Despite what you may think, your vote is not necessary for our elected leaders to pursue a proposed recreation complex.

Nope. They don’t need your approval, at least not until they seek re-election in a couple of years.

The fact is the county could easily issue a bond to pay for a huge recreation complex — or practically any other large infrastructure project — and there’s not much you can do about it.

That’s one of the many powers we place in the hands of elected officials.

Their occasional child-like antics — from bickering to building up speed bumps in front of their house on a whim — may frustrate the heck out of us, but they hold only the power that the majority of voters gave them.

But the fact that city, county and school board leaders are, in fact, seeking your input on the Nov. 3 ballot is important.

The non-binding referendum on the ballot is either the ultimate political “cop out” or the ultimate in democratic direction depending upon which angle you take on it.

The referendum — which simply asks voters if they’d support the idea of pursuing a countywide recreation program — is an opinion poll of voters.

Having the results will give politicians the ability to say, “You see, we’re just doing what voters want us to do” — or vice versa.

It’s a bit of a cop out since elected officials are elected to make decisions based on what’s best for the community.

On the flip side, however, what a better way to truly engage in democratic (that’s with a small “d”) governing than to get direct feedback from the voters?

Obviously, that’s impractical for most day-to-day items, but perhaps recreation is a big enough topic to merit the ballot issue.

But the real question is this: If the elected officials don’t need my vote to make something happen on recreation, why should you vote for it?

You should vote for the recreation issue because it’s simply the stamp of approval to pursue moving ahead with the issue.

Voters should have plenty of opportunity to voice opinions on the specifics of a recreation plan if the ballot measure is approved.

For now, if you even think our community should consider focusing on recreation, please vote “yes” on the ballot referendum. It’s likely the only way we’ll ever seen much done on recreation in the next several years.

Many voters are concerned about the “unknowns” behind the complex.

Included among those:

4 Exactly what will the complex include?

4How much will construction cost?

4Who will pay for the maintenance?

4If a goal is to have the complex attract outside tournaments, who will be responsible for “selling it?”

As I understand it, many of those can — and should — be discussed and worked out after the vote of support on Nov. 3. Until we as a community decide that “yes” we’d like to pursue a new recreation complex, worrying over all the details is putting the cart ahead of the horse.

While some politicians are good at doing that, I think our voters are smarter than that.

Let’s take this thing one step at a time.

First, let’s vote for recreation on Nov. 3, then, if it passes, let’s get involved in the meetings and decisions that need to be made.

Many other communities have led the way and provided good examples to follow. All we have to do is look to their examples and work together.

No, the elected leaders may not need our vote, but they’ve asked for it and exercising that vote is a good way for the community to show good civic leadership.

Kevin Cooper is publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.