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for planning
is evident
With budgets for the new fiscal year due at midnight on June 30, the county and all municipalities should either be under way or about to start on their new budgets.
Creating a budget every year is required by law, of course, but only a handful of governmental units in the county hold what are commonly called “planning retreats.”
Planning retreats give elected and government officials a chance to look at big-picture issues. It’s bad policy, in our opinion, to do the people’s business only from year-to-year. Retreats offer officials the opportunity to talk about the future and think not only about the current budget, but also subsequent budgets two to five or more years in the future.
Whiteville City Schools, the hospital and chamber of commerce, among others, have retreats where board members sit around a table for most of a day and brainstorm. Most of these “retreats” are held right here at home -- the only cost is a box lunch.
The county commissioners have budget workshops but do not have formal retreats. The commissioners need annual retreats more than any group because of the complexity of issues they deal with. Whiteville City Council decided to continue its long-standing spring retreat at its meeting Tuesday night, but not until after some discussion.
Residents should demand that their elected leaders not just put out fires every year. Leadership requires vision, and vision is seldom accomplished without input and consensus of others.
One hopes that the elected board members of the county’s respective governmental units see the benefit of long-range planning and generating a vision of what the future will bring.