BY ROBERT MCFARLAND, JR.
Delta Business Journal

  Two weeks ago a cross section of Deltans traveled to Washington to attend a conference on the proposed Delta Regional Authority called "Delta Vision, Delta Voices".
  This proposed authority would cover 219 counties and be modeled after the Appalachian Regional Commission which was created to boost economic development efforts into an area that spans the mountain region from West Virginia to the Northeast corner of Mississippi. Estimates are that the proposed Delta Regional Authority would have $30 million in start-up costs. The authority would also require congressional approval.
  While many Deltans consistently agree that the Delta needs all of the help that it can receive, there are still many question as to whether or not the authority would have the affect on the Mississippi Delta that the Appalachian Regional Commission has had on that area of the country.
  "I think that the idea of a Delta Regional Authority similar to the Appalachian Regional Commission is good. However, I did not hear the nuts and bolts that I had hoped to hear when I went to Washington and attended all of the meetings," says Greenwood Mayor Harry Smith. "They spoke in general terms about a number of things and we didn't really get firm numbers
on several issues."
  According to Smith, a proposed $30 million per year for the next five years would be earmarked to fund the authority. In contrast, over $66 million is provided for general work and administration and another $385 is used for transportation for the Appalachian Regional Commission.
  "What we heard in Washington was encouraging in that it was an idea to begin to do something to provide the infrastructure that we need here as was done in Appalachia. But, there were not any specific proposals outlined that I could put my finger on," says Smith. "One aspect that concerns me in this is that $30 million they keep talking about, when spread out over
several states, is not much money. If we are going to do  something, it should be significant. If I could get $30 million, that would not cover the things that I need to do here in Greenwood alone. However, if you use this as money to set up something that is going to be funded at the level of the Appalachian Commission, then that's a different story.”
  One comment echoed by many Deltans who attended the conference, was the fear of putting in place one more government entity that would ultimately be nothing more than another layer of bureaucracy. Long-time legislative leader Robert Clark of Lexington summed up this observation.
  "The idea is great, but the bureaucrats and folks from the outside are going to have to stay on the outside of all of this and the people who know the region and care about the region are going to have to be the ones to step forward and make something happen," says Clark, speaker pro tem of the Mississippi House of Representatives representing portions of Attala, Holmes, and Yazoo Counties. "If you have a set of guidelines set by people who have never been to Mississippi, cares nothing about Mississippi, and is nothing more than a bureaucrat drawing a big salary, that's not going to be anything but a waste of time and a waste of the taxpayer's money."
  Clarksdale - Coahoma County Chamber director, Ron Hudson, who also attended the meeting, says that there is hope that all of this activity will be helpful to the I-69 effort.
  "I think that one of the most important things that will come out of all of this is more emphasis on I-69 and some of the funding for this," says Hudson. "I don't think that there is anything more important that Washington could put emphasis on that would have a longterm economic development impact on this area."
  Greenville Mayor Paul Artman also echoed the sentiments of a number of Delta residents when he said that he wished the initiative would focus more on infrastructure development.
  "I think that while we have looked at  a lot of problems like human service delivery and poverty issues, if you look at a broad range of spectrums and try to solve all of the problems, we're probably going to miss the target again with a big federal program," says Mayor Artman. "I think that we need to aim toward infrastructure development; that's what we all desperately need here in the Delta and I think that will help us pull ourselves up by the bootstraps. I would hope that this is how we can possibly go if indeed this is a viable plan to go to Congress with.”
  Governor Ronnie Musgrove was in Washington and feels like the program can have a big impact on the Delta.
  "We are currently encouraging our Mississippi Congressional Delegation and our U.S. Senators to take a lead in passing legislation that would create the Delta Regional Authority. This organization would be developed to promote and to encourage the economic development of the seven-state Lower Mississippi Delta Region, and is based on the Appalachian Regional
Commission, which was created over 30 years ago to address the chronic economic depression and poverty, which existed within that region of the nation."
  Indianola Mayor James Hutcherson also said the program has some merit,  and that its success will ultimately depend upon how it is structured.
 “I think it has a lot more potential than some of the other programs we've seen,” Hutcherson says. “It would be a better program than the empowerment zone program. I was impressed with how well- presented it was in Washington. The meeting was well planned and very informative. It worked so well for the Appalachian Authority, but if we pattern it after that, it would be very beneficial for the Delta.”
  The mayor of Clarksdale, Richard Webster, agreed that any program targeted to help the Delta would be beneficial.
  "I was a little surprised at how big of an area they were considering for the Delta Regional Authority, but I think anything that can be done to help us would be for the best," Webster said. "In the Delta, we're on our own little island, it seems, and we sometimes get forgotten."
  Like Webster, Delta State President David Potter said any effort to help the Delta should be supported. However, he cautions that the size of the authority and the lack of new resources in the funding mechanism will be a hard obstacle to avoid if it is to make an impact on the Mississippi Delta.
  "I'm for any effort to concentrate resources on behalf of the Delta,” Potter says.  “I'm somewhat concerned that the proposal may not target sufficient resources, and that the number of counties involved in the definition of the Delta dilutes the impact (more than half the Mississippi counties are included).  I agree with Senator Cochran that we have institutions in the Delta, Delta State University among them, with a proven record of providing programs that make a difference.  Direct funding of those agencies might give more bang for the buck than would an authority.  But the real need is resources, and if this is the mechanism by which the Delta gets significant funding to address critical issues, we will find a way to work with it and serve the needs of the Delta."
  Dr. Lester Newman, president of Mississippi Valley State University said that even though there needs to a focus on special problems in the region, he's not sure the Delta Regional Authority is the answer.
  "It's a difficult question to answer – whether we need it or not – but I do know we are all working in our own domains, trying to make improvements," Newman said. "We need a pulling together of resources and a focus on special problems, but I'm just not sure if the Delta Regional Authority is the answer."