A wise man once told me, “don’t bother to complain unless you are willing to try and do something about it.”  That wise man was my father, and he repeated that wisdom every time I whined, “it’s just not fair.” Well now we all have a chance to do something about what is “unfair” – the Natchez-Adams County School Board overreaching its powers and trying to usurp the will of the electorate.

If you read Friday’s paper, you probably read that the court has extended our time to get objections in to oppose the School Board request for borrowing $9 million dollars and signing a lease agreement for $25 million.   Because of the bad weather last week, the hearings for both proposals were postponed until next Monday, January 29th starting at 9 a.m. at the courthouse.

So I am asking each of you, if you have not done so already, to do your part in making sure that our democratic rights are not forfeited.   Please write your objections and get them to the Chancery Clerk’s office at the courthouse and filed before 5 p.m. this Friday, January 26th.  The following is an example of what you might write.  Note that you will need to write two objections, since these are two different court cases.  It should be okay for spouses to both sign one objection.

Example: (feel free to copy or change to your liking, but do use the case numbers.)  To Chancery Court of Adams County, in regard to court case #2017-726, I (we) do hereby submit my (our) strong objection to the NASD request for validation to obligate Adams County to a $25,000,000 lease agreement for a new school because such approval was voted down in the May 2017 special election.  Signed:_______________.

The second objection could read the same but with court case #2017-727 and “the validation to obligate Adams County to borrowing $9,000,000” inserted where appropriate.

I read a quote once that said, “government is at its worst when apathy and cynicism prevail.”  Let’s remember that many of our forefathers were willing to give up their lives to secure and defend our democracy.  Considering their sacrifices, a little time spent writing an objection and taking it to the courthouse, is a small thing.  If possible, do try to attend the hearings as well.   Once you’ve done your part, you can feel perfectly free to complain!

 

Marcia McCullough

Natchez resident