To the Indianola Board of Aldermen, Citizens of Indianola, the Editor of The Enterprise-Tocsin,
In the last two months, I have been insulted twice by two members of the Indianola Board of Aldermen who would damage the city for their own political aspirations.
First by Mr. Brock’s accusations, in July, that I was not to be trusted to make purchases for Keep Indianola Beautiful projects, using the Wal-Mart card, even though the purchases were supervised and approved unanimously by the city board.
Rather than a paid employee taking valuable work time to pick up supplies when needed I have volunteered to do so.
For example, when decorating City Hall and when John, from Public Works, needed extension cords and such for the tree lighting.
The second was Oct. 8, by Mr. Elder’s objection to the city covering the registration fee for me to attend the training session held by Mississippi Urban Forestry. This insult comes on the heels of Monday, October 1 and Friday, October 5, when I worked from 7:30 A.M. straight through till 2:30 P.M. Monday, I worked all the planters on Front St. and 2nd St. On Friday I worked alongside public works employees for four hours and continued working alone trimming the trees with a hand operated pole saw.
Since July, I have attended conferences which I gladly paid for the transportation, gas, lodging and conference fees. I also paid conference fees to attend the MML meetings to learn more ways in which Keep Indianola Beautiful can help to improve the quality of life in Indianola.
One such project was transforming the intersection of Hwy. 49 and Hwy. 82, which is the “Gateway” to Indianola. Another is the landscaping around the City swimming pool on Roosevelt.
To improve the Roosevelt Neighborhood Community Garden twenty-five fruit trees have been added along with ten pecan trees after I reached out to Indianola Pecan House and Walmart to donate the trees, and volunteers helped in planting. Seventy-Six (76) City Christmas Pole Decorations have been stripped down to bare metal and restored by volunteers, mostly children, at our home, over two years.
This restoration project resulted in Indianola receiving the MML Spirit Award.
When a local church donated an extra-large Christmas tree to City Hall, I repaired the tree and volunteers helped decorate City Hall. Working with the Chamber/Main Street organization on Cocoa on the Bayou Event and the Christmas Tree Lighting, I decorate the Ben Fried Park Downtown and arrange Storytime for children with the assistance of the Literacy Coalition.
I gave up my Mercedes SUV to purchase a pickup truck to pull a trailer donated to me by Keep Mississippi Beautiful. This donation was due to the volume of work Keep Indianola Beautiful has done.
Hundreds of volunteers have given thousands of hours to improve the beauty of Indianola, unlike Alderman Brock and Alderman Elder who have no true understanding of the effect on economic development, quality of life, and pride generated by citizens working together side by side, sweating and getting their hands dirty to truly improve our city.
If they did, they would understand how many business opportunities have been missed because of unending boarded up houses, junk cars and trucks, and trash. Particularly glaring is the trucks filled with beer cans and bottles on Mr. Dorsey White’s property that Alderman Elder and Alderman Woods guaranteed me they could get him to remove and cleanup the property. They both told me not to do anything, that they would take care of it. Well, I am still waiting. The people of Indianola deserve better.
I did not do this work for a pat on the back or any type of accolades but because of my love for my new home and the people that live here. I may be a fool for what I volunteer to do, but I am not fool enough to be insulted by people that have not given of their time, talent or treasure to the city’s aesthetic qualities.
Therefore, I must resign as Director of the Keep Indianola Beautiful program. Maybe Brock & Elder can convince one of the so called, “concerned citizens” to volunteer to take my place.
Sincerely,
Robin Rosenthal
