Dear Editor:

I feel the time has come for me, as Mayor, to weigh in on our city’s looming wet/dry issue. Rainsville’s citizens will decide this issue in the fall election. Unfortunately, behind the scenes turmoil in the Rainsville city government has caused gridlock and disharmony. I am afraid the gridlock is hurting our city, our citizens, and our collective progress as a community. To be clear, I don’t mind taking the heat, engaging in debate of real issues or working to resolve disagreements. What I have a problem with is continually being confronted with childish political agendas at every turn. And I certainly have a problem when it negatively affects the citizens I am elected to serve.

Rainsville’s citizens deserve much better and the direction of our cities future is clearly in the balance. As an example: at present the City Council has limited the Mayor’s office operations spending authority to $750.00 – budgeted and unbudgeted - and of course that is an extension to all city department heads. To put that restriction in perspective, the Mayor’s office no longer has the authority to approve the purchase of items as small as new tires for the garbage truck when the old ones wear out. I suspect this is in reaction to the budget I helped managed in fiscal year 2013 which saw the city build up a $296,000.00 budget surplus. In short, some in our city government want to limit my input into how tax dollars will be used. As a result of this power grab, the budget for fiscal year 2014 is not shaping out to look near as good as 2013. Presently we are operating at a small deficit.

If the citizens of Rainsville choose to enable the sale of alcohol in our city, I will urge the City Council to regulate the alcohol sales responsibly and fairly. My hope is that debate about any proposed ordinance takes place in an open and very public forum that involves me and the rest of the citizens of Rainsville. Not behind closed doors and in secret, much like the drafting and passage of recent ordinances has been done with the city attorney.

Personally, if alcohol sales bring more tax revenue to our town, I would like for the additional money to be appropriated to our roads, to our infrastructure budget and to form economic and community development budgets to better help all of our citizens, not just a select few. These three areas would have the most immediate impact on our local economy and I believe lead to more job creation. Rainsville and Dekalb County as a whole desperately need more private sector growth, which will bring more quality jobs to the workforce of today and for our kids in the future. Providing people the opportunity to raise their quality of life is essential to getting our thriving, local economy back.

As always, I am happy to discuss city business and issues with anyone. I can be reached by email at mayornickjones@gmail.com, on my cell phone at 256-638-5011, or in the Mayor’s office at City Hall on Wednesdays or by appointment.

Nick Jones
Mayor
City of Rainsville