Proposed Washington D.C. trip raises debate in Columbus meeting
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The timing for a proposed trip to Washington, D.C., caused considerable debate during Tuesday night’s Columbus City Council meeting.
Outgoing Ward 2 Councilman Joseph Mickens proposed taking a trip to the capital in June to speak to Mississippi’s Congressional delegation about funding requests for city projects.
The city is asking for about three and a half million dollars for a regional crime center, the fossil park, and further drainage projects.
Mayor Keith Gaskin questioned the timing of the trip on several grounds. For one thing, the availability of the funds, in general, is in question because much of this type of spending is being halted and, in some cases, rescinded since the Trump Administration came to office. Even if funds are available, those decisions often aren’t made until after the Summer Recess, and then there’s the fact that in July, the city will have a new government, one that won’t include Mickens, and will definitely have a different mayor.
“To me, that is a clear example of ‘not a good use of the city’s money’. When we make these trips to D.C., we try to do this when we’ve had coordination from Washington. If I hear from our Senators that they think it’s a good idea for ‘this’ mayor to come out in June, I will go in June. But, unless I get a signal from them, which I have not gotten thus far, I will continue to say that it is not a wise use of taxpayers’ dollars to have a trip to Washington, at this time,” said Gaskin.
Both Mayor Gaskin and City Engineer Kevin Stafford advised talking to the city’s lobbyists to figure out the need and timing of such a trip.
Gaskin estimated the cost to be about $2,000 per person.
