Guest Commentary

Thanks to LR for the Guest Commentary, I have been extremely busy lately and haven't been able to keep up with anything going on nationally, much less locally. I don't have a clue of what's going on except that it looks like Ernest Holmes is running for his old seat? I'll do better, maybe this weekend I can do some catching up. Ya'll have fun now, ya hear?


I've always felt, since Ernest Holmes was booted from office, that if given a chance at re-election, he'd probably reclaim his seat. To know why he was booted isn't to know that the action was honest-minded individuals performing a noble public service. It's quite the opposite. Holmes was protected for years - as far back as the late nineties - from losing his county supervisor's seat on a residency violation. He played the role of good Washington County minion and those in charge (and still in charge) turned a not-so-blind eye. When he fell outta favor - not endorsing James Graves but the Washington County woman who ran for MS Supreme Court and mucking with the county road department alongside blowing off a Bennie Thompson fish fry - he fell from office. He was dumb enough to think he'd fool several people by claiming he lived on Beauchamp and wanted public hearing. He got it...he also got a philosophical flogging.

However, I've been able to see Holmes work in south Washington County and must say, at the time, he was likely the most responsive of any of the county supervisors despite NOT living in the district. He was popular with voters as he repeatedly won and doesn't seem as conniving as some of the southern part of the county's "electables." His main liability is that the only way he can make a living is by serving as Washington County supervisor - what should be a part-time role. Now, you can add a junior supervisor to the Holmes' "paycheck by politics" bandwagon. But, if being a supervisor is a "full-time" position in county government, I believe he represents his district quite well in terms of responsiveness. The interim supervisor has been quiet.

Do the Stingers' deserve a break on convention center deposits and rent? Is this a form of corporate welfare? Do taxpayers "suffer" if they don't pay rent? Good questions. The greater question is "what is there to do in Greenville?" Is minor league basketball a viable option? Those are your trade offs.

If you wish to see why there's reluctance for county government to assist the Stingers in being financially viable in its early years, look no further than Mississippi Valley State's holiday basketball games - all two of them. Immense jealous abounds about "competing" basketball in Washington County. The issue isn't about corporate giveaways, it's about a turf war where two, collegiate games outweigh the need of an entire season of minor league basketball. Reality vs Ideology - take your pick and you'll not be incorrect in where you stand.

I love the record being set straight on Textron and worker quality. Actually, the only thing set straight was that the Capps Center did all it could to train the folks attending class and with Textron cutting corners on free training to get these people working. When Textron was regularly laying off workers so they wouldn't have to be permanently hired and require benefits, it didn't need to have trained workers - just ones to get them by until incentives ran out. We'll never know if they pay any government agency a refund for its troubles. That's nice lip service.

There are people who need jobs and REALLY NEED better educations so they can grasp skills above and beyond making underwear or Uncle Ben's rice. Potential workers are only at fault for not valuing learning - and some value learning greatly. They also blamable for not sharing a work ethic, systemic in nature, not reflected south of the border or in other parts of America where plants don't fold after 18 months.

In Summary, don't count out Ernest, count out the Stingers due to pettiness that will never be known to the greater public, congratulations on Capps Center tooting its horn to Greenville VIP's - worker training is still a major issue that was dodged by local media despite its headline purporting otherwise.