Natchez needs to get off welfare
Published Friday, May 16, 2008
The City of Natchez is addicted to municipal welfare. No matter how good the “fix” makes us feel, we need to examine why the addiction exists.
Why, we should ask ourselves, do we have a basic need for something that has to be filled with the help of others?
Natchez just gained approval for $1.3 million in state bond money to pave city streets. On one hand, that’s great news. A few of the horrible streets will be soon be fixed again.
Once the resurfacing is done, our jarred teeth and our bumped behinds certainly will be appreciative of the work.
Looking at the other hand, however, we feel a bit sad, dirty even. We can understand hauling in state money for some special project or for something that makes the entire state better in the process. But should taxpayers in Biloxi and Tupelo be paying for Natchez streets?
Is the only way we can manage to get our city’s main arteries resurfaced through a state handout?
What’s happened to get us to the point in which we must depend on municipal welfare to handle this most basic city service?
We need a city government that can quickly get lean and mean and get back to the basics.
Natchez’s roads should have never been allowed to get in such awful shape in the first place. Citizens deserve more from their government.
Let’s enjoy the “free” asphalt from our friends and neighbors around the state. Then quickly get down to the business of developing a real plan for paving our way from here on out.