It seems to be an issue that isn’t an issue but is, if you know what I mean. The required voting majority (that would be four) of the Starkville Board of Aldermen have decided the new city hall isn’t a space that should be used by anyone that isn’t in city government.
Yep, really! Including the plaza outside.
To that end, the resolution states “The City may… conduct meetings involving third parties in City Hall but those meetings shall be organized by the City, participated in by the City, and for the specific furtherance of City business.”
Damn, and I was thinking of having my next birthday bash there.
Government is already compromised when it comes to public perception. It doesn’t help when we “get above our raising,” as the Southern expression goes, and basically tell the people who paid for the building they can’t under ANY circumstances use the building.
The idea was introduced by the now infamous and ever unpredictable Alderman Lisa Wynn. It was enthusiastically embraced and thought to be precisely the right thing to do by Aldermen Perkins, Vaughn and Maynard. All but one of these aldermen who believe “the people” shouldn’t have access to the building are the same ones who campaigned against having the building in the first place. I guess they have now decided it is much too good for “the people” to use.
Why might you ask? Well, let’s look at the resolution for the answer. Section 3 states that “City Hall contains sensitive information and materials relating to the operation of the City Clerk’s office, the Municipal Court, the Mayor’s Office, and other city departments.”
I am not at all sure there can possibly be any sensitive documents related to operations that would not be subject to the Open Records Act, but I am pretty sure that all those offices have locks on them.
In accordance with the Open Records Act, with few exceptions, anything a government does is available for scrutiny. That act compels the release of any documents that are not subject to statutory exceptions. Some documents need to be safeguarded such as personnel records and to that end should be locked away and that includes locked away from any city employees who don’t have a need to know.
The other paragraph giving a quasi reason for the discrimination states that “the use or renting of the interior meeting spaces … to third parties exposes the city to potential property damage and security breaches, and undercuts the city’s ability to safeguard its documents and materials.”
The rest of it is just gobbledygook, justification and filler for the resolution. None of it causes insurmountable problems. Which is why the mayor recently vetoed the board action. Bravo!
The mayor has suggested that the board provide rules and guidelines and some rental fees for the spaces that third parties want to use. Sounds like a reasonable compromise to me.
Alderman Wynn broadcast to the public recently that there are no security cameras at the new city hall. There weren’t any at the old city hall either, so whatever property damage and security breaches might just have easily occurred at the old building.
If the city were so worried about security I wonder why they didn’t install security cameras when it was being built?
So let’s put in security cameras and allow “the people” to fully utilize their building. The board can just forgo one trip to the Coast and Mary Mahoney’s, and it would be paid for.
It gets to be a fun exercise in what that means for those of us who take exception to the exclusionary rule. I am not sure who drafted the resolution, but the devil is in the details. For example, how many does it take to make a third-party gathering? Would the late Dorothy Bishop have constituted a third-party gathering?
Does lunch with a couple of friends on the bench outside on the plaza constitute a third-party gathering? If you don’t want people gathering there then why put benches out for them to sit on?
I just can’t see anyone filling out an application to sit on a bench for lunch 10 days ahead of time but maybe that’s just me. For heaven’s sake if you decide to get permission don’t plan on using anything like the bathrooms in the lobby. Depending on who you are with this board that might be an arresting offense.
Lynn Spruill, a former commercial airline pilot, elected official and city administrator owns and manages Spruill Property Management in Starkville. Her email address is [email protected].
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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