"BUY IT-RENOVATE IT-BOOK IT!"

Recent headlines in The Clarion-Ledger, "Lawmakers lament loss of lodging". Longtime lawmakers loved the lodging at the Sun-n-Sand. (OK, enough of that.) It was home away from home, but now it's an eyesore to downtown Jackson. Just another dump in the crosshairs of a future criminal waiting to be tracked down by a future police chief. A few shows back we talked about the idea of the state of Mississippi doing a deal with the Sun-n-Sand. Let me add a few more bullet points to bolster that idea.

--Buy the Sun-n-Sand Motor Hotel and Restaurant. That's right, buy it! There's no law that I know of which prohibits the ownership by the state of Mississippi. Our state welcomes guest every day in state park cabins and multiple rental units through the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. So, this would be nothing new.

--Renovate the Sun-n-Sand to standards as good as any they are staying in now. Provide extended stay services, computer access and other amenities found at comparable hotels. The restaurant could be managed on a lease basis, if that makes more sense.

--Book the needed Sun-n-Sand rooms for the entire legislative period. That's four months at the start of a new administration, three months thereafter. How about all the SPECIAL SESSIONS! My understanding is they are allotted around $90.00 per night for lodging alone. Once the Sun-n-Sand is completed, they can elect to room there for free or pay their own expense elsewhere. Taxpayers would see the purchase and renovation costs paid up in no time at all.

--What about the time the legislature is not in session? That's another great part about this common sense proposal. Did you know that on any given day, there are around 200 out of town state employees who are called to Jackson for one reason or the other? All that goes on the expense report, and another government check is written for reimbursement. With this Sun-n-Sand proposal, all state employees in town for business purposes won't have to fill out an expense report for lodging.

--All other available rooms would be open to the public, just like any other extended facility. Rates would be competitive and all profits would go into an operating fund. What a great idea also for companies in town to do state business. As for our legislators who get an itch for a midnight meeting, there would be an executive conference room at their disposal.

--For renovations we could use inmate labor. Hey, if the legislators and state agency heads can build two homes for Habitat for Humanity, prisoners could at least build one home for the legislators. I'm also sure there are some county sheriffs who would be glad to round up some help.

--Jackson area legislators would be chalking up bonus points by breathing new life into a dying old landmark. What a story, even if the city of Jackson didn't contribute any funding to the project. I'll even bet the entire renovation could be completed before the High Street project.

With each passing call on the air, this made more and more sense. That's until one caller had the audacity to return the host to a state of reality. "It wouldn't work for two reason", he says. I responded in disbelief; a little shaken that anyone could find fault in what appeared to be a "lock". "What two reasons?" I asked. "Well, number one, because it's a GOOD IDEA. And number two because you would be asking them to take money out of their own pockets." I was silent for a split second. "Damn, he's right!" I've been told that some legislators pocket from $3,000.00 to $4,000.00 per session by sleeping in their own beds. I was also informed that, even if this idea came into fruition, legislators would find a way to sleep free at the Sun-n-Sand AND keep the per diem the same. What a shame.

Yet, there is something intangible that still makes this a good idea. Over the many, many years of the Sun-n-Sand, enough stories are out there to fill several best selling political books. Stories of fights and fornication, power meeting and power parties, deals made late at night and even on the morning walk to the Capitol. Open the door to the lobby of the Sun-n-Sand and you could smell the aroma of Mississippi politics. You just can't get that at a place called the Microtel Inn & Suites!

Paul Gallo

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