Published: August 23, 2008 09:19 pm            

Commissioners face a tough sell

The Whitfield County Board of Commissioners is right to take a close look at what it is doing in terms of recreation. The county program is often criticized by residents as insufficient for the needs of the community.

It would be easy to blame all those problems on a lack of funding and/or inadequate facilities.

Some would say that former recreation director Roger Crossen took the fall for the commission’s long-standing indifference to recreation, when weeks ago he was forced out of his job.

For years the county left much of the heavy lifting of the recreation programs to volunteer organizations in the local communities. The county provided logistical support, some facilities and the overall structure. Critics say the county did not do enough to help out and that many programs were declining.

However, now the pendulum now seems to have swung completely to the other side.

Commissioner Randy Waskul recently talked about having “world class” facilities costing “world class dollars.” A plan unveiled last week by the commission called for more than $70 million to be spent over a 10-year period. New parks would be built and old facilities would be upgraded.

But is a plan of that magnitude and cost really what most county taxpayers are looking for?

Some citizens expressed shock at the price tag, particularly when it became clear that the cost would mean higher taxes on a populace already affected by a weak local economy and a rising tax burden.

Commissioners need to do several things.

First, they need to find out what most county residents really want from recreation. Many would like to see nothing spent on rec programs. Others would love spending to be increased whole hog. But where does the bulk of the county’s residents come down on this issue? And where is money most needed? On facilities or programs?

Second, while the plans prepared by an Atlanta-based engineering and consulting firm may well be of value, it should be understood that consultants inevitably advise county governments to spend money, preferably lots of money. Commissioners should not be hurried into any action, including the purchase of property.

Third, county residents needs to understand fully the cost of recreation expansion. Facility costs are one thing. But how much will operation and maintenance add to the county budget on a yearly basis? The burden will be considerable and it will never go away.

Fourth, the commissioners will have to gain the confidence of county residents. Their last major improvement to the recreation program, Edwards Park on Cleveland Highway, has never become the facility promised to residents more than a decade ago. Also, residents have yet to see any results from the SPLOST they voted for last year. The county is collecting the money, but when will the payoff come for the people paying the bills?

A $70 million plan is going to be tough sell.

And rightly so. That’s a lot of money for a public project, particularly one which much of the public remains ambivalent about.

Those dollars could be used to better fund public safety and on key transportation projects.

The money could also be left in the pockets of the taxpayers who earned it.

We don’t envy the commissioners’ position. Balancing the differing wants and needs of county residents isn’t an easy task. But most residents will respond to a strong common sense argument ... if they hear one.



The Daily Citizen

        

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