For some time now, city leaders in Columbus have been a door-to-door salesman’s dream.
Now it appears Lowndes County leaders are equally accommodating.
The county, city and Columbus Light & Water are currently poised to move forward on a proposal from clinic-operator Medical Analysis to open a shared-site health clinic in the city. It is a touted as a way to provide more affordable health-care options for employees.
Certainly, we find no grounds to object to that.
What we do question is whether local officials have explored other options that would meet the same ends, perhaps with even better service or cost.
As it now stands, there is only one option on the table.
That follows a pattern we have seen with city leaders for several years.
The city seems to have never met an unsolicited offer it didn’t like, including:
— In 2012, the city tentatively approved an offer from Indiana-based Lawrence Public Transit to provide city bus service. Unable to meet the requirements of the agreement, Lawrence Transit never managed to get any buses rolling and residents openly questioned the viability of the bus service.
— In 2013, the Columbus City council, without holding a public hearing, created a new position of city project manager and filled the position with J5 Broaddus, a construction management firm whose local operations were headed by Jabari Edwards, Mayor Robert Smith’s long-time campaign manager.
— In January of 2014, the council considered a proposal from Birmingham, Alabama-based Retail Strategies to take over retail recruiting for the city, a move that led to conflict with the Golden Triangle Development LINK, which had been in charge of recruiting.
The city turned down the offer after a pair of non-quorum meetings with LINK officials that eventually led to an ethics violation ruling against the city.
— In October of 2014, the council considered amending its moratorium on new billboards after being approached by Leonard Busby, owner of a Laurel-based billboard company. Busby had approached city officials with plans to erect an electronic billboard on Highway 45 near Walmart. The council subsequently declined to amend the moratorium in the face of public criticism and inquiries from other billboard companies eager to erect new billboards should the ban be lifted.
The common theme of all of these proposals — and one we also find with the county’s approach to the medical clinic to date — is a lack of due diligence.
The first option may ultimately turn out to be the best option, but if there is only one option on the table, it is reasonable to question whether officials have acted in the best interest of their constituents.
We do not necessarily question the benefits of the county pursuing a medical clinic in its efforts to improve health coverage for its employees, nor do we question the company’s credentials.
What we do question is whether there are other vendors who might serve those needs better. Without an thorough effort to identify other providers, the citizens risk being short-changed.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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