Recently, residents of Starkville have been debating about plans for a new justice complex.
There have been various degrees of controversy in the particulars of the justice complex. A few months ago, a petition was passed around to bring about a referendum to decide the bond issue that will be used to pay for the justice complex. This petition was stopped when some signatures were proved invalid. Many Starkville residents have disagreed with the prospective location of the justice complex. While the city government has considered building the complex by the Highway 25 bypass near Wal-Mart, other citizens want a more central location.
There are plenty of reasons for these controversies. Some talk about the beauty of the town and some consider police accessibility to the more populated parts of town.
Whatever the opinion, the overriding concern seems to be how the city government is handling the wishes of the citizens of Starkville. People have sent in a petition, and there have been public forums, but some ask if the government will even consider the response.
The city government has explicitly said that they will consider everything in their decision of the particulars of the justice complex. Since the city government is representative of the people of Starkville, it is only right that they should take into consideration the wishes of the people.
Let us hope that the city government will stand by its word and listen to the citizens.
The Reflector editorial board is made up of opinion editor Angela Adair, news editor Elizabeth Crisp, sports editor Craig Peters, entertainment editor Dustin Barnes, managing editor Pam McTeer and editor in chief Josh Foreman.