A few months ago I was approached by a respected group of local citizens, your friends and neighbors and asked “How can we put recreation on the front burner before our local governing boards?”

I suggested the way to do it was to present to our county Board of Supervisors a request for a countywide election or non-binding referendum which is authorized under Mississippi’s “Home Rule” statute, a law that gives ordinary citizens a right and an opportunity to express in a civil manner that a certain initiative or public policy should be addressed, in this case, the creation of a consolidated city-county-school district program which would include the construction of new infrastructure and refurbishing of our existing recreation facilities.

This subject has unfortunately been on the back-burner for many years. I recall vividly in the 1950s that our local leaders in government and in the private sector undertook aggressively the creation of recreation facilities at Duncan Park and other areas of the city and county. Natchez had the first Little League team in Mississippi, two first class public swimming pools, tennis courts went up and public playgrounds were everywhere. The optimism and confidence in Natchez soared as many of our teams won honors at the state and sometimes regional levels.

Thanks to many hardworking folks, we have continued to excel in many areas, except for doing the obvious, that is, planning for the future. Recreation facilities, like everything else, wear out, new sports come along like soccer and the inclusion, thank goodness, of girl’s softball, soccer and other sports for our daughters.

Stated simply, a non-binding referendum is the perfect way for the people of this community to express to their leaders that we wish to put priority on the subject of recreation. It is a quality of life issue and a health issue from a mental, physical and spiritual standpoint. And it’s something for everyone, young, middle age and seniors. Equally unique about a non-binding referendum is that it merely gives our leaders and our community an idea of where we think we need to go. It mandates no specific course of action other than to advise our supervisors, aldermen and trustees that, in this case, we would like those boards and our leaders to put a priority on the subject of recreation and good health for all of us.

And the good news is, it costs nothing because it is being conducted at the same time as the special election for sheriff on Tuesday, Nov. 3. You will simply find a second ballot issue as to whether or not you favor the creation of a consolidated countywide recreation initiative.

A non-binding referendum is democracy at its best, a civil matter in which the ordinary citizen who loves Natchez, is proud of Natchez and wants the future of Natchez to be even better.

So go to the polls on Nov. 3, be positive and think about the future of our community. We owe it to our kids, our grandkids and to ourselves. Vote “yes” for recreation.

Walter Brown is a Natchez attorney and lifelong resident of this community.