What on earth was I thinking when I decided not to attend the Ferriday Board of Aldermen meeting last night when I knew they would be discussing paying the legal fees of a mayor who last served in 1988?

How about:

Two letters from the Attorney General’s Office stated that the Town of Ferriday did not have to pay this bill.

The town does not have an itemized bill indicating services rendered or the fees for those services, which the Attorney General’s Office stated they should have if they decided they wanted to pay the bill.

Only big government (Washington, who prints the money) does not realize that you should not spend money you do not have or pay bills you do not owe before you take care of your required responsibilities.

Everyone knows that every penny the government, (federal, state and local) has obtained is from us, the people.

The town does not have money to waste.

Ferriday cannot do anything without first obtaining a grant because we do not have the money. Is it thousands or millions of dollars in grants Ferriday has received to obtain decent water? I think we are still waiting.

Residents are always saying there is nothing for our children to do and we need recreation.

Visitors and locals alike have trouble locating streets because of the absence of street signs.

Ferriday has potholes in some of its streets. Ferriday has many needs.

More than 20 years have passed since this man served as mayor and no group of aldermen has ever voted to pay this un-itemized bill. There is no way the current board of aldermen is going to vote to pay fees of $129,000.

What am I thinking now? How about:

Big mistake! Elected officials can and do act unwisely or even illogically or unreasonably.

Call Somer Lance, district A, and thank her for voting to use our money wisely. If you live in district B (Elijah Banks), C (Gail Pryor), D (Johnny Brown) or E (Gloria Lloyd) and are displeased or perhaps upset about the unwise use of our money, you should call and let them know too.

If you or someone you know in these districts will act responsibly and is electable, consider running for alderman or encouraging them to run in the next election.

We should not wait until there is no money in the town coffers to pay these aldermen for them to understand that they acted irresponsibly, if not foolishly, with our money.

People know they cannot behave in this way with their personal accounts or their business accounts and survive.

Even Washington is getting the message that people are angry about irresponsible spending.

Grant money is going to greatly decrease. Grants will only be given to those in desperate need and who are truly deserving.

Surely, no grants will be awarded to anyone who used the money they had unwisely.

Can our aldermen generate the money to take care of Ferriday’s needs without raising taxes?

Oh my. What on earth is Ferriday going to do?

Wilton W. Nolan

Ferriday resident