A basic requirement of government is to protect life and property. But it would seem that some elected officials in Concordia Parish have shrugged their collective shoulders when it comes to the most basic issue — drainage.

For decades, parish taxpayers have paid a drainage tax, yet leaders have sat by and done only most basic of drainage maintenance.

Residents in portions of the parish live in fear each time the rains come and don’t let up. Flooding is commonplace in some neighborhoods.

Ask a few questions and you hear lots of excuses, but little vision and leadership.

The parish police jury’s last drainage committee hasn’t met in so long that it’s effectively defunct.

Why? Committee members wouldn’t routinely show up. So rather than resolving the issue by replacing the committee members, parish leaders simple accepted it as the status quo.

The same attitude seems to have frozen any progress on resolving some of the flooding issues. The “we don’t have enough money for that” excuse grows tiring.

No one ever has enough money, but when a serious problem is facing the community, you put your heads together and start getting creative.

We urge the parish’s leaders — police jury and the municipalities — to sit down and commit to making a concerted effort to resolving the issues.

If, in the end, tax dollars are necessary, don’t be afraid to lay out the plan to the people and ask for their support.

Doing nothing, well, it’s getting us nowhere, but closer and closer to more catastrophic flooding problems in the future.