I usually don’t feel much sympathy for politicians – they’re the ones who wanted to get elected – but this week I had the opportunity to learn about the bureaucratic nightmare that is the Deerfield subdivision in Union, and I have to say I feel incredibly sorry for the Newton County supervisors as they try to explain why they can’t fix the roads.
Deerfield, apparently, has been popping up every now and then for about 20 years, an issue that quickly stokes residents’ ire and directs it at whomever happens to be in the Beat 3 seat at the time. It’s a story any reporter has heard time and time again. A deadline missed, a document misfiled, a note not taken, and it all comes crumbling down.
In this particular case, sometime about 2001, the Beat 3 Supervisor at the time either didn’t follow the steps needed to accept a road into the public road registry or did and forgot to enter it into the minutes. Either way, the result is the same. Lakeview Drive in the Deerfield subdivision is not a county road.
To make it a county road, the current supervisor, Mr. Moulds, would have to agree to blow over half of his road budget for the year, somehow convince the other supervisors to approve of that course of action and dodge the rest of Beat 3, who’d be out for his head since their roads wouldn’t be getting fixed that year. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to do that because he’d also be required to hold a public hearing, giving those same Beat 3 residents a chance to object.
All of that over a mistake that happened several years before he was even elected.
I get it. I’ve spent a fair amount myself on patching tires, fixing dents and, in one case, welding a new bracket to my car’s undercarriage to support the driveshaft. Driving on a bad road stinks. Living on one is even worse. Life would be much more enjoyable if every county had the money to fix every road, all bridges were in phenomenal shape and utilities never failed.
Unfortunately, bureaucracy complicates everything. If you don’t believe me, walk into any government building in Mississippi and shout, “Boy, oh boy! I just love me a reverse auction.” See what happens. Have good health insurance.
Now, readers of my weekly column have probably gathered I don’t have a tremendous amount of faith in our state legislators, and I’m sure some of them think I’m a few fries short of a happy meal, too. So, it should come as a shock to all of us when I say I actually approve of the legal process to adopt a new road.
Sure, it’s overly convoluted, aggravating and requires years of law school to make sense of, but the basic principle is to make sure taxpayer money goes to help the taxpayers. Requiring a road be on the road registry puts a damper on campaign donors getting a new driveway after – and I’m sure, unrelatedly – writing a fat cheque. Or, in the case of some gubernatorial candidates, getting a private driveway courtesy of the state.
I understand if that’s not exactly cheering for the residents of Lakeview Drive, but I hope we can all agree ending government corruption is a worthy goal. Of course, it’d be nice if politicians could figure out how to end corruption and still provide for their citizens, but they are doing the best they can. After all, they’re bureaucrats and bureaucracy complicates everything.
Thomas is the managing editor of the Newton County Appeal. He can be reached at thoward@newtoncountyappeal.com
