Editorial

To the rescue!

In the old days out West, it was always the U.S. Cavalry that rode to the rescue. But in Pine Bluff these days, it is Mayor Debe Hollingsworth who leads the charge. She did it again the other day when she provided the crucial vote to put a tax on the local ballot that would let the town finally replace its crumbling old library downtown.

As the mayor explained her position, "I'm just thankful that we have got elected officials that understand the process, and that by approving this [measure] it doesn't state an opinion as to how we feel about the library issue. They just understand it is just allowing the citizens to vote. I'm thankful I've got five [aldermen] who understand it and have allowed it to move forward. I just don't think any governing body has the right to say what goes on the ballot and what does not."

But aginners we will always have with us. To quote one of them, Glen Brown, Sr., "I don't see where we need a library in a city that is dying. We don't need to ask taxpayers for a $14 million increase for something we don't need."

Innocent Reader might suspect that books and the knowledge they pass on might be just what a dying community needs to revive and thrive once again. Besides, the law requires the vote now--for the library's board of trustees had gathered the required 100 signatures to assure it a place on the ballot come November.

Also, if the city council had balked at putting this proposal to a public vote, an expensive special election might have been necessary to grant the petitioners what they were entitled to by law. So whatever might have been saved by not having letting the public vote on this issue would have been wasted. There's a term for this kind of false economy: penny-wise but dollar-foolish.

Editorial on 08/31/2016

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