I was somewhat surprised to read in the June 18 edition of The Natchez Democrat that there would be a bankruptcy court hearing on July 3, where the bankruptcy judge will address approval of our stalking horse bid procedure. I would have thought that little detail would have been addressed much earlier in this process. But given what has already transpired with this process, nothing should come as a surprise any more.

The article also addressed the classification of the Natchez Regional Medical Center sale as a Regional Economic Development Act by the Mississippi Development Authority. NRMC attorney Walter Brown stated he believed the MDA board would vote on the matter last week, but later learned the board was no longer meeting this week. The next board meeting is June 27, but an agenda has not been set. I assume that means Brown does not know if the matter will be voted on at that meeting or not.

Brown went on to say “The REDA would still have to be approved for everything to happen, but it’s not important timeline wise as the bankruptcy hearing is. If it wasn’t approved, you’d have to come up with some sort of alternative plan, but I’m reasonably confident it will be approved.”

In other words, they have all of their eggs in this basket, which has not been approved, and if it isn’t approved, they will have to come up with an alternative plan.

There is an old saying that you hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Apparently Brown, our NRMC Trustees and Board of Supervisors believe the best course of action is to proceed as if their REDA petition has been approved, and if it isn’t, well we will worry about that when the time comes. Wouldn’t it be more prudent to be working on an alternative plan now in case the REDA petition is not approved?

This is only one more example of the short sightedness of our leadership that has gotten us into the bind that we are currently in with NRMC.

So many local residents call me and stop me in public to thank me for giving voice to their concerns. They urge me to continue the effort of “fighting the good fight.” But have any of you called your elected supervisor to express to them what you say to me? We will not get any action from these elected officials unless or until they begin to feel their actions will have consequences for them in the next election.

The time to act is now. Call your supervisor and express your feelings on the matter. Write a Letter to the Editor or Top of the Morning to The Natchez Democrat expressing your feelings. Although I will continue to “fight the good fight,” I am clearly being ignored by our elected officials. Why? Because I am only one vote, and one vote is no threat to anyone getting re-elected.

So I am asking again now for your help. Let your voice be heard by your supervisor, in whatever form you choose. We can only hope that if they hear enough voices, they will not ignore them.

 

Chuck Fields

Adams County resident