When I talk about a reunited Courtland, the reaction I get the most is: “But you don’t know what happened back then.” But today, everyone except maybe 1 person who was there except maybe one person is now in the afterlife. When I get that response, I say, “When will everyone heal?” only to find out some elected officials don’t want healing. These elected officials don’t want healing because they know they could never get elected in a united Courtland, and that’s very sad. The two Courtlands’ destinies are tied at the hip, and it’s time to merge so that they both meet in a way that’s best for their citizens. Too many times, elected officials stoke fear about a town merger with fears of “losing something or something being taken away,” which is not true and a shallow view of the challenges ahead of us all. If there’s a fear of a repeat of the past, then that needs to be aired out and talked about openly, and assurances should be made on both sides that what happened so long ago will never happen again. Below, I give my reasons why a potential merger with the Courtlands would put them at the forefront of the area.
If the Courtlands merge, the primary benefits include cost savings through reduced administrative duplication, improved efficiency in service delivery by combining resources, and a larger tax base for funding public services in the Courtland area. A merger between the Courtlands brings the area increased bargaining power for big regional projects, which could bring local jobs to the area. With a merger, there would be enhanced economic development opportunities by creating a larger and more attractive area for businesses and residents instead of two towns separated by a street. There would be cost savings because of the shared services like police, fire, public works, and utilities, which could lead to an area economy of scale. Also, with a merger, the taxpayers potentially will have lower taxes because of a larger pool of residents to spread the tax burden.
A Courtland merger would improve service delivery because operations would be streamlined because of the coordinating services across a wider area, which will give the citizens efficient delivery and better resource allocation for everyone. Right now, as this article is written, the people of North Courtland are facing a crisis, and if the town was merged, the citizens would have an enhanced emergency response time because of equipment sharing, which North Courtland seems unwilling to do at the moment. One of the greatest things that could become of a merger to me as I think about my Urban Planning classes at Alabama A&M University is the better planning and development that could come from a unified approach to land use planning and development projects that are effective at raising the standard of living for the Courtland area and all it takes is forward thinking and a merger with all concerns addressed and corrected.
Now, let me talk about the economic possibilities that some elected officials neglect to consider or hide from those who elected them. When it comes to economic development, a fresh merger, especially a Courtland merger, would attract businesses. A larger population base can make a merged town like the Courtlands more attractive to businesses looking to establish operations and or roots. The leaders should have the incoming businesses hire/train first from the Courtland population, and the perfect place to do training would be R.A. Hubbard High School. The people of the area MUST have every opportunity to be included in anything coming into the area, and it can’t be one-sided. A merged Courtland would have very strong regional investment potential even beyond what it has now. I’m very active in local and state politics, and I can clearly see a united Courtland would have greater political influence, which definitely would increase access to regional funding for infrastructure projects for the area. Can you say jobs, jobs, jobs?
We must talk more with each other about the community benefits that are possible with a Courtland merger, and one of the topics should be the sharing of resources, which would give everyone a wider range of public facilities and amenities across a merged Courtland. Also, a merged Courtland would give their citizens more political clout in the regional decision-making process around them. *I fully understand that reunification of the Courtlands will cause some anxiety that we must address but overcome so all the citizens and their children have a better future and want to stay put. There will be concerns about loss of local identity but we must remember we are one and once were one and we can do it again! There will be concerns about control, which needs to be addressed through joint town halls. Reunification requires careful planning and community engagement. Elected officials are the ones who will experience the most anxiety because a few of them on both sides know they will not get elected under new fair district maps, and that could be the reason some of them are throwing cold water on reunification.
