FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Who started this group?
Despite some of the reporting, Leslie Sorrell and Will Sanders did not start this group. There were already people meeting and pockets of people across the city who were frustrated with the direction of the city. However, no one wanted to be the “front person” because they were concerned the city would personally attack them and possible endanger their livelihood. And they were right. Thankfully, Will and I don’t have a business they can go after.
If it were just the Will and I, we’d leave Columbus. But because there is a large group cheering us on, we decided to stay. That team is doing a lot of heavy lifting-- but behind the scenes to avoid the personal and business attacks. And ABC will protect their privacy.
What Some Critics Are Saying:
“Leslie and Will have a home in Belize. Y’all can live anywhere, but we have to live here.” Exactly. We could live wherever we want and we choose to call Columbus home. We also live part of the year on the beach in Belize. We are involved wherever we live. We wonder why more people aren’t civic minded especially if they are “stuck” in Columbus.
“Why Do you Care? You should just go back to Belize.” Why do we care? Why don’t you care? Just like a person can love more than one niece or nephew, Will and I can love more than one place, and have more than one home.
Who are your members?
Be assured, we will not disclose our members or donors. We have structured the non-profit this way as to protect the privacy of them. We’re a motley group and this diversity is a good thing.
The entity structure is a not for profit, nonpartisan, social welfare IRS 501(c)(4). What that means in layman's terms, is contributions may be deductible as business expense but are not deductible for charitable purposes. And again, the donors’ identities are not required to be disclosed.
To donate via credit card: https://www.abettercolumbus.net/donate. Checks may be made out to: A Better Columbus: 1215 Main St, Ste B Columbus, MS 39701 We also take cash donations as well.
How much is membership?
Membership is $25. But we ask for you to seriously consider a larger amount if you are able. If you have business and real estate interest in Columbus can you really afford not to contribute to this effort?
Who can join? Anyone. Membership is open.
What can we expect from ABC? All kinds of exciting things! Please invite us to your organization as we welcome opportunities to share what we’re doing. We have seven divisions:
1. Administration-e.g. Vision, Accounting, Legal, Office Management, Staffing, etc.
2. Government Accountability/Transparency-e.g. Research, Publication/Awareness, Prosecution, etc.
3. Fundraising-e.g., Yard signs, t-shirts, meetings, solicitation, silent auctin, etc.
4. Election-e.g., Voting integrity, election process, and voter education. (This information is not readily available to people (as it is supposed to be.) We want to change that!
5. Beautification-e.g. Yard of the Month, Blight Elimination, Litter Control, etc.
6. Community-Volunteer Brigade, Betterment Projects, Arts Support, Meetings, etc.
7. Civics-How a thriving and successful city means having well-informed and active citizens. The city has operated in dysfunction for so long, some things were simply not done correctly. Some elected officials didn’t understand their role and then mis-informed citizens of their roles. We want to correct!
What are some of the examples of the work ABC does?
1. Seeking Solution and Presenting them. We researched what other cities across the U.S. have done to successfully address blighted properties. We complied that and presented it to city leaders. Where it dealt with 16th Section land, we presented it to some of the MS legislature. Where properties fell under Fannie Mae, we presented it to our U.S. Representative and U.S. Senator (since the U.S. Congress established Fannie Mae.)
2. Access to Information. We cut through the red tape, so you don’t have to! The city of Columbus is supposed to have public information readily available to its citizens, such as campaign finance reports. If one goes through the Secretary of State (SOS) that information is free, sent electronically, and relatively easy process. However, with the City of Columbus getting those same reports took over two months, multiple emails, and a few trips to city hall and $80. We don’t want anyone to have to go through what we did! We plan on putting these reports on our website, so citizens have access to it. To date, ABC has had to paid over $300 for reports that should have been no cost to citizens. If there is public information you want access to and are uncomfortable asking for it, so long as it complements our mission, we will go to the city on your behalf for public records.
3. Election Process. We want the election process, key election dates, what ward you live in, and where to vote, to be readily available to voters as it’s supposed to be—and now it is! We are also cleaning the voter rolls and identifying potential suspicious activity in regard to voter fraud. For the first time citizens participated in the election process by becoming poll watchers and joining GOTV (Get Out The Vote) efforts.