Elissa Yount: On responsibility


In a civilized society, we all expect each other to live up to our responsibilities.

It is irresponsible to pass a stopped school bus, or to hunt in the city, or to throw trash on the streets, or to have so much debris and mess in our yards that our neighbors are disgusted. This list could go on and on.

We depend on the citizens in our city to be responsible. This applies to everything from paying taxes to protecting our sewage treatment system by not putting contaminants down the drain to keeping your personal property from demolition by neglect. We all want responsible neighbors just like we all want a responsible government listening to our needs and acting on our behalf.

We, the people, are suppose to govern the city. We elect council people to carry out this government, but, in a democracy, the people ultimately govern. We expect our elected officials to carry out the will of the public in a responsible way. We expect elected officials to be responsible both in using our money and in decisions that affect the use of our money in the long run. We expect them to be responsible with planning when they handle our business.

The Henderson City Council is being irresponsible if they agree to provide money to an agency, and they do not have a good handle on the business of that agency. Before they agree to give our money to any cause or group, non-profit or department, they need assurances that this money is going to give the tax payer a dollar’s worth of value for every dollar that is spent.

I believe there is reason to question the responsibility of our city council when it comes to library funding.

The city council is being irresponsible when they give our money to the H. Leslie Perry Memorial Library without insisting that the library’s Board of Trustees answers this question: Why over the past three years has almost $250,000 of the money they were given from city tax dollars for mostly operational expenses “contributed” to the Embassy Foundation?

The city council is being irresponsible if they give our money to the library and they have not studied the library budget and compared it to the library audit to see if the money is being spent where the library board tells the city council at budget time it is going to spend it.

The City Council is being irresponsible if they give our money to the library and they do not insist that the library have operating hours on Sunday as the public requests. Scheduling this is simple, and refusing to do this is just a tactic to put pressure on the tax payers for more money.

The city council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library and do not know if there is money owed by the Embassy Foundation. They are also irresponsible in not knowing when this debt was paid off, or when the expected pay off day is, or when the building is to be deeded to the city.

The city council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library and they do not know the exact cost and responsibility for maintenance at McGregor Hall both for the present budget year and all future years.

The City Council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library while Vance County continues to not have any investment in a building that they are enjoying without the burden of capital expense.

The city council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library and do not meet with the Embassy Foundation board and the library board at least twice a year.

The city council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library and they do not know what the specific cost of keeping the landscaping and maintenance for the parking lot for Variety Wholesalers both for this budget year and into the future.

The city council is being irresponsible if they give money to the library and they do not meet with the State Treasurer to keep the state informed about the responsibility the city has for the $1.8 million that was advanced to the Embassy Foundation.

The City Council is being irresponsible if all this murky business is not cleared up.

Fix this mess. Clear the air. Put out information. Disclose tax information.
If the city council cannot or will not do this, then they can appoint an investigative committee to do it for them. Someone has got to take the bull by the horns and get this information to the people.

It is irresponsible for the city council to keep handling our business this way. And it is irresponsible for the public to allow it.

Remember, we govern the city.