It’s campaign season for a few elected officials and a group of regular citizens, but no one loses their job in this election.

In fact, if you ask the folks campaigning, a “yes” vote could even mean a few more jobs for everyone down the road.

A recreation committee — composed of local leaders and citizens from the city and county — has long-term and short-term dreams for the future of sports in Adams County, but first, they want your input.

On the Nov. 3 ballot for Adams County sheriff is a non-binding referendum about recreation.

Voters will have the chance to say “yes” or “no” to a countywide recreation program in the ballot opinion poll.

But a majority “yes” or majority “no” vote does not mean recreation will or won’t happen. That decision will ultimately be up to the board of supervisors, board of aldermen and school board.

For the past year, the recreation committee has been drafting plans and crunching the numbers to create a proposed recreation complex.

Adams County Supervisor Mike Lazarus said current plans call for revamping Duncan Park and developing the vacant property near Natchez High School, known as the “bean field.”

“This is for the kids and this community,” Lazarus said. “But it’s also a great chance to bring new revenue to this community. Recreation is a big business, and right now, Natchez is missing the boat.”

If the recreation complex moves ahead as planned, one baseball field from Duncan Park will be removed to make way for eight new tennis courts and a new tennis pro shop will be added.

“(Improvements at the courts) would allow us to be able to host tournaments, which could be a big draw for the community,” Lazarus said.

Across town at the bean field, the recreation committee hopes to build five baseball fields, three softball fields, at least two soccer fields.

They also want to upgrade nearby Chester Willis Field.

When voters cast their ballots, the referendum will list a project as costing no more than $5.4 million.

But recreation committee member Bubba Kaiser said he believes the project could cost much less.

The committee does not have professional engineer and architect estimates, because those cost money, and the committee wanted to gauge community interest before asking local boards to spend taxpayer money.

But free estimates Kaiser has obtained place the project acosting between 20 to 25 percent less than the $5.4 million figure.

The $5.4 million figure came from early estimates obtained before the economic downturn. Now that the economy is slumping, contractors are eager to work and prices are down, Kaiser said.

“Now’s a good time to have this kind of work done,” Kaiser said.

And Lazarus believes it’s feasible to begin work soon enough to take advantage of low prices.

Kaiser said if voters chose to move forward with recreation development on Nov. 3 then the committee will seek funding to move forward with architectural drawings and professional estimates.

And while discussion of joint funding between the three public boards has been raised, committee attorney Walter Brown said funding for the project should come from the county in the form of a bond.

Brown said the while the county could issue a revenue bond, to be funded by a sales tax increase, that process is time consuming.

“It would require legislative approval and need voter approval,” Brown said. “It’s a very lengthy process.”

Brown said by the time the legislature and voters approve a sales tax increase it would likely be 2011 before a bond could be issued.

But another less time-consuming plan to fund the project has caught Lazarus’ attention.

“We’re retiring debt in Adams County,” Lazarus said. “And that’s money we could use for a general obligation bond.”

Should the supervisors vote to fund the project with the issuance of a general obligation bond, money they’re already collecting in millage could be used to finance the bond payments, Brown said.

That would only require the county board to give notice of their intent to issue a bond, hold a public hearing on the matter, and then issue the bond.

Adams County Administrator Cathy Walker said in 2009 the county paid off $2.9 million in debt and expects to free up another $1.8 million in 2010.

“Right now we are lowering our debt without taking on any new debt,” Walker said.

The new, and soon-to-be retired debt, was a result of several small loans and bonds the county had been paying on for various projects, Walker said.

Lazarus said he believes the county should continue to use the money it’s already collecting, that will no longer be needed for debts, to fund the recreation complex.

“I think it’s doable,” he said.

And for some involved in the recreation plan, the issue is much larger than baseball fields and bond payments.

Recreation committee member and former Natchez Mayor Tony Byrne said local leaders should be looking at the complex as a long-term investment in the betterment of Natchez and its children.

“Look at Duncan Park, they had the foresight then to develop something we’re still using today,” Byrne said. “We owe this to our children and ourselves. We have a chance to leave that same legacy.”

The Natchez-Adams Chamber of Commerce President Debbie Hudson said the chamber will host a public forum at 6 p.m. Oct. 16 at the Natchez Convention Center. The public will have an opportunity to meet with the recreation committee to have all of its questions answered.

“We want everyone there,” she said.

“If you like the plan or you just have questions or concerns, we want to see you there.”