hearing so people could ask questions about next year's $13.6 million budget. The Board of Alder- men was expected to vote on the budget Sept. 4, but a vote may be delayed because Alderman Richard Bennett raised concerns about what he said was the unnecessary purchase of five new police cars at a cost of $110,000.

Since I have, along with many other in Long Beach residents, have been waiting for the past 21 years for proper drainage.

The police department can’t wait to spend our tax money on police vehicles.

Bennett, who said he would not vote for the proposed budget, said the Police Department has more than enough vehicles now. And the money budgeted for new cars would be better spent on some of the smaller drainage projects, such as those involving Roddy Circle, Chloe Street and Kuyrkendall Place, he said.

I believe Alderman Bennett has the common sense to understand the immediate needs in Long Beach.

I wish I could say the same for the other aldermen. 

The board asked the Police Department for an inventory of its vehicles so it could discuss the purchase at the Sept. 4 meeting.

This seems like a good idea, I hope the vehicle inventory will be published.

Mike Pruitt, who lives on Plantation Drive, said the board should vote down the proposed budget in favor of one that uses some of the "lagniappe" money, like that included for new police cars, for emergencies such as drainage problems instead.

Lagniappe means: An extra or unexpected gift 

Drainage should be first priority for the taxpayers of Long Beach.

Police vehicles can be replaced as needed. 

And Jim Smith, a Marjorie Drive resident, said he does not want the city to levy a new tax to get drainage work done. He said residents already pay a tax to the Long Beach Water Management District, and if the money was handled correctly, there would be enough to solve some of the problems.

This tell me that the Long Beach Management is corrupt, and needs to be audited in order to see where the money has gone. 

Pruitt also said that having a part-time police chief on the payroll showed that the city was not acting responsibly financially.

STEVEN A. McCALEB
COMMENTARY
MY OPINION

August 29, 2001